Marty Bass steps into presidency role at Pierce Manufacturing

Rich Palzewic

Staff

March 23, 2026

APPLETON – Marty Bass has assumed the role of president at Pierce Manufacturing Inc., a subsidiary of Oshkosh Corporation – overseeing Pierce, MAXIMETAL, Oshkosh Airport Products (ARFF) and Frontline Communications within Oshkosh’s Vocational segment.

“Marty is a proven leader with a deep understanding of how to deliver quality, efficiency and long-term growth to meet the critical needs of our customers,” Mike Pack, Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president and president, vocational, said.

As Pierce continues to make significant investments in people and across operations, Pack said Bass’s experience leading advanced manufacturing organizations will be instrumental.

“He will help us remain focused on what matters most: delivering safe, reliable, quality fire apparatus, while being thoughtful stewards of our customers’ resources,” he said.

A ‘good’ start

A Chicago native, Bass said he’s grateful for the opportunity to lead Pierce.

“When I first heard about this opportunity, I thought, ‘Gee, wouldn’t it be awesome to get up every morning and make fire trucks?’’ he laughed. “It’s every kid’s dream and is a really big deal to me. So far, it’s been amazing.”

Bass kiddingly said it’s also been fun explaining to his friends and family what he does for a living now.

“Before, sometimes I’d have to explain for 30 minutes about what I did at my job,” he said. “It’s a privilege to work here and be part of the team. It’s a very passionate team, the company has an incredible legacy, an incredible story and obviously, the best customers in the world.”

Not to mention, Bass said this is a particularly exciting time to join the business.

“Pierce has a lot of stuff going on, and we’ve got a lot of investments,” he said. “We’re investing in people, facilities and processes. We’re big into growing the business and getting lead times down.”

According to piercemfg.com, Bass joins Pierce at a time when fire departments across North America are facing increased budget pressures, industry-wide extended lead times and rising operational demands.

Pierce said it is addressing these challenges through more than $150 million in capital investments, capacity expansions, process improvements and workforce development to strengthen quality, improve production flow and reduce delivery timelines.

Since taking over at Pierce in mid-January, Bass said he feels things are going “very well.”

“The challenges and opportunities presented thus far are giving me a real chance to learn the business, as we implement those investments,” he said. “We’re not going to get the full benefit of those investments until they’re basically all done, but we’re tackling each part of the process as we go. It’s been a really awesome opportunity to join the business at this stage.”

Though he has been “tackling” both the challenges and opportunities since taking over, Bass said about 90% of what he has done since taking over has been listening and observing.  

“I think the listening phase goes on for a while longer yet,” he said. “I think the first 60-90 days [in a new role] are always about capturing what the business is good at and where we need work. Obviously, some things need attention every day, right away, so you have to do, not just listen.”

Bass said a recent sales conference about a month ago in Texas has also helped him learn more about the business.

“I met face to face with a lot of the dealer reps, service folks and a bunch of suppliers,” he said. “That was an awesome opportunity to learn more about how the business works and how we interact with the customers. I’ve also had a chance to meet with a couple of influential end customers. All of this has been very helpful for the ‘new guy.’”

More than two decades of leadership experience

Bass said he brings more than two decades of leadership experience and strategic expertise in highly engineered, global manufacturing businesses, with a strong background in operations, quality systems and complex supply chains.

He said he joined Pierce following a 19-year career at Brunswick Corporation, where he most recently served as president of Americas Market Operations for the Navico Group.

“During my tenure, I held roles of increasing responsibility, including president of Mercury Marine’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region and vice president of Global Category Management and Strategy at Mercury Marine,” he said. “In these roles, I led large global teams and supported sustained business growth through transformational initiatives and disciplined operational execution.”

Though his previous work hasn’t included working in the fire apparatus industry, Bass said he is not new to industrial manufacturing.

“I lived in Oshkosh for 16 years, and those 16 years were part of 20 years with the Brunswick Corporation, which is a parent company of Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac,” he said. “[With my past experience], I can tell you there is some commonality. There are obviously some unique features about Pierce, but the experience I have is certainly relevant.”

Before his corporate career, Bass said he served as an officer and engineer in the United States Navy within the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School and dual master’s degrees in business administration and engineering management from Northwestern University.

“I have an engineering background, and I’ve worked on design, construction and oversight of nuclear power plants for submarines and aircraft carriers based in the [Washington], D.C., area,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of different industrial products at different scales.”

Laying a path into the future

Though only a few months on the job, Bass said Pierce’s future plans are “definitely not status quo.”

He said Pierce’s current investments are “exactly the right things to invest in to get the capacity growth we want.”

“We have a plan to grow the facility and grow the team, while we’re investing in things like automation, AI and parts of the process where that makes sense,” he said.

Bass said he hopes to bring a unique external perspective to the company.

“We have a good mix of folks who have been at Pierce for a very long time,” he said. “Couple that with good leadership, and I think the future at Pierce looks strong.”