A Brief History about Ted

Ted Walker never questioned what he wanted to be when he grew up. Like most young boys, he wanted to be just like his dad. For Ted, that goal was to become a mechanical engineer doing lawn mower design. His determination to do engineering never wavered throughout his elementary education. Growing up close to the family business (literally next door), Ted remembers being picked up and dropped off by the school bus at Walker’s office. As a young boy, Ted spent a lot of time after school in his dad’s office, interested to see what projects his dad was working on.

Ted’s affinity for creative design, along with his natural strengths in math and physics, fit well with his goal to study mechanical engineering in college. His senior capstone project at Olivet Nazarene University was a highlight for Ted. For this project, he designed and built an SAE Mini Baja car. When the school year concluded, Ted and his roommate finished and raced the car in the SAE Mini Baja Midwest Competition. The car ran very well, and Ted considers it to be one of the most singularly fun things he has ever done.

Although he enjoys making individual design contributions, Ted shares his grandfather Max Walker’s belief that people were made to live and work in community with others. He is very proud of the engineering team at Walker, and he wants to maintain its unity as it continues to grow under his leadership. Ted feels privileged to collaborate with his team, believing that good product design and manufacturing will naturally result from a unified, supportive team.

Walker’s philosophy of creating multiplied opportunities for others is motivating for Ted. He wants to design and build products that are valuable for Walker, for their distribution channel and for their customers. He wants to provide people with tools to help them be productive and to provide for their own families. Ted hopes this will result in multiplied opportunities for Walker’s end users, as well as for the people involved with selling and servicing Walker’s equipment.

Ted is proud of his family’s business, and that the company has made it to the third generation of leadership in a healthy, sustainable way that will continue. He’s grateful to get to work with his dad, his brother and his uncle every single day, creating opportunities for others