Kadant announces adoption of succession plan for CEO & COO

19 Aug '09

4 min read

Kadant Inc. announced that William A. Rainville will become executive chairman and Jonathan W. Painter will be named chief executive officer and a director effective January 3, 2010, as part of a succession plan adopted by the board of directors. Mr. Painter also has been promoted to president and chief operating officer of the company effective September 1, 2009. The company also announced that Eric T. Langevin will become chief operating officer and an executive vice president effective January 3, 2010. Both Mr. Painter and Mr. Langevin are currently executive officers of the company.

Mr. Painter, 50, has been an executive vice president of the company for 12 years, and served in several capacities, most recently as head of the company's fiberline businesses, consisting of its stock preparation and fiber-based product lines. He was also responsible for merger and acquisition activity until 2008, and negotiated the successful acquisition of The Johnson Corporation, now Kadant Johnson Inc., in 2005. In addition, Mr. Painter served as the treasurer of Thermo Electron Corporation and the company from 1994 to 1997. Mr. Langevin, 46, has been a senior vice president and head of the company's paperline businesses, consisting of its paper machine accessory equipment, fluid-handling, and water management product lines, since 2006. Mr. Langevin joined the company in 1986 as a product development engineer and has held several managerial roles before becoming president of the paper machine accessory business in 2001.

The succession plan is designed to retain the services of Mr. Rainville, 67, and Edward J. Sindoni, who turns 65 in October and is currently executive vice president and chief operating officer, for one year from the appointment of their successors. In the newly created position of executive chairman, Mr. Rainville will continue to participate in strategic planning and acquisition activities, consult with management on operational matters and be responsible for corporate governance matters. Mr. Rainville is expected to continue as a director in a non-executive role after his retirement at the end of the 2010 fiscal year. Mr. Sindoni will consult and advise on strategic and operational matters before retiring as an employee on September 1, 2010.

“After 27 years of leading Kadant and its predecessors, I am confident that the changes announced today put in place a strong team of leaders to build on Kadant's successes,” said Mr. Rainville, chairman and chief executive officer. “The board had the opportunity to consider several strong candidates and I believe the board has made outstanding choices in the selection of Jon as CEO and Eric as COO, and they have my full and unqualified support. The board and I also wanted to ensure a smooth transition to the next generation of leadership of the company, at a time when Ed and I can share our accumulated experience in our new roles. I want to thank Ed for the terrific job he has done over his 22-year career with Kadant, most recently as my right-hand, as we developed and grew the company.”

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