Chris Nor­ling, who works as a mul­ti­me­dia desig­ner at Ponsse North Ame­rica, has had a jour­ney from a film stu­dio to a car dea­lers­hip and ending up at the world of forest mac­hi­nes.  25 years is not a long time when you get to do what you like.  

After gra­dua­ting from Rhi­ne­lan­der High School in Wiscon­sin, Chris wor­ked at a local film stu­dio on set design. After the stu­dio clo­sed its doors, Chris star­ted wor­king in the spare parts depart­ment of a Ford dea­lers­hip. During his eight years at Ford, Chris progres­sed to depart­ment head until Ponsse approac­hed him. “They asked if I would be inte­res­ted in lea­ding the spare parts depart­ment of Ponsse NA. It wasn’t an easy deci­sion to make, but it tur­ned out to be one of my best deci­sions,” says Chris.  

Over the years, mac­hi­nes and tech­no­logy have evol­ved tre­men­dously. “When I star­ted wor­king for Ponsse, the HS15 was a modern mec­ha­nical mar­vel. Now, when I look at the Scor­pion Giant, I won­der, what will be deve­lo­ped next?” Chris is happy that the com­pa­ny’s core values have remai­ned the same throug­hout his career at Ponsse. “My col­lea­gues are like family and cus­to­mers are friends.” 

Pho­to­graphy and music have always been close to Chris’ heart. He has mana­ged to com­bine work and hob­bies excel­lently. In addi­tion to his daily job, Chris sang and played gui­tar and bass in various bands.  “I reti­red from playing pro­fes­sio­nally a few years ago to spend more time with my family.  I still write and record music. In fact, a lot of the music in the Ponsse videos we make is com­po­sed by me,” says Chris. “It feels like my life has come full circle, because as a mul­ti­me­dia desig­ner, both ima­ges and music are part of my eve­ry­day work.” 

Today, Chris spends wee­kends cam­ping, biking, pho­to­grap­hing, and flying various R/C airc­raft. “When you get to do things you like, a quar­ter of a cen­tury is not a long time at all! But can I still have cake to celebrate the occa­sion?” says Chris laug­hing.  

From the begin­ning of June, Chris’ role will expand to become Area Mar­ke­ting and Com­mu­nica­tions Mana­ger in North Ame­rica with Pons­se’s new area orga­niza­tion.