Maier, who grew up in Oakwood and graduated from Oakwood High School in 1990, said he is “honored and excited” to take on the new role. His roots in the cycling industry reach back to 1993, when Huffy hired him as a sales intern. A year later, after graduating college, he started his career as a sales associate there.
“It was a great experience,” Maier told this news outlet. “I grew up here locally, and to be able to come here and ... start my career was an amazing opportunity, especially to be part of the cycling industry.”
Maier left in 1997, taking on various sales, new business development and marketing roles at Pacific Cycle and Cycling Sports Group. He also involved himself in “passion project” PeopleForBikes.org, which he said works to make bicycling better in the United States.
“It helped expand my knowledge of what our product means to people, and really how it can impact and improve the lives of our consumers, as well as communities,” Maier said.
In 2017, he joined UW as the president of material sciences business Allite, Inc. In 2022, Maier became UW’s president and chief operating officer, leading the company through industry turbulence following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During the pandemic, you could do a handful of things,’ he said. “You could invest in your house, you could play golf, or you could ride bicycles, and so the bike industry absolutely boomed during 2020-2021, and then it all came to a screeching halt.”
The pandemic created “a lot of disruptions” for the cycling industry, Maier said.
“It made lead times for product exceedingly long, so basically, the entire industry had too much inventory at the end of 2021, and when the pandemic stopped, sales stopped,” he said. “It was a situation where I think every company on the planet was over inventory, and when I say ‘over inventory,’ I mean years of inventory.”
Maier, as COO, oversaw strategic global investments in product development and innovation, helping UW recover from the pandemic.
A focus on the rider led to successful investments in Huffy BMX, new e-bike platforms across all UW brands, a launch of an electrified version of the popular Huffy Green Machine, and a revitalized specialty bicycle retailer business through the Batch, Niner, and Buzz brands, according to UW.
Those investments expanded United Wheels’ brands and licensing opportunities throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, Latin America and the Asia Pacific regions, the company said.
Maier said he has “high hopes” for what the company has planned for the next few years, including a new product line of kids products under the Huffy brand, relaunching all of its E-bikes with new innovation and upgrades, reintroducing new product lines under Batch Bicycles and releasing new high-end mountain bikes under the Niner Bikes brand.
“I absolutely love the people that I work with here. We have a great culture,” Maier said. “A lot of people have been here for a long time and are really committed to the values that we have and the goal of really building a stronger organization within the Dayton community.”
Huffy has a long history in the area, one that stretches back to 1892, when it produced its first bicycle in Dayton while originally operating as the Davis Sewing Machine Company. In December 1924, it became Huffman Manufacturing Company, eventually becoming known as the Huffy Corporation.
UW has been owned by global holding company Covation Holdings Limited since the early 2000s. It employs more than 250 people globally, approximately of 150 of them at 8877 Gander Creek Drive in Miami Twp.
“Starting my career here, spending my entire career in bikes, and then having an opportunity to come back and run a company where I have a great deal of passion for the brands that we have ... it’s kind of a dream come true,” Maier said.
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