Man Lift Manufacturing Co., a manufacturer of mobile hydraulic equipment for specialty markets and hazardous environments, appointed Phil Sprio to the position of president and CEO effective Jan. 1. Sprio succeeds Jeff Bailey who founded the Milwaukee-based company in 2000. Bailey, who was instrumental in the success of Man Lift, will remain a director of the company and will continue his involvement in the design and engineering of custom lifts for Man Lift’s customers worldwide. Bailey will also serve as a member of the board of Man Lift’s parent company Universal Manufacturing Co.

“We want to express our gratitude to Jeff for all of his achievements these past 10 years and we look forward to his continued contributions as he focuses on his true passion of engineering solutions for our customers,” said Don Dunn, president and CEO of Universal Manufacturing Co., which acquired Man Lift Manufacturing last December.

“Phil has had great success in growing companies in the past and brings strong leadership skills and a customer focus that complements his experience in the aerial and material handling industries,” Dunn added. “We acquired Man Lift because we identified great opportunity for growth; we continue to believe we were correct and believe Phil is the right person to help us achieve this growth.”

“Man Lift has a number of innovative products in our development pipeline,which will continue to reflect input from our customers as we bring them to market,” said Sprio. “In addition, we are developing a number of strategic partnerships in the aerial and material handling segments that will fuel our further growth in North America and abroad.”

Man Lift products are used by customers in the aerospace, defense, aircraft manufacture, aircraft maintenance, food, chemical, tree care, window cleaning, and oil and gas industries.