WTA of Utah board member Martin Ritter is the CEO of Stadler US, a train manufacturing company that originated in Switzerland. Ritter, who is also from Switzerland, received the assignment to establish Stadler’s North American headquarters before he was 30 years old and has helped increase annual revenue from a few million dollars to over $250 million. He has also grown the company by building a large new facility in Salt Lake City and hiring over 450 employees here.
As the CEO of an international company, Ritter navigates through two different countries’ markets and their regulations. Since part of Stadler’s operations include transferring technology and knowledge from Switzerland to the United States, Ritter is responsible for following legislation such as The Buy America Act. Moreover, he must be aware of the differences in European and North American cultural norms, as Salt Lake City did not have as strong of a rail supply chain prior to Stadler’s establishment.
When choosing the mobility industry, Ritter considered several factors. He was first “inspired simply by the company itself [and] by the people who worked at that company.” Ritter also remembers his childhood and states that like many boys who “dream of building trains [and spent] hours playing with trains when we were little… the train and the childhood [has a] very positive association.” Ritter also thought about the impact his career would have on the environment and shares that “being part of a sustainable industry has certain values. What we're doing, especially in the United States, can really change people's lives.” By choosing a more environmentally sustainable form of transportation, people can “spend half the time during their commute and work…and spend more time with their family or friends. So you can have a positive impact on the work-life balance and the quality of life [in] different communities, [and] I think that's very rewarding. I love to be in [this] industry because we can really change how people move.”
Ritter attributes part of his success and work ethic to his service in Switzerland’s military. Although many things have “had an impact on my work ethic [and] my career, certainly the military played [an] important role. [I] went through management development in the military, up to the rank of a Captain. I benefited a lot…systematically [from] the thinking process [and] decision making process.” Additionally, Ritter shares that his military service helped “from a people skills perspective. It's a different way to lead. To lead in a military operation…you have to be able to read people’s minds [and] conditions.” Ritter’s company highly values these skills, and they “appreciate people who went through the military leadership training in Switzerland.”
Ritter encourages both established and rising business leaders to consider the future and positive impact of the mobility industry. It is “really something where you can have a positive impact on the next generation in a sustainable way.” He also states that it “is a very dynamic industry. We might want to think trains are old fashioned [but] once you look [it is] absolutely not. It is a very dynamic and changing environment especially in the United States.” In the future, Ritter believes that “If we want to have an impact on the next generation, and [a] sustainable way of living to maintain a certain quality of life on this planet, then this is a wonderful industry to be in.”
Ritter’s dedication to sustainability through the transportation industry provides optimism for the future. To read about and meet more inspiring business leaders, please visit our blog and become a member. Event updates are posted on our LinkedIn and Twitter.