CEO Moves this week include:
Spruce Finance Inc. | Pandora | Millennium Energy Corporation |
Foamix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. | William H. Sadlier, Inc. | Commercial Metals Company |
Biodesy, Inc. | LMI | Kennametal Inc. |
Lindora | Columbia Banking System, Inc. | NORTHFIELD BANCORP, INC. |
Destiny Media Technologies Inc. | Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. | WS Packaging Group, Inc. |
Westinghouse Electric Company | Fishbowl | Quorum Health |
IHA | Monro Muffler Brake, Inc. | Snyder’s-Lance, Inc. |
The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine | The Energy Storage Association | Regenacy Pharmaceuticals, LLC |
Valmont Industries, Inc. | Amtrak | Digital Fuel |
Naranga, LLC | MedeAnalytics | ZorroSign, Inc. |
Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center | OpenEBS | Gentherm |
Citizen Relations | Textron Inc. | Community Health Accreditation Partner |
ZeroStack, Inc. | FIS | Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. |
Crystal Financial LLC | Northrim BanCorp Inc. | Cooledge Lighting Inc. |
BlueRock Therapeutics | Lasko Holdings | Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC |
Virtua | The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) & Health Care Compliance Association | First Reserve |
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids | Daily Burn | IT Authorities |
The Wonderfund | HarbisonWalker International | Monetary LLC |
School of Rock | Pacific City Financial Corporation | Solos Endoscopy, Inc. |
National Association of Realtors |
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CEO Moves is published by Samuel Dergel (Executive Search Consultant with Dergel Executive Search). Samuel can be reached by email at samuel@dergelsearch.com or by phone at +1 (415) 738-2070.
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Spruce Finance Inc. [SAN FRANCISCO] has promoted Steve Olszewski, who previously served as chief operating officer, to CEO. Previously, Olszewski led the private student loan business at Discover Financial Services. Prior to Discover Financial Services, Olszewski led underwriting and servicing operations for GMAC’s auto insurance business and held operations strategy roles at Capital One.
Pandora [OAKLAND, Calif.] (NYSE: P) announced that Tim Westergren has decided to step down from his position as CEO. CFO Naveen Chopra was named interim CEO.
Millennium Energy Corporation [NEW YORK] (OTC Pink: MENC) announced the appointment of Alexander Lightman as Chief Executive Officer. Lightman has also joined the Board of the Company as a director. Previously, Lightman worked for Mitchell Energy.
Foamix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. [BRIDGEWATER, New Jersey] (NASDAQ: FOMX), announced that it has named David Domzalski Chief Executive Officer of the company. Domzalski currently serves as President of Foamix’s U.S. subsidiary. He succeeds Dov Tamarkin as CEO.
William H. Sadlier Inc. [NEW YORK] (OTCPNK: SADL) announced the appointment of the Company’s current Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Raymond D. Fagan, as the Company’s new President and Chief Executive Officer. Fagan, who joined the Company in 2012, previously held senior executive positions with Dun & Bradstreet, Harcourt Education Group, Interpublic Group and The Thomson Corporation.
Commercial Metals Company [IRVING, Texas] (NYSE: CMC) announced that effective September 1, 2017, Barbara Smith will assume the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and become a member of the board of directors. Smith joined the Company in May 2011 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in January 2016 and President and Chief Operating Officer in January 2017. Prior to joining the Company, Smith served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation. Her experience also includes more than 20 years with Alcoa in various leadership roles across a variety of Alcoa’s businesses.
Biodesy, Inc. [SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.] announced that Dominique Bridon has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors. Most recently, he was Chief Development Officer at Nuritas. Prior to that role, Bridon led the development of novel transporter-mediated oncology and CNS drugs at Optivia. He also held various leadership positions at Ipsen, Conjuchem, Redcell, and Abbott. Bridon has served as a Director for Enobia and Neuronax and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Syntaxin and Biosortia.
LMI [TYSONS, Va.] announced that David W. Zolet will become its president and chief executive officer. Zolet joins LMI after serving for more than 5 years as executive vice president of CSC. Before CSC, Zolet was at IBM, where he was vice president of systems integration. Previously, he spent more than 20 years with Northrop Grumman Corporation, where he progressed through a number of executive positions. Zolet succeeds Nelson M. Ford who announced his pending retirement earlier this year.
Kennametal Inc. [PITTSBURGH] (NYSE: KMT) announced that it has appointed Christopher (Chris) Rossi as president and chief executive officer and has named him a director. Rossi previously served as the chief executive officer of Dresser-Rand at Siemens. Prior to that, Rossi held numerous leadership positions at Dresser-Rand Group Inc., including executive vice president of global operations, vice president of technology and business development and executive vice president of global aftermarket sales. Chris succeeds Ron De Feo whom the board has appointed executive chairman of the board.
Lindora [COSTA MESA, Calif.] announced that it has named William J. Righeimer as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer. Previously, Righeimer spent nearly 6 years as a President and Global General Manager for Mars, Incorporated. More recently, Righeimer served as Chief Executive of Kuantum Brands. Righeimer’s career also includes senior management roles at PwC, IBM and several private equity and venture backed companies.

Columbia Banking System, Inc. [TACOMA, Wash.] (NASDAQ: COLB) announced that Hadley S. Robbins, Interim Chief Executive Officer, has been named President and Chief Executive Officer. Robbins will also join Columbia’s Board of Directors. Robbins has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Columbia since March 2014. His experience includes executive or senior management positions with West Coast Bancorp, Wells Fargo Bank, Pacific Northwest Bank, Bank of the Northwest and First Interstate Bank.
NORTHFIELD BANCORP, INC. [WOODBRIDGE, N.J.] (NASDAQ: NFBK) announced that John W. Alexander, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has advised the Company’s Board of Directors that he intends to retire as Chief Executive Officer effective October 31, 2017. The company has selected Steven M. Klein, President and Chief Operating Officer, to succeed Alexander as CEO as of November 1, 2017.
Destiny Media Technologies Inc. [VANCOUVER] (TSXV: DSY, OTCQB: DSNY) has appointed Fred Vandenberg to the role of President and Chief Executive Officer to replace Steve Vestergaard. Vandenberg is currently Destiny’s Chief Financial Officer.
Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. [CAMBRIDGE, Mass.] (NASDAQ: SRPT) announced the appointment of Douglas S. Ingram as president and chief executive officer. He will also serve on the Company’s board of directors. Ingram was previously the president of Allergan, Inc. Most recently, Ingram served as president and chief executive officer of Chase Pharmaceuticals.
WS Packaging Group, Inc. [GREEN BAY, Wis.] announced that Dean Wimer has been named chief executive officer and current CEO Charlie Eitel will take over as the company’s chairman. Wimer has been chief operating officer since July 2016. Prior to joining WS Packaging in 2016, Wimer served as president and chief operating officer at Innovairre Communications.

Westinghouse Electric Company [CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa.] announced that José Emeterio Gutiérrez has been named president and chief executive officer. He had served as interim president and CEO since June 2016. Gutiérrez joined Westinghouse Electric Company in 2008, serving as Nuclear Services technical director and regional vice president of Spain. In 2010, Gutiérrez was named managing director and vice president for Southern Europe in Westinghouse’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region. In April 2012, he was named senior vice president of Westinghouse’s global Nuclear Fuel and Components Manufacturing.
Fishbowl [ALEXANDRIA, Va.] announced that it has named Jim Soss as the organization’s next Chief Executive Officer. Previous roles include Senior Vice President & General Manager for Responsys and Chief Executive Officer of Red Aril. Soss’ experience also includes leadership positions at digital marketing and data companies Acxiom, Infogroup and YuMe.
Quorum Health [BRENTWOOD, TENN.] announced that Robert A. Vento has been appointed as president and CEO. Vento has served as interim president of QHR since January 2017. Previously, Vento served as chief operating officer of QHR.
IHA [ANN ARBOR, Mich.] announced that Mark A. LePage will succeed the late Bill Fileti, to serve as the organization’s next CEO. Previously, LePage was at Marshfield, where he served as Medical Director of Marshfield Clinic Vascular Center and has continued to serve on the Marshfield Board since 2010. In January 2013, Mark accepted the Chief Medical Officer position at Security Health Plan.
Monro Muffler Brake, Inc. [ROCHESTER, N.Y.] (NASDAQ: MNRO) announced that it has elected Brett Ponton as its next President and Chief Executive Officer. Ponton, an executive with more than 20 years of senior management experience in the auto and tire service industry, most recently served as CEO of American Driveline Systems. Ponton will succeed John Van Heel who has been CEO and a member of the Board of Directors since 2012.
Snyder’s-Lance, Inc. [CHARLOTTE, N.C.] (NASDAQ: LNCE) announced that the company has appointed Brian Driscoll as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Driscoll has been serving as the Company’s Interim President and CEO since April. He was the former President and CEO of Diamond Foods, Inc. and was appointed to the Snyder’s-Lance Board of Directors. Prior to joining Diamond Foods, Driscoll was CEO of Hostess Brands. He also has held senior management positions at Kraft Foods, Inc.
The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) [WASHINGTON, DC] announced that it has named Janet Lynch Lambert as the organization’s first chief executive officer. Lambert most recently served as the Acting Head of Engagement for the All of Us Research Program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and as head of the Outreach Office in the Office of the NIH Director. Prior to joining NIH, she was Vice President of Government Relations at Life Technologies. She has held leadership positions in government relations, marketing and business development at large and small life science organizations, including GE and InforMax.
The Energy Storage Association (ESA) [WASHINGTON] announced that Kelly Speakes-Backman will become the organization’s first Chief Executive Officer. Speakes-Backman joins ESA from the Alliance to Save Energy where she was the Senior Vice President of Policy and Research. Prior to that, Speakes-Backman served as a Commissioner at the Maryland Public Service Commission and the Director of Clean Energy for the Maryland Energy Administration. Earlier in her career, she held strategy, marketing and sales roles at SunEdison, UTC Power, Wärtsilä and Jenbacher.

Regenacy Pharmaceuticals, LLC [BOSTON] announced the appointment of Simon S. Jones as President and Chief Executive Officer to succeed Walter Ogier. Simon has been a member of the Regenacy management team, serving as Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President Preclinical Development. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President of Biology and Preclinical Development at Acetylon. Jones joined Acetylon from EPIX Pharmaceuticals Inc., where he was Vice President of Biology and ADMET. Prior to EPIX, Jones held senior level positions in drug discovery and preclinical development for leading biotechnology companies including ArQule Inc., Curis Inc., Creative BioMolecules Inc. and earlier in his career, at Genetics Institute/Wyeth.
Valmont Industries, Inc. [OMAHA, Neb.] (NYSE: VMI) has named Stephen G. Kaniewski as President and Chief Executive Officer effective December 31, 2017. Kaniewski will succeed Mogens C. Bay, Valmont’s Chairman and CEO, who will become Executive Chairman on December 31, 2017. Kaniewski has been Valmont’s President and Chief Operating Officer since October 2016. Prior to that, he was Group President of Valmont’s Utility Support Structures Segment. Steve joined Valmont in 2010 as Vice President, Information Technology and also has held the position of Vice President, Global Operations for the Irrigation Segment.
Amtrak [WASHINGTON] announced that it has named Richard Anderson as its next president and chief executive officer. Anderson was formerly chief executive officer of both Delta and Northwest Airlines. He was also executive vice president at United Healthcare.
Digital Fuel [LOS ANGELES, CA] announced that Dale Quayle has been named as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. Quayle has a long track record of innovation and business success as President and CEO of Interset and President and CEO of Integrien. Quayle’s 35-year career also includes senior positions at Hewlett Packard and Trinagy.
Naranga LLC [ATLANTA] announced the appointment of Mark Montini as chief executive officer. Montini was the founder and CEO of Promio. Prior to Promio, Montini started and led companies that built the first national-to-local CRM for non-profits and the first national-to-local website building platform.
MedeAnalytics [EMERYVILLE, Calif.] announced the appointment of Paul Kaiser as Chief Executive Officer. Kaiser was most recently president of TriZetto Provider Solutions. Prior to joining TriZetto, Kaiser was the director of sales for Cerner Corporation. Kaiser replaces former CEO Andrew Hurd.
ZorroSign, Inc. [SAN FRANCISCO] announced the appointment of Shamsh Hadi as the new Chief Executive Officer.

Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center [CHICAGO] has named Colleen Kula Hopkins as CEO. Kula Hopkins began her professional journey at Timberline Knolls working directly with residents providing milieu treatment services and fostering the therapeutic community.
OpenEBS [SAN JOSE, California] announced that Evan Powell, Co-founder of companies including Nexenta Systems and StackStorm has joined as CEO.
Gentherm [NORTHVILLE, Mich.] (NASDAQ-GS: THRM) announced that Daniel R. Coker, President, CEO, will retire and begin a planned leadership transition over the next several months.

Citizen Relations [LOS ANGELES] announced Jim Joseph has been named its new CEO. Daryl McCullough, previous Chairman and CEO, remains with the organization serving as Chairman.

Textron Inc. [PROVIDENCE, R.I.] (NYSE: TXT) announced that Lisa Atherton has been named president & CEO of Textron Systems. Atherton most recently served as executive vice president of Military Business at Bell Helicopter. She has also held several other leadership positions including vice president of Global Military Business Development, V-22 program manager and director of Military Programs. Atherton began her career with Textron in 2007 as the vice president of Area Attack at Textron Defense Systems. Prior to joining Textron, Atherton was an officer in the U.S. Air Force. She succeeds Ellen Lord.
Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP) [WASHINGTON] has announced that Karen Collishaw, has decided to resign. Additionally, the company has appointed its current Chairwoman, Barbara McCann, to the position of Interim President and CEO.
ZeroStack, Inc. [MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif] announced that David Greene has joined the company as CEO. Greene takes over from ZeroStack co-founder Ajay Gulati, who will continue with the company as CTO. Greene comes to ZeroStack from Aerohive Networks, where he was CMO. He has nearly 30 years’ experience in both public and private technology companies leading marketing, product management, and business development for such companies as Riverbed, HP, and BMC Software.
FIS [SAND SPRINGS, Okla.] announced that Keyth Pengal was appointed as CEO. Pengal brings over 25 years of operating experience, most recently as a Managing Director of Atar’s operating group, where he will remain as a Senior Advisor. Prior to supporting Atar Capital, Pengal held a number of executive positions/roles in operations, including Vice President of Operations at Goldline International.
Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. [COLUMBIA, Md.] announced it has appointed Linda Palczuk to serve as President and CEO. Palczuk had an extensive and successful 30 year career with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and its legacy companies, serving in senior level commercial and general management roles, including Vice President, Mature Brands and Vice President Global Commercial Excellence, Vice President Sales & Marketing, and Vice President Sales.
Crystal Financial LLC [BOSTON] announced that its CEO, Ward K Mooney, plans to retire at the end of December 2017. Upon his departure Michael L Pizette, Chief Credit Officer, and Steven Migliero, Senior Managing Director, will serve as Co-CEOs.
Northrim BanCorp Inc. [ANCHORAGE, Alaska] (NASDAQ: NRIM) named Joe Schierhorn as President and CEO. Schierhorn started his Northrim career as Vice President, Commercial Loan Officer and Regulatory Compliance Manager in 1990. Joe was promoted first to be an Executive Vice President then elevated to Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and finally President & Chief Executive Officer of the Bank.

Cooledge Lighting Inc. [VANCOUVER, British Columbia] announced the appointment of William J. Sims as CEO. A board member since 2015, Sims served as interim CEO for the past year. Sims is well known as the former President and CEO of Color Kinetics.
BlueRock Therapeutics [CAMBRIDGE, Mass.] announced that Emile Nuwaysir has joined as president and CEO. Nuwaysir previously served as president and COO of Cellular Dynamics International (CDI). He was also president of Opsis Therapeutics Inc. Prior to CDI, Nuwaysir worked for NimbleGen Systems. Nuwaysir is vice chairman of Invenra Inc., an antibody discovery company he founded in 2011.

Lasko Holdings [WEST CHESTER, Pa.] has named Terry Carlson CEO. He succeeds Jerry W. Levin, interim CEO since November. Carlson has been with market leading companies his entire career, including Black & Decker/DeWalt, Emerson/Bosch, Raymarine, Jarden and most recently Universal Trailer.
Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC [THE WOODLANDS, Texas] announced that Peter Cella, president and chief executive officer (CEO), intends to retire from the company, effective August 1, 2017. Additionally, the company announced that Mark Lashier, currently executive vice president, Commercial, will succeed Cella as president and CEO. Lashier has nearly 30 years of experience in the chemicals industry, beginning his career as an engineer with the Phillips Petroleum Company. Since that time, he has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility, including the Asia Region manager, senior vice president, Specialties, Aromatics, Styrenics, and executive vice president, Olefins and Polyolefins.

Virtua [MARLTON, N.J.] has named Dennis W. Pullin president and CEO of the company, succeeding Richard P. Miller. He comes to Virtua from MedStar Health in Baltimore. Prior to his appointment to this position in 2009, he was senior vice president and COO of MedStar Washington Hospital Center. His previous leadership positions include vice president, operations and business development, St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System; vice president, acquisitions and development, Symbion Ambulatory Resource Centers; executive director, Baylor Sports Medicine Institute, and COO, Hopestar Medical Management Group in Houston.
The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) & Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) [MINNEAPOLIS] have announced that Roy Snell will be retiring from his role of CEO in March of 2020.
First Reserve [GREENWICH, Conn.] announced the appointment of Alex T. Krueger to President & CEO of the business.
Partnership for Drug-Free Kids [NEW YORK] has officially named Fred Muench as President and CEO of the organization. Muench previously served as the Partnership’s Director of Research. Most recently, Muench was the lead on developing Northwell Health’s beta Digital Alcohol Reduction Coaching Platform.
Daily Burn [NEW YORK] announced the appointment of Tricia Han as CEO. Han comes to Daily Burn from Dotdash where she was Chief Product Officer. Prior to this, she led product development at top content brands like WebMD and DailyCandy, and spent years building some of the first widely-adopted mobile apps, including those for The New York Times and MapQuest.

IT Authorities [TAMPA, FLORIDA] announced that Philip LaForge has been hired as the company’s new CEO. LaForge comes to IT Authorities after leading several high-growth cloud and IT services companies.
The Wonderfund [BOSTON] announced that it has named Erin Murphy Rafferty as its new CEO. Rafferty most recently served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer, and Chief Bid Officer of Boston 2024. Prior to this position, Rafferty was the President and CEO of the Dublin-based US Ireland Business Partnership, an economic development advocacy firm.
HarbisonWalker International (HWI) [PITTSBURGH, PA] announced that Stephen Delo will retire as chairman and chief executive officer. The HWI Board of Directors has elected Carol R. Jackson to be HWI’s next chairman and chief executive officer. Jackson currently serves as senior vice president and general manager at HWI.
Monetary LLC [DENVER] announced that Shelley Plomske is assuming the role of CEO. Plomske was previously CTO at Mercury Payment Systems.

School of Rock [EL SEGUNDO, Calif. & CHICAGO] announced the appointment of Rob Price as President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to School of Rock, Price served as President of Edible Arrangements. Before that, he was SVP, Chief Marketing Officer at CVS Health. Price has also held executive roles at Wawa Food Markets and H-E-B Grocery.
Pacific City Financial Corporation [LOS ANGELES] (OTC: PFCF) announced that they have appointed Henry Kim to succeed as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and the Bank upon the retirement of Haeyoung Cho at the end of 2017. Since 2014, Kim has served as Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the Company and the Bank. He also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of the Company and the Bank since 2011. Prior to that, Kim held Senior Loan Officer Position in other Korean-American banks in Southern California.
Solos Endoscopy, Inc. [BOSTON, MA] (OTC PINK: SNDY) has announced the appointment of Dom Gatto as CEO and Chairman of the Board. He was previously Chief Operating Officer for start-up Acueity Healthcare. Gatto is the founder of AMG Development and MedTrek.
The National Association of Realtors [WASHINGTON] has announced that Bob Goldberg has been named CEO. Goldberg currently serves as NAR senior vice president of Sales & Marketing, Business Development & Strategic Investments, Professional Development and Conventions for NAR. He succeeds Dale Stinton.