The Executive Who Helped Build DeWalt and Milwaukee Is Now Running EGO, FLEX and SKIL

Leadership change — Sept. 10, 2026

This is not just a CEO story. It is a battle for the contractor's battery platform.

What contractors should know

• Chervon named Joseph Galli Jr. CEO effective Sept. 10, 2026; founder Peter Pan remains chairman and executive director.
• Galli led Techtronic Industries as CEO from 2008 until retiring in 2024. Chervon says his tenure centered on Milwaukee, Ryobi, cordless platform expansion and global growth.
• Earlier at Black & Decker, Galli rose to president of worldwide power tools and accessories and helped launch and develop DeWalt into a global professional brand.
• Chervon reported record first-half 2026 revenue of $1.029 billion, up 12.8%, and a record 39.3% gross margin. Its outdoor-power-equipment revenue rose 13.9% and power-tool revenue rose 11.1%.
• The company says it introduced about 130 products in the half, roughly 90% lithium-ion powered, and plans a more targeted professional-tools and dealer strategy for FLEX.
• Chervon expanded U.S. distribution this summer by putting SKIL into Tractor Supply stores nationwide and expanded Vietnam production capacity with a new campus designed for up to 3.5 million hand-held OPE units annually.
• For contractors, the leadership change is worth watching because tool-platform value comes from depth, availability, compatibility, service and jobsite productivity—not just one tool's peak specification.

The Chervon platform in five numbers

H1 2026 revenue

$1.03B

Record first-half revenue; up 12.8% year over year.

H1 2026 profit

$106.3M

Profit for the period; up 11.6% year over year.

H1 gross margin

39.3%

Up 600 basis points from 33.3% in the prior-year period.

New products in H1

~130

Chervon says about 90% were lithium-ion battery powered.

New Vietnam campus capacity

3.5M

Designed maximum annual production capacity for hand-held OPE units.

Power-tool brands are unusually sticky businesses because the product is only part of the purchase. Once a technician or company owns a meaningful battery inventory, chargers and compatible tools, changing platforms creates friction. The next purchase often starts with a simple question: what can I buy that works with the batteries I already have?

That dynamic rewards manufacturers that can keep adding useful applications to the same system. It also rewards distribution. A technically strong platform is less valuable to a contractor if the needed bare tool, battery, blade, accessory or replacement charger is not available when a truck needs it.

Galli's history sits directly at that intersection of product, platform and route to market. Chervon's announcement says that during his years at TTI he played a central role in Milwaukee's growth and in expanding Ryobi, with an emphasis on cordless technology, platform buildout and geographic expansion. Before that, he spent 19 years at Black & Decker and rose to president of worldwide power tools and accessories, where the company says he launched and developed DeWalt.

The hire therefore gives Chervon more than a veteran corporate operator. It gives the company an executive whose public résumé maps almost perfectly onto the commercial problem every challenger tool brand faces: how to turn product capability into a system that users keep buying into.

Joseph Galli Jr.'s power-tool path

The leadership change arrives during a financial rebound, which is important context. Chervon's unaudited interim filing for the six months ended June 30 reported $1.029 billion of revenue, up from $912.4 million a year earlier. Profit for the period increased to $106.3 million from $95.3 million, while gross margin rose to 39.3% from 33.3%.

Outdoor power equipment remains the larger segment. H1 OPE revenue was $685.6 million, up 13.9%, while power-tool revenue was $339.6 million, up 11.1%. North America generated $748.0 million of first-half revenue, up 14.9%, making the region by far Chervon's largest disclosed market in the period.

Chervon attributed the gross-margin improvement to a richer mix of its own brands, especially EGO, operating efficiency and tariff refunds. It also said original-brand manufacturing represented 79.6% of total first-half revenue. That matters strategically: the more economics are tied to Chervon's own brands rather than private-label manufacturing, the more valuable brand strength, installed battery bases and distribution become.

Chervon's first-half 2026 operating snapshot

A contractor evaluating a cordless system is making a capital-allocation decision disguised as a tool purchase. The drill might be $200 or $300. The real commitment can become thousands or tens of thousands of dollars once batteries, chargers, specialty tools, vacuums, lights, saws, storage and replacement inventory spread across a fleet.

Platform depth reduces friction. One battery architecture across many applications means fewer charger types, less dead inventory, easier truck stocking and a better chance that a technician can borrow a tool without also borrowing a charging ecosystem. It can also lower the cost of adding bare tools once the company already owns enough batteries.

That is why the Galli appointment matters beyond brand marketing. At Chervon, EGO's 56V system now spans more than 100 tools according to the company. FLEX is explicitly targeting professional users and says it will further develop its PRO business through traditional dealer networks and a more targeted trade strategy. SKIL's PWRCORE 20 system is being expanded through Tractor Supply nationwide.

None of that guarantees market-share gains. Established platforms have enormous installed bases and product depth. But it identifies the contest: Chervon is not merely trying to sell more individual tools. Its own disclosures show it investing in the things that make ecosystems harder to leave—more products, more channels and more manufacturing capacity.

What a contractor is really choosing when standardizing on a cordless platform

Chervon's brands do not all compete for exactly the same job. That is potentially an advantage if the portfolio stays differentiated.

EGO is the company's outdoor-power engine. Chervon says the 56V POWER+ battery works across more than 100 tools, and its interim report says several lithium-ion OPE categories held the No. 1 North American market-share position during the first half. The company also launched an EGO Commercial riding mower in the United States, another sign that it sees professional outdoor users as a growth lane. Those market-position claims come from Chervon and should be read as company-reported rather than independent audited market-share data.

FLEX is the most direct professional hand-tool story. Chervon describes the century-old German brand as professional-focused and said in its interim report that it plans a comprehensive strategic optimization covering products and channels, including greater development of the PRO business through traditional dealer networks and a more targeted trade strategy.

SKIL plays a broader role. Chervon markets it across both pros and non-professional users, and in June it expanded SKIL's U.S. footprint through a nationwide Tractor Supply relationship. The products in that rollout use the PWRCORE 20 battery system.

The portfolio gives Galli multiple levers: a large OPE platform, a pro-focused power-tool brand and a century-old mass-market name with new retail distribution. The hard part is giving each brand a clear reason to exist while still achieving the scale benefits of one parent company.

Three Chervon brands contractors should watch

A contractor can admire a tool and still refuse to standardize on it if replacement batteries are inconvenient to find, service takes too long or the specialty tools needed for the trade live on another platform. Distribution turns product specifications into usable fleet infrastructure.

Chervon has already been moving on that front. Its June Tractor Supply announcement put a curated SKIL assortment into stores nationwide and online. The company also sells EGO through large retailers and dealer channels, while its H1 filing specifically says FLEX will pursue traditional dealer networks as part of a more targeted professional strategy.

That distribution piece is especially important because Galli's former company demonstrates the size of the competitive bar. Techtronic Industries reported $15.26 billion of 2025 revenue, with Milwaukee growing 7.9% and Ryobi 5.4% in local currency. TTI says Milwaukee's M18 system alone now contains more than 300 compatible solutions and is organized around trade-focused applications.

Galli did not produce TTI's 2025 results—he retired in 2024 and Steven Richman is now CEO. But the current scale of Milwaukee and Ryobi illustrates the ecosystem he helped build and the mature competitive landscape he is entering at Chervon. There is less open territory now. Winning a contractor from an existing platform can require a materially better reason than launching one more impact driver.

Tool manufacturers are also competing through geography and supply-chain resilience. Chervon said tariff-related challenges made 2025 one of the more difficult periods in its recent development, and its 2026 interim report highlights product optimization, pricing and expansion of the global manufacturing footprint as parts of the response.

In April, Chervon opened Campus 4 in Ho Chi Minh City, its third operating campus in Vietnam. The roughly 40,000-square-meter facility focuses on hand-held outdoor power equipment and is designed for maximum annual capacity of 3.5 million units. In its H1 filing, Chervon said production in Vietnam had increased significantly and was expected to support a substantial portion of its U.S. business by year-end.

Contractors will not choose a drill because of a factory map. But manufacturing geography eventually shows up in availability, price stability, launch timing and inventory. A platform promise is only as good as the manufacturer's ability to keep products and batteries moving through volatile trade conditions.

Related Dispatch coverage

Lowe's Is Recruiting 1 Million People Into the Skilled Trades. The Labor Problem Is Bigger Than Any One Contractor.

A contractor tool-fleet audit worth doing before the next platform switch

• Inventory every battery and charger by platform, age and branch before assuming the sticker price of a new tool represents the cost of switching.
• Measure repair downtime and replacement availability for your current system; a cheaper tool can be expensive if a technician waits days for service.
• List the specialty applications your trade needs over the next three years and check which platform already covers them without adapters or duplicate batteries.
• Separate technician preference from fleet economics: track batteries per truck, duplicate chargers, lost tools and emergency retail purchases.
• Evaluate local dealer and retail access, not just online catalog depth. A Friday-afternoon replacement often matters more than a product-page specification.
• Standardize safety, inspection and battery-storage practices if the company is operating dozens or hundreds of lithium-ion packs across trucks and shops.
• Treat a platform migration as a phased capital project. Pilot with a crew or application, measure downtime and productivity, then expand only if the economics hold.

The interesting part of Chervon's CEO change is not celebrity executive trivia. It is what Galli's career says about where value has moved in the power-tool industry.

A great individual tool can win a test. A great platform can win the next 50 purchases. For a contractor, that platform can influence truck inventory, charging, training, downtime, emergency replacement and technician preference for years.

Chervon is entering this next chapter with record first-half revenue, a high rate of lithium-ion product introductions, new manufacturing capacity and a portfolio spanning outdoor equipment through professional power tools. Galli's job is to convert those assets into stronger, more durable demand.

Contractors do not need to predict whether he will recreate DeWalt or Milwaukee. They should watch for the operational evidence: broader trade-specific systems, better distribution, dependable service and a platform that makes the next tool purchase easier rather than harder. That is how a product brand becomes jobsite infrastructure.

Chervon, Joseph Galli and the contractor tool market: quick answers

Methodology

TradeVulcan Dispatch independently rechecked Chervon's Sept. 10, 2026 CEO announcement, Chervon's unaudited interim results for the six months ended June 30, its April 30 Vietnam Campus 4 announcement, its June 15 Tractor Supply distribution announcement, current Chervon brand pages and Techtronic Industries' 2025 annual report. Current reporting was rechecked again on Sept. 11 before publication. Company claims about brand leadership, market share and product-platform size are identified as company-reported where material. Dispatch did not rely on unverified claims about retailer delistings or infer that Chervon plans to copy Milwaukee's or DeWalt's strategy. Contractor implications about platform standardization, distribution, downtime and fleet economics are editorial analysis based on the verified company developments and established cordless-system mechanics.