A. Schulman Inc., which last week rehired board Chairman Joseph Gingo as its chief executive officer, has named a new chief operating officer and made other key appointments.
The executive changes follow the company’s announcement that it will undertake a comprehensive review of its business plan following an unexpected reduction in its earnings outlook for this year.
The Fairlawn polymer company on Monday promoted Gary A. Miller, 69, to chief operating officer effective immediately. The COO position is often considered the stepping stone to chief executive at many corporations.
Miller previously was executive vice president, global and chief procurement officer — titles he has held since 2008. Prior to joining Schulman, he was an executive at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for 42 years.
Miller will be responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of the company’s global operations, according to a news release. He has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He also completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University; the Executive Program at Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia; and Kellogg School for Graduate Studies, Northwestern University.
“He will play a critical role in restoring A. Schulman’s operational and financial performance worldwide,” Gingo, chairman, president and CEO, said in the release.
Schulman, which makes resins, compounds and more, also on Monday named Frank Roederer, 47, its senior vice president and general manager of the company’s United States and Canada business. He also will retain current responsibilities for the company’s engineered composites business.
Roederer joined A. Schulman in 2013 as the specialty powders business unit director. Earlier this year, he was named senior vice president of the engineering composites business. He has an operations management and marketing degree from Fachhochschule Offenburg and an MBA from Schiller International University.
Miller will report to Gingo, and Roederer will report directly to Miller.
Shares of A. Schulman were up 12 cents, or half a percent, to $24.02 as of 1:46 p.m. Shares are down 21.6 percent since Jan. 1 and are down 29.5 percent from a year ago.
Last week, A. Schulman promoted Andrean R. Horton to executive vice president and chief legal officer, effective Sept. 1. Horton, 42, will succeed David C. Minc, 67, who will retire at the end of this month. Minc will continue as an attorney and consultant to the company.
Horton is vice president, secretary and assistant general counsel. She joined A. Schulman in 2010 as its senior corporate counsel, Americas.
She has a law degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan.
On Friday, A. Schulman Inc.’s board announced it had replaced Chief Executive Officer Bernard Rzepka, 56, with the company’s 71-year old chairman and former CEO, Gingo.
Gingo, following a long career at Goodyear, was A. Schulman’s CEO and president from 2008 through 2014. Rzepka, a longtime Schulman Inc. executive, succeeded Gingo as CEO.
The switch in CEOs happened after A. Schulman Inc. on Aug. 11 reduced its earnings outlook for its fiscal year, which ends on Aug. 31, sending its stock price down 27 percent on the day.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ.