The CEO who rebuilt a struggling Fort Worth lumber business into a diversified national packaging platform.
David Dixon runs Conner Industries, an industrial packaging and wood products company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. On paper that sounds modest. In practice it means overseeing roughly 19 manufacturing plants spread across 14 states, thousands of shipments of pallets, crates and engineered packaging, and a revenue base that now approaches $200 million a year. He has held the chief executive job since April 2017.
The company he leads today looks very different from the one he joined. When Dixon arrived, Conner was a financially challenged industrial lumber business. Under his leadership it has become a diversified, integrated packaging platform working across wood, foam, corrugate and engineered materials, serving customers in aerospace and defense, automotive, HVAC and appliances, and heavy industrial markets. Getting there took five strategic acquisitions, three new plant openings, and a steady focus on the unglamorous work of operational alignment.
Dixon's growth strategy is not built on slogans. His public emphasis is on disciplined execution, scalable infrastructure, and key account growth. It is the language of an operator who came up through audit and compliance, and who tends to measure success in integration, throughput and customer value rather than headlines.
The most recent chapter arrived in the company's 45th anniversary year, when Conner drew formal recognition from Tarrant County, the City of Fort Worth, the Texas House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives, alongside record sales. Dixon used the moment to point outward rather than inward.
Dixon's route to running a manufacturing company did not start on a factory floor. He began his career at Price Waterhouse in the audit practice, then moved into leadership roles at Cummins Engine, where his work spanned corporate logistics, customs, NAFTA trade compliance and Six Sigma. Trade compliance and internal audit later took him to Goodyear Tire & Rubber.
Over time he shifted from audit and compliance into hands-on operations. At Eaton Corporation he served as Division Controller and then General Manager of the Industrial and Automotive Valve business, where he led a strategic repositioning and supported the sale of the business to private investors. He went on to serve as Global Controller for John Zink, a Koch Industries company, and as Chief Financial Officer of The Crosby Group, leading a five-year turnaround that ended in a successful exit to KKR.
That mix of experience, private equity-backed turnarounds, operational restructuring, trade compliance and manufacturing strategy, is the toolkit he brought to Conner. He stayed with Crosby for more than a year after its sale, then consulted, including on a Dover division carve-out, before taking the Conner job in 2017.
His credentials read like the resume of a man who likes to understand the numbers before he trusts the story: a Bachelor of Science from Ball State University, an MBA concentrated in Operations and Technology Management, a CPA license, and a Six Sigma Black Belt.
"We are grateful to the founders who helped build Conner, as well as the investors who have continued to support and believe in the company for more than 30 years as Conner has evolved and grown."
David Dixon on Conner's 45th anniversaryUnder Dixon, Conner pushed past its industrial wood roots into foam, corrugate and plastics, letting it serve aerospace, defense and automotive customers with a single integrated offering.
The platform grew through five strategic acquisitions and three new plant openings, each folded into a national network rather than left to run alone.
Dixon's stated priorities are disciplined execution, operational alignment and scalable infrastructure - the operator's version of a growth plan.
Every plant is on American soil, and Dixon frames Conner's work as supporting U.S. manufacturing and supply chain resilience.
David Dixon is the Chief Executive Officer of Conner Industries, a Fort Worth, Texas-based industrial packaging and wood products company. He has led the business since 2017.
He transformed a financially challenged lumber business into a diversified integrated packaging platform with roughly 19 plants across 14 states and revenues approaching $200 million, completing five acquisitions and opening three new locations.
He began at Price Waterhouse in audit, then held roles at Cummins, Goodyear, Eaton and John Zink, and served as CFO of The Crosby Group, where he led a five-year turnaround that exited to KKR.
He holds a Bachelor of Science from Ball State University and an MBA in Operations and Technology Management. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Six Sigma Black Belt.
Conner Industries is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, and operates manufacturing locations across 14 states, all Made in the USA.