Who We Are
Joe L. Menger
Managing Director and Founder of The Council For Strategic Planning Inc.
Joe Menger has focused on goal setting and achievement throughout his career in manufacturing. Consequently, the mission of The Council is to help small to mid-sized companies identify and achieve significant goals that will typically not happen without vision and planning.
He brings to the firm broad experience in manufacturing and strategic planning. From 1988 to 1997, he was President of The National Acme Company. This was one of America's premier machine tool companies that began in 1894, developed the first multiple spindle automatic turning machines, and sold over 60,000 machines throughout the world. However, by 1988 National Acme was losing a great deal of money. Mr. Menger's management team turned this company around to eventually become one of the most profitable companies of its kind in the world. Using a well-defined strategic planning process, they met or exceeded profit commitments to the board of directors for 34 consecutive quarters. A joint venture was set-up in China and a network of sales partners were developed in Japan, Europe, India, and South America. In 1995, Mr. Menger sold the company to Devlieg-Bullard and continued to manage it until he left in 1997 to begin The Council.
He is a past board member of AMT, The Association for Manufacturing Technology, and The Employers' Resource Council.
Prior to joining National Acme, He was President of International Metalworking Sales for seven years. He has held numerous positions ranging from product engineer and sales engineer to marketing manager and director of manufacturing. In addition, he started and sold his interest in two small manufacturing companies located in Cleveland.
Mr. Menger went to the University of Michigan, where he received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He also received an MBA with a focus in marketing from Case Western Reserve University.