Bio

Thomas is a highly experienced operator and turn-around executive and he currently is CEO for two Source-Capital portfolio businesses, Backyard Products in Detroit and Airworx in Indianapolis . Prior to Source Capital, Thomas was President and CEO of Karcher USA, the US subsidiary of the German based cleaning equipment company Karcher GmbH, where he doubled sales to $90 million in two years selling to the Big Box retail channel. Before Karcher, Thomas was a Division President for Playcore, where he completed a successful turn around of the $70 million Heartland Industries division, which is currently a division of Backyard Products. At Heartland, Thomas simultaneously grew sales to the Home Center Channel from $3 to $25 million while consolidating seven individual manufacturing centers into one. Before running Heartland, Thomas was Division President for Royal Ten Cate, where he managed a building products division, organically growing sales by over 400% in 5 years. Thomas started his career with Royal Ten Cate in Mergers and Acquisitions, completing eight transactions, and growing the US operations to $150 million in sales. He received his MBA from the University of Georgia and earned his B.A. in Business Administration at Nijenrode University in the Netherlands . Thomas van der Meulen is on the Boards of Aerial Access Equipment (AAE), Backyard Storage Solutions, and Airworx.