Suited for Safety Glen Herald, Chief Operating Officer, MCR Safety

Glen Herald took a part-time job 39 years ago and, in the process, began to create a career for himself. He was still in high school when a warehouse job became the first step onto a very tall ladder. His journey may have begun in the humblest surroundings, but each step on the ladder eventually took him to his current status as Chief Operating Officer of MCR Safety. He’s done it all during his tenure with MCR: shipping and receiving, credit and accounting, and even a short stint in sales. Along the way, he’s learned the inner workings and the big picture of the company and the industry.
Moving from Memphis in 2013, MCR Safety’s corporate offices are now located in a beautiful complex in the heart of Collierville. The company offers a vast array of safety apparel. “It’s gloves, glasses and garments,” Herald notes matter-of-factly, but that hardly begins to describe the size of the company nor its market reach. Some 100 individuals work locally, but the company also employs 350 nationally and 1800 people across the globe. MCR markets safety products to every corner of the world.
Herald’s length of tenure at MCR reflects a solid work ethic, and he mentions that both his mother and father instilled those work values in him as a young man. “Do a good job” might have been a mantra that he followed, and while he says that he was “in the right places at the right times,” the facts tell a different story. As Herald worked his way through the ranks of the company, he attended school at night, completing a degree in accounting from the University of Memphis. That’s more than luck; that’s all about hard work.
While he grew up in Memphis and graduated from Kirby High School, these days he and his family find their home in Collierville, and he couldn’t be happier. Herald takes great pride in his community. “I like the fact that Collierville is still a town,” and he points to the town’s excellent job of managed growth. He quickly notes Collierville’s distinction of being one of the best small towns in the country. He’s been happy to give back. Just as he’s proven himself in the business world, he has taken an active role in his community, having served on the board of the Collierville Chamber of Commerce for several years.