Kees Weel is the founder of PWR and has been awarded the 2021 Australian Performance Automotive Industry “Australian of the Year”. From the humble beginnings of hand making his first copper and brass radiator in 1982 to a visionary leader of PWR, Kees has led PWR on an extraordinary journey that has cemented PWR’s reputation globally for quality and innovative cooling products and unparalleled customer service.
It was Kees inspiration to begin manufacturing radiators that quickly led to a ready-made customer base that required superior quality and capability from radiators. With an ever growing business and in-demand product, in 2006 Kees started building, what is today, PWR’s state of the art manufacturing facility at Ormeau. Kees’s uniquely Australian approach to business is his greatest strength, where no challenge is too big and an ethos that everything can be made with time, money and hard work.
Following its listing on the ASX, Kees has continued to oversee the extraordinary growth of PWR while still maintaining its commitment to quality and customer service and that ‘family feel’ amongst employees.
Kees continues to develop PWR’s business capabilities and leads his high performance team to be innovative, listen to the customer and always have a can do attitude. Printed in supersized letters on the wall at the Ormeau manufacturing facility is Kees’ motto: Most people see things as they are and say why. We dream of things that never were and say why not?
Kees was a team principal of PWR Racing V8 Super Car Team 1998-2007 and was a board member for Tega V8 Supercars in 2007.