Chris Wallbank
Founder, Chief Executive Officer | Wallbank Industrial
Chris Wallbank founded Wallbank Industrial and is CEO of his family's manufacturer, PJWS, which he grew by more than 300% by building on a 30+ year foundation. After succeeding his father close to a decade ago, Chris maintained the foundation his father built and grew the business from $10M to $50M in revenue. He started in the organization on the factory floor during high school and later took on responsibility for sales, traveling extensively internationally to win new business. Chris learned on the job, which often came in the form of hard lessons. Through a strong team, effort, and the willingness to iterate on what was learned, the business tripled over the course of a few years. His experience as a business owner and steward of his own family's business helped him to understand the importance and necessity of prioritizing the long term health of the business. For business owners who are looking to sell and care about the legacy of their business, there are limited options available that will enable the current business's continued success given most buyer's orientation to the upcoming quarters and not the upcoming decade. How a business is run looks much different when your measuring stick is decades and not the next quarter, or when the company will be sold again in a few years. Chris wants to offer an alternative option to other business owners who are seeking the right steward for their company.
Three Generations of Manufacturing Excellence
From a $300 bank loan and a kitchen oven in 1955 to an organization shipping millions of products globally from Germany to China.
FIRST GENERATION
Phil Wallbank
1955 | Canada
Immigrated from post-war England with nothing but determination. Founded P.J. Wallbank Manufacturing with a $300 loan, building machines from washing machine motors and tempering springs in the kitchen oven. A self-taught engineer who learned CAD in his 60s and worked six days a week into his 80s.
SECOND GENERATION
Melvyn "Mel" Wallbank
1982 | Port Huron, Michigan
Founded P.J. Wallbank Springs to focus on a specialized niche: clutch return spring pack assemblies. A self-taught engineer who pioneered proprietary manufacturing processes and custom ERP systems in the 1990s. Built competitive advantage through differentiation, not commoditization.
THIRD GENERATION
Chris Wallbank
2006 | Global Expansion
Started on the factory floor, earned MBA from Michigan Ross, and returned to triple company size to $50M. Founded Wallbank Industrial to expand impact. Vision: affect one billion lives annually through purpose-driven manufacturing.
Leadership Philosophy
Built on values that treat people with dignity, embrace learning over perfection, and challenge conventional thinking to create lasting impact.
Care About People
Treat others with empathy and respect by believing in them and their potential. Be an exceptional listener and act with integrity and humility no matter the situation. Maintain expectations of others at the highest levels, out of respect for them and what great people can and should achieve. Put others first. Care about and recognize their success. Always look for opportunities to empower others and help them to grow and develop. Be there for others, especially in challenging times. Take time to get to know others and what is important to them. Use your resources and abilities to offer support.
Think Like An Owner
Approach your role with the mindset of a small business owner, where details matter. Recognize that our existence is driven by our customers and never lose sight of that fundamental truth. Be driven to challenge the status quo, seek out ways to continuously improve, and add more value to our customers. Understand that simplicity often leads to the most effective solutions—though not at the expense of careful thought and consideration. Have a strong disdain for bureaucracy or the inefficiencies of big company behavior. Believe deeply in accountability, to ourselves and to our team. A strong sense of cost consciousness is essential, always thinking through the cost/benefit trade-offs of our decisions.
Continuously Learn & Grow
Make learning a regular, intentional habit driven from a natural curiosity about the world and an insatiable desire to never stop growing and getting better at what you do. Instead of waiting for opportunities to learn and be challenged, new experiences and regular feedback are proactively sought and applied. Takes time to offer feedback and coaching to others to help them realize their full potential. Understands that true failure isn't defined by losing in the short term, but by failing to learn from each experience and applying those lessons over time. Examine wins to reflect on what worked and seek ways to repeat it. With the awareness that success tomorrow is never promised, progress is humbly acknowledged and not taken for granted. Always remember where you came from as you pursue getting better.
Drive For Results
Understand that ambitious goals are critical, hard work is essential, and there are no shortcuts to success. Strive to execute at the highest level, always holding yourself to rigorous standards. Demonstrate grit through discipline, consistently do what you say you will do, and persevere in the face of obstacles. Lead by example and know that you set the tone for your team. Support your team to build resilience and discipline. Create an environment that is performance-focused and driven by results. Run toward challenges because it's an opportunity for growth, development, and impact.
Passion For Impact
Relentlessly pursue excellence, knowing that those content with the status quo or "good enough" are not the right fit for this path. Have a deep desire to do something truly great and to leave a lasting mark on the world, creating a future that wouldn't have existed without your contributions. Be committed to longterm success, make decisions that prioritize the future rather than focusing on short-term results aimed at simply getting through the month or quarter. Do your part to make an impact through people, enriching their lives and empowering them to reach their fullest potential. Champion our vision and inspire others (internally and externally) to want to help realize it.
Lead With Intention
Believe that people are the difference. Be driven to lead a team not because it's the next rung on the ladder, but because you are deeply committed to coaching others to reach their full potential. Put other's ahead of your own needs and comfort. Recognize successes and give tough feedback. When things go well, look out the window and acknowledge the contributions of others. Conversely, when things don't go as planned, first look in the mirror and own what you could have done differently. Maintain high expectations of others and set ambitious goals because having low expectations stifles progress and kills organizational momentum. Stay committed to building trust and deepening relationships with your team to accelerate their growth, development, and impact on the things we care about.
THE JOURNEY
From the Factory Floor to the CEO's Office
Chris Wallbank's path to leadership wasn't handed to him—it was earned through hands-on experience, rigorous education, and a commitment to understanding every facet of the business.
Chris started in the organization on the factory floor, working throughout high school in a number of roles. After graduating from college, he rejoined the organization, with primary responsibilities to enter timecards into our payroll system and to schedule customer deliveries. He soon became curious beyond these initial responsibilities, and as he got more involved in the business, he realized the company was waiting for customers to come to it on new projects instead of proactively engaging with customers and bringing them solutions to win new opportunities. Chris believes in allowing one's reputation to speak for itself, via word of mouth, but intentionally reaching out to current and new customers became a priority as he took on responsibility for sales. With no formal training or playbook, and working together with engineering, Chris dove into sales, using common sense and with the perspective that he would have no choice but to learn along the way. Chris traveled extensively internationally, often alone, to talk with new customers whom he felt could utilize our products. The team also worked hard to better understand the technical benefits of the products, at a much deeper level than they ever had before, to better compete with other product offerings.
After considerable effort and with the support of a strong team, Chris achieved significant growth, tripling the size of the business over the course of a few years. Chris learned so much from the experience of growing the organization to this scale, and most of it was "the hard way." This was because there was no one to counsel, and the team was all going through it for the first time. It was frustrating, and even painful, but reflecting back, Chris wouldn't trade this experience for anything.
2006
Joined PJWS on the manufacturing floor after earning BA in Supply Chain Management from Michigan State University
2009-2011
MBA in Strategy and Innovation from University of Michigan Ross School of Business
2014
Became President & CEO of P.J. Wallbank Springs
2025
Founded Wallbank Industrial
Achievements & Recognition
$10M to $50M
2018, 2019, 2020
Lives Impacted
Products Manufactured
Supplied To
Engagement
Investing in the Next Generation
Manufacturing's future depends on inspiring young people today. Through substantial investments in STEM education, Chris is ensuring Port Huron students have access to world-class engineering and robotics opportunities.
$150,000 STEAM Lab Investment
$25,000 annually for six years to fund the curriculum for the P.J. Wallbank Springs Engineering STEAM Labs at both Port Huron High School and Port Huron Northern High School.
Blue Water Robotics Center
Dedicated 6,000 sq ft to create the Blue Water Area Robotics Center for 9 local FIRST Robotics teams, providing a space for building and testing their robots. This provides engineering experience for students passionate about technology and innovation.
Summer Intern Academy
Summer Engineering Intern Academy that focuses on preparing individuals with the capabilities they need to build a career that matters. While most internships focus on busy work or repetitive tasks, we instead focus on the development of real world engineering skills.
Sharing Insights & Experience
Through podcasts, articles, and thought leadership, Chris shares lessons learned from scaling a family business while maintaining culture, purpose, and legacy. Follow Chris on LinkedIn for more insights.
Building Better with Brandon Bartneck
Episode #200 | March 2024
Discussed the Wallbank Industrial Vision, the billion lives goal, lessons from Reed Hastings and Netflix, and building intentional company culture.
Encouraging Leaders
August 2024
Featured episode on Embracing Learning Over Winning covering employee engagement culture, aligning purpose with profitability, and balancing long-term goals with short-term performance.
Tugboat Institute Evergreen Journal
May 2025
Authored The Data + Human-Centric Approach that Dramatically Improved Retention for P.J. Wallbank Springs, Inc. detailing employee retention strategies as an Evergreen company.
