Engineering exec comes 'full circle' at manufacturer where he interned

Ervin Scott says he has come "full circle” in his career at Sun Hydraulics. At 22, he started his career at the hydraulic cartridge valve manufacturer as an engineering intern. Now he is the director of sales for North America and also oversees the company's internship program.

“About 75% of engineers at Sun Hydraulics started as interns,” Scott says, noting the company is “really big on hiring from within.”

Photo by Mark Wemple

One thing that attracted him to Sun Hydraulics, he says, was he was given “real projects” to work on from the outset.

“You were put into something that was going to make an impact to the business very quickly, and encouraged and mentored to accomplish it,” Scott says.

In more recent years, Scott says he wanted more responsibility and was given the opportunity and guidance to do so.

“I hit a point in my career where I wanted to transition into leadership,” Scott says. He also became more interested in how customers were using the products rather than in designing them.

His mentor Tim LaCrosse, former chief of global engineering for Sun Hydraulics, encouraged him to go back to school and get his MBA and also guided him when he got his first direct reports. Now, Scott has nine direct reports, with 25 more one level deeper, he says. (Sun is a subsidiary of Sarasota-based Helios Technologies.) 

As he started a family — he now has 7-year-old Evelynn and 3-year-old Ervin III with his wife, Candace — his mentor also encouraged him to ensure he could be there for memorable times like doctor’s appointments.

“He was really big on how do you balance work and family,” Scott says. “You get the job done, but we're going to do it in a certain way that we'll feel good about it.”

For the last six years, Scott has also been a mentor, leading the internship program at Sun Hydraulics along with HR. The program has about 15 to 20 interns, mostly engineering students from schools like USF, Purdue and Georgia Tech.

“I really do enjoy working with the interns every summer,” Scott says. “I think it gives back to the students. … It's kind of full circle."