Greif announces completion of CEO transition

Courtesy of Greif

Greif, a Delaware, Ohio-based packaging producer, has announced the completion of its planned chief executive officer transition as Ole Rosgaard has assumed the role of company president and CEO, succeeding Pete Watson who will become executive chairman of the board of directors. The company says Rosgaard also has been nominated to serve on the board of directors, which will be voted on at the annual stockholders’ meeting March 1. The leadership changes initially were announced during an earnings call in September of last year.

In addition, Greif announced a new executive leadership team effective Feb. 1 that it says will lead ongoing growth and continuous improvement opportunities to drive additional shareholder value. The new team is comprised of:

• Larry Hilsheimer, executive vice president, chief financial officer;
• Gary Martz, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary;
• Bala V. Sathyanarayanan, executive vice president, chief human resources officer;
• Tina Schoner, senior vice president, chief supply chain officer;
• Kimberly Kellerman, senior vice president, global operations group;
• Tim Bergwall, senior vice president, group president, Paper Packaging and Soterra LLC;
• Patrick Mullaney, senior vice president, group president, Global Industrial Packaging;
• Doug Lingrel, vice president, chief technology officer; and
• Matt Eichmann, vice president, chief marketing and sustainability officer (effective March 1).

“I am pleased to announce our new executive leadership team,” Rosgaard says. “These extraordinary servant leaders possess extensive industry knowledge and a demonstrated commitment to disciplined operational execution and customer service. Their rich and diverse set of skills, experiences and backgrounds, along with proven records of performance, will drive even greater success and value creation at Greif in the future.”

The company credits much of its current success to its culture of “servant leadership” that Rosgaard mentions. In a previous story for Recycling Today, Eichmann, the incoming chief marketing and sustainability officer, says servant leaders exist “to serve the needs of their people in order to serve the needs of customers.”

According to Recycling Today’s 2021 list of North America’s Largest Recovered Paper Consumers, Greif ranked eighth, consuming 1.3 million tons of recovered paper in 2020, including old corrugated containers, mixed paper, tube and core waste, box cuts, double-lined kraft and some high grades. It is significant growth for the company, which did not rank on the previous list in 2018.