Motion Industries announces the death of Tim Breen

Motion Industries, Inc., a distributor of maintenance, repair, and operation replacement parts based in Birmingham, AL, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Genuine Parts Company (GPC), is saddened to announce the sudden passing of its president and CEO, Tim Breen.

“Motion Industries has lost a great leader and the world has lost an amazing human being,” said Motion Industries Leadership in a statement. “Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Tim have lost a dear friend and an inspiration. Tim leaves behind a great company, a great culture and a great team that he affectionately referred to as ‘The Motion Family.’ His spirit will forever live on at Motion.”

Breen began his career with Berry Bearing Company in 1982 and served there as a sales representative, branch manager, regional manager, and corporate accounts manager. His responsibilities continued to grow after Berry Bearing and Motion Industries joined forces in 1993.

His leadership as both a Division Officer and Group Officer distinguished his record and he assumed responsibility of all the U.S. locations in 2011 as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Breen was promoted to Motion Industries president and chief operating officer in 2013, before his promotion in November 2014 to president and CEO. With Breen at the helm, Motion Industries attained its record $5 billion sales goal at the end of 2017.

Motion Industries Leadership added, “We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved, growing the company he led and appreciating the team he loved so much. Tim’s guidance and vision have left us in a strong position to continue building the Company’s success.”

With annual sales of $5 billion, Motion Industries is a leading industrial parts distributor of bearings, mechanical power transmission, electrical and industrial automation, hydraulic and industrial hose, hydraulic and pneumatic components, industrial products, safety products, and material handling. Motion Industries has over 550 branch locations, 43 service centres and 14 distribution centres throughout North America serving more than 300,000 customers from the food and beverage, pulp and paper, iron and steel, chemical, mining and aggregate, petrochemical, automotive, wood and lumber, and pharmaceutical industries.