SureWerx Taps 3M, Wesco Veteran to Fortify Operations in Hot PPE Market

CHICAGO, IL – June 08, 2026

SureWerx, the global safety and tool manufacturer, has announced a significant addition to its C-suite, appointing Shawn Gregg as Chief Operating Officer, effective June 15, 2026. The move signals a clear strategic focus on operational execution for a company that has been aggressively expanding its footprint through acquisitions. Gregg, a seasoned executive with over three decades of experience at industrial giants like Wesco International and 3M, will report directly to CEO Scott Dowell. His mandate: to translate a sprawling portfolio of brands into consistent, world-class commercial performance.

While executive appointments are routine, this one warrants a closer look. It’s less about a new face in the boardroom and more about a calculated move to install an operational heavyweight capable of managing the complexities of rapid growth in a booming, and increasingly competitive, market. For investors and industry watchers, the hiring of a “proven operator” is a red flag—or in this case, a green one—that a company is shifting gears from acquisition to optimization.

A Strategic Play in a High-Stakes Market

The personal protective equipment (PPE) and industrial safety market is anything but static. Fueled by stringent government regulations, a heightened corporate focus on worker safety, and massive infrastructure investments, the sector is on a steep growth trajectory. Market projections show the global PPE market, valued at over $82 billion in 2025, could surge past $129 billion by 2034. North America, SureWerx’s core territory, remains a dominant force in this expansion.

This growth creates both immense opportunity and significant operational challenges. For a company like SureWerx, which owns 18 distinct brands from Jackson Safety to Pioneer and FALL SAFE, managing supply chains, integrating new product lines, and maintaining brand integrity across a diverse distributor network is a monumental task. This is the landscape Gregg is stepping into—one where competitors are also making bold moves. Industry leader 3M continues to dominate, while MSA Safety recently posted strong quarterly earnings, showcasing the rewards of focused execution. Meanwhile, the market remains in flux, evidenced by Honeywell's recent $1.3 billion sale of its PPE segment to reallocate capital, demonstrating the high stakes and strategic repositioning underway across the sector.

In this environment, simply owning strong brands is not enough. The ability to execute—to deliver the right product to the right place at the right time, consistently—becomes the critical differentiator. SureWerx’s decision to hire a COO with deep operational DNA is a direct acknowledgment of this reality.

The “Operator” Mandate

In the official announcement, CEO Scott Dowell’s description of his new COO was telling. “Shawn is a proven operator who knows how to translate product and category strategy into execution,” Dowell stated. The term “operator” is key. It signifies a leader focused not just on high-level strategy, but on the granular, day-to-day mechanics of making a business run better, faster, and more efficiently.

Gregg’s resume reads like a playbook for this exact role. At Wesco International, he managed a massive safety business, overseeing everything from sales and marketing to supply chain and customer operations. Before that, he spent years in senior leadership at 3M, where he not only led a large-scale safety portfolio but also played a pivotal role in integrating major acquisitions—a skill that will be invaluable at SureWerx. His five-year stint leading 3M’s Industrial Supplies business for the Asia/Pacific region from Singapore also adds a crucial global perspective to the co-headquartered Canadian and American company.

Gregg’s own words echo this focus. “My focus will be on building on that foundation—driving execution, improving speed and consistency across the business, and ensuring we deliver for our customers and partners every day,” he said. This isn't the language of a visionary promising disruption; it's the practical, grounded language of an executive who knows that growth is sustained by operational excellence. His experience is precisely what a company juggling a portfolio of 18 brands across 27 product categories needs to harmonize its commercial engine.

Fortifying the Foundation for Aggressive Growth

To fully understand the significance of Gregg's appointment, one must look at SureWerx's ownership and recent history. In late 2022, global private markets firm Partners Group acquired SureWerx for a reported $870 million. Private equity ownership often brings a dual mandate: accelerate growth and professionalize operations to maximize value. Since the acquisition, SureWerx has continued its aggressive M&A strategy, a key pillar of its value creation plan.

Notable acquisitions have rapidly expanded the company's capabilities, particularly in the high-growth fall protection segment. The July 2024 acquisition of Portugal-based FALL SAFE and the March 2025 purchase of Relsafe are clear indicators of this strategy in action. These moves, along with a string of others, have built a formidable product portfolio. However, each acquisition adds another layer of complexity to manufacturing, distribution, and sales. Integrating these new businesses seamlessly is paramount to realizing their full value.

This is where Gregg’s role becomes central to the Partners Group thesis. While the company continues to hunt for both “tuck-ins and transformational acquisitions,” it is simultaneously investing in the leadership required to manage the expanding empire. Gregg isn't just joining a company; he's joining a private equity-backed growth platform that needs a steady hand to ensure the foundation can support the weight of its ambitions.

A New Era of Leadership

The appointment also solidifies a new leadership structure at the top of SureWerx. CEO Scott Dowell, himself relatively new to the role since May 2025, is clearly building out his team to execute his vision. With former CEO Chris Baby transitioning to a dedicated M&A role, the company has created a powerful triumvirate: a CEO for vision and strategy, an executive director for inorganic growth, and now, a COO for operational and commercial execution.

Dowell has spoken of the “global safety market exploding” and the “unique opportunity” for SureWerx to leverage its best-in-class brands. Bringing in Shawn Gregg is the most definitive step yet to ensure that opportunity is not just identified, but captured. The message to the market is clear: SureWerx is done just assembling the pieces; it’s now focused on making them work together as a finely tuned machine.