Material handling industry veteran with 26 years of experience named Leader in Excellence by Supply & Demand Chain Executive
Hyster-Yale Materials Handling has announced that Kelly Smith, the company’s Vice President of Finance for the Americas, has been selected as a Leader in Excellence in the 2025 Supply & Demand Chain Executive (SDCE) Pros to Know awards. This prestigious accolade honors industry leaders with over a decade of experience in supply chain and logistics, who have made significant contributions to the field. Smith’s recognition underscores her remarkable track record across various functional areas, including key leadership roles in sales, major accounts, finance and marketing, to name a few.
“One of Kelly’s greatest competitive advantages as a leader at Hyster-Yale and in the industry at large stems from her comprehensive background and profound understanding of our organization and dealer network,” says Chuck Pascarelli, President of the Americas, Hyster-Yale Materials Handling. “Her exceptional skill-building talents and experience across the enterprise make her uniquely capable to tackle and resolve complex challenges, thereby positioning Hyster-Yale, our Hyster® and Yale® dealers and, most importantly, our customers for success.”
Smith has excelled in high-level business development roles at Hyster-Yale, most recently leading the global and major accounts teams, dedicated to serving and supporting the company’s top target accounts. In this role, Smith aligned internal and dealer teams to focus on identifying and delivering exactly what customers needed — whether standard or customized lift truck solutions, technology innovations, or personalized service or support. This customer-centric approach helped spur the development of new products and technologies in direct response to customer needs, such as the unique challenges of last-mile delivery operations.
In December 2024, Smith began her current role as Vice President of Finance, Americas for Hyster-Yale. This shift marks a return to her finance roots, which started at the dealer level over 26 years ago as Controller and later as Vice President of Finance and Systems. Throughout her career, finance has followed Smith regardless of her role, and she is excited to use this expertise to drive financial performance and support the company’s growth objectives. Additionally, Smith serves as a Director on the Hyster-Yale Financial Services board and as an Officer for Americas Lift Trucks and Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Canada.
Smith was also a founding member of the Women in Leadership employee resource group at Hyster-Yale. Now that she is no longer in a position that keeps her on the road most of the time, she looks forward to serving as one of the Vice President Chairs of the organization and pursuing her passion of supporting growth opportunities for women in leadership roles.
