Smiley And Moran Join CTS Custom Trailers

Formerly with MYCO Trailers of Bradenton, Fla., Jon Smiley and Ronnie Moran have joined the team at CTS Custom Trailers. Smiley is the Muscatine, Iowa, company’s vice-president of sales. Moran is its new director of operations. Though both live in Southwest Florida, neither will be relocating to Iowa. Both will work alongside Lakin Curry-Thoren, the company’s general manager.

Formerly with MYCO, Jon Smiley and Ronnie Moran are now with CTS Custom Trailers of Iowa.

The news was announced in a press release from CTS Custom Trailers.

No reason for the departure of Moran, who was with MYCO for 17 years, and Smiley, who joined MYCO in 2019, was provided in the release. Reached by phone, Smiley declined to comment on his departure from MYCO beyond emphasizing the “difficulty” of the last two years with the company.

“I am extremely excited for this new opportunity and new chapter,” Smiley said.

CTS Custom Trailers is owned by Jason Curry, a name likely familiar to the MTI family of high-performance powerboat customers. Not only does he own a 42-foot center console from the Wentzville, Mo., company, he has an MTI 390X catamaran currently under construction.

The company has been servicing and selling heavy-duty trucks and trailers since 1998. The Iowa facility, which employs 60 people, has 30,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 12,000 square feet of office space on its 32-acre property.

CTS Custom Trailers principals Jason Curry and Lakin Curry-Thoren have added two marine industry veterans to their team.

“We knew that to ensure CTS’s success, we needed the best of the best in the industry on our team,” said Curry in the release. “ To build a world-class product, you need world-class people. I’ve known of Jon and Ronnie over the years as a trailer customer myself and knew they’d be the best fit to carry CTS to the next level.

“We have the space, the talented staff and the ability to scale our business exponentially as we grow,” he continued. “The boat-trailer division was launched after several prominent boating figures expressed their struggles with some of the well-established players in the trailer market. We knew we could carry our skills and knowledge over from the semi-truck/trailer business and create something really special.”

CTS Custom Trailers specializes in fully welded aluminum C-channel trailers and cradles that are engineered for a precise fit, according to the release, and “every CTS trailer is overbuilt and over-engineered to offer additional support, rigidity and confidence while towing or storing.”

Added Curry-Thoren in the release, “I’ve grown up and been a part of the truck and trailer business my whole life. I think that helps set us apart from some of the competition. We don’t just sell trailers, we use them ourselves day in and day out.”