Meet the Chairman’s Circle

Marcel Ferrere

Marcel Ferrere had a connection with Greater Memphis before he even thought about moving here.  John Grisham – author, lawyer and former politician who, though born in Jonesboro, considers Memphis his hometown – is one of his two favorite authors (the other is Nelson DeMille).  As you can probably guess, Ferrere enjoys reading, particularly crime and legal fiction.

He also likes camping.  “I’ve done a lot of camping in Pigeon Forge and have visited Gatlinburg frequently while camping there,” he said.

And he really likes working.  “I delivered newspapers, mowed lawns and shoveled snow until I was old enough to get a job,” he said.  “I started investing in stocks with the help of my father.  I worked at McDonalds for almost seven years, which helped me pay for college.  I was a shift manager when I left McDonalds for my first engineering job.”

Ferrere grew up in Grove City, a small town in western Pennsylvania.  “I attended Grove City College so I could get a great engineering education and pay my way through school,” he said.  “I paid for college and graduated with an engineering degree debt free.”

He enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard when he was just a junior in high school and attended miliary officer candidate school during his junior year in college.  His nearly 24-year military career instilled a leadership philosophy centered on accountability, resilience, and team development.

Ferrere’s engineering career quickly evolved from product development into leadership roles overseeing new product lines and manufacturing operations. His sweet spot is developing innovative HVAC solutions and sales selection tools, and he has repeatedly stepped into roles that required both technical expertise and organizational transformation, including managing product lines that reshaped market expectations.

AAON is a publicly traded American manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment with highly configurable, energy efficient products for commercial and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1988.  AAON is headquartered in Tulsa and operates manufacturing facilities across the United States.

Just a year ago Ferrere moved to Memphis to support the launch of AAON’s new manufacturing facility.  “We purchased our Memphis plant December 2024 and started production February 2025,” he said.  “I moved here to support that expansion.”

AAON joined the Chairman’s Circle to help the company build relationships and recruit high-quality employees.  “We are grateful to be part of the momentum in Memphis.” he said.  “We became a member of the Chairman’s Circle because we are committed to being an active and responsible partner in the community through employment opportunities, supporting local partners and contributing meaningfully to the long-term success of the region.  We joined the Chamber and specifically the Chairman’s Circle to support the growth potential for our business and the drive of the Memphis workforce.  We have had several successful hiring events and have more planned as we ramp up our Memphis team to support our customers. The Memphis Chamber, City and County leadership are focused on positive growth and opportunities for other businesses to come to Memphis to support current businesses.”

Ferrere’s leadership style has been shaped by his previous great bosses.  “Managers I have had as I got into management roles reviewed with me the value of focusing on being a servant leader,” he said.  “As leaders, we need to support out teams and provide them the tools to be successful including mentoring them and helping them achieve their development and professional goals.  Early in my miliary career, when I was a first lieutenant, my leader helped me learn how to lead soldiers in a pressure-filled environment.  That became very beneficial as I grew in my civilian career.  There are so many characteristics I learned in the military that can be of huge value leading in the business environment.”

In addition to his fiction favorites, Ferrere has two favorite business books.  One is “Who Moved My Cheese?”  “Earlier in my career, the company was going through some significant changes between management and projects” he said.  “This was a mandatory book for anyone in leadership to read.  It really helped us put change into perspective.  I’ve read it a number of times since, and we had book clubs at a few companies using this book to help the team understand change.”  His other favorite business book is “The Goal.”  “An engineering leader gave me this book to read when I moved into a plant manager role,” he said.  “It’s one of the best manufacturing/business books I’ve read.  I’ve also used this as a book club topic at two different companies.  I currently mentor a few of our engineering personnel and suggest they read both of these books.”

Ferrere is already engaged locally, serving on the Moore Tech Occupational Advisory Committee and supporting workforce development initiatives. He is particularly energized by Memphis’ growth trajectory and the determination of its workforce—qualities he sees as essential to the success of our businesses and our community.