Inside 60521
WeatherTech Founder & CEO David MacNeil stands next to his Aston Martin at his new Bolingbrook factory showroom.
WHAT MATTERS TO
Photos by Marcello Rodarte
DAVID MacNEIL
by scott jonlich
H
insdale resident and WeatherTech Founder and CEO David MacNeil is not shy about telling you what matters to him. What matters to the 53-year-old automotive accessory king is that he built his Southwest Suburbanbased corporation on ingenuity, hard work and a belief that “you take care of the people who work with you and the people who buy from you”—his customers. Although MacNeil has served millions of customers, his loyalty to the American consumer and worker resounded throughout our recent interview. “I believe in exporting products— but not exporting jobs out of America,” MacNeil said, as he gave me a tour of his massive manufacturing facility just 26 Hinsdale Magazine | www.hinsdale60521.com
off I-55 in Bolingbrook. He also has
support locations in Downers Grove where Product Development, Tooling and Marketing functions take place along with a Sales and Warehousing facility in Parma Italy.
“We need to preserve manufacturing,” MacNeil said. “When you walk into a store, buy American first, then from a country with which we have balanced trade relations. I believe in building here in America and employing our labor force.” MacNeil sources the steel and aluminum for WeatherTech’s tooling from vendors such as Vista Metals in Fontana, Calif. The raw materials for WeatherTech’s mats are made in Ohio, Texas, Kansas and Tennessee. MacNeil sources domestically, because he understands that way of business is vital for the prosperity of the
country. “If my neighbor doesn’t have a job, sooner or later I won’t have a job either,” he said. WeatherTech is the largest consumer of plastic sheet product in the United States, having been exported around the world by its 30 distributors in more than 21 countries outside of the United States. MacNeil’s market expansion led to his manufacturing facility in Bolingbrook, completed in 2007. The bold move was just one year before the nation’s great recession, and required unwavering commitment from him and his team. Large investments in machinery, tooling and production facilities were implemented, along with a work force that would be needed to produce a worldwide demand for a growing population.