Backgrounder: Linda Hasenfratz honoured as 2016 Distinguished Entrepreneur

BIOGRAPHY
LINDA HASENFRATZ
Chief Executive Officer – Linamar Corporation
 
Linda Hasenfratz is the chief executive officer of Linamar Corporation, a diversified global manufacturing Company of highly engineered products powering vehicles, motion, work and lives. The company is made up of two operating segments – the powertrain/driveline segment and the industrial segment, which are further divided into four operating groups – machining and assembly, forging, light metal castings and skyjack, all world leaders in the design, development and production of highly engineered products. The company’s machining and assembly, forging and casting operating groups focus on precision metallic components, modules and systems for engine, transmission and driveline systems designed to drive lightweight, fuel efficient function in global vehicle and industrial markets. The company’s skyjack operating group is noted for its innovative, high quality mobile industrial equipment, notably its class-leading aerial work platforms and telehandlers.

Hasenfratz joined her father’s company in 1990 and worked her way up from the ground floor, experiencing all aspects of the business including running a machine, engineering and operations management. Since her tenure as the chief executive officer started, Hasenfratz has grown the company from an $800 million enterprise to a company worth more than $4.3 billion.
 
Hasenfratz’ enthusiasm for the arts prompted her to join the board of governors of the Royal Ontario Museum in 2002 where she was subsequently named vice-chair, a position she still holds today with great passion. In 2012, Hasenfratz became the inaugural chair of the Philanthropy Leadership Cabinet of the Guelph General Hospital.  Involvement in charitable organizations continues to be an important focus for her.
 
Hasenfratz has also sat on the board of advisors for Catalyst Canada since 2003 and the government council, Women On Boards Advisory Council, since early 2013.  Hasenfratz’ desire to see women progress in business to the top level of industry prompted her to participate in these two key initiatives.
 
Strengthening her position as a Canadian and global leader, Hasenfratz was appointed to the CIBC Board of Directors in 2004.  She was Canadian chair of the North American Competitiveness Council in 2008, a trilateral group of executives from Canada, the US and Mexico convened by the countries’ leaders to debate and advise on key recommendations regarding enhancement of the NAFTA region. Hasenfratz became a member of the board of the Business Council of Canada (formerly the Canadian Council of Chief Executives) in 2010 and was appointed chair in early 2016.  Her contribution to this important policy and advisory group has assisted her in developing relationships and advancing ideas to key business and government leaders. 
 
Hasenfratz supports one of Linamar’s key industries, the automotive industry, through her appointment as the first female director to the Faurecia Board of Directors, a French automotive supplier, in 2011.  Hasenfratz has been named one of the Automotive News 100 Leading Women in each year of its publication in 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015.
 
Hasenfratz was recognized for her contributions to Canadian business through an honourary degree from Ryerson University in Toronto in 2003 and an honourary degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo in 2011 as well as the Outstanding Leader Award from the same institution in 2007.  In the spring of 2014 The Asper School of Business at the University of Winnipeg honoured Hasenfratz with the International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award which honours a business leader who has achieved outstanding entrepreneurial success and has made an exemplary contribution to economic life. In the fall of 2014, Linda Hasenfratz was awarded the Ontario Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award – Manufacturing and the overall Ontario Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Hasenfratz was also extremely honoured to be awarded the National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Canada at a gala in late November and to represent Canada at the World Entrepreneur of the World Conference in Monaco in June 2015. The French Government honoured Hasenfratz in June of 2015 with the Chevalier dans l’Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur, one of the highest honours bestowed upon a civilian in France.
 
Hasenfratz was appointed to the Canadian Business Hall of Fame along with her father, Frank Hasenfratz in December 2015.