OtterBox announces leadership change
OtterBox quietly announced the departure of CEO Brian Thomas on Friday and the appointment of company president Peter Lindgren as president and CEO. The company said only that Thomas had left the company.
Lindgren joined the company in 2012 and has served as chief operating officer and president.
"Pete is a proven leader with a unique skill set, and his demonstrated ability to accelerate strategic growth has been invaluable for Otter Products," said Curt Richardson, founder and chairman of Otter Products. "He shares our vision to take the company to a new level through innovation, industry leadership and continued operational excellence."
The company did not explain Thomas' departure in a statement Friday.
"This transition is a part of the ongoing evolution of Otter Products," Otter spokesman Jordan Vater wrote in an email to the Coloradoan on Sunday. "We brought on Pete Lindgren in 2012 knowing that his global leadership experience would be integral to Otter Products' continued success."
"Brian was with Otter Products for 11 years and was integral to the company's growth during that time. We wish him the best in all of his endeavors but cannot comment specifically on what those might be," Vater said.
Thomas joined Otter Products in 2003 when it was a fledgling business with $2 million in revenue manufacturing waterproof boxes and cases.
Today, OtterBox has nearly $1 billion in sales and employs more than 800 full-time employees in the U.S., most of those in Fort Collins.
As the company grew, so did Thomas' role in the company. He was promoted to director of sales and marketing, chief operating officer, president and then CEO.
As CEO, he was responsible for leading global expansion and a major expansion of facilities in Fort Collins.
In July, Thomas was named 2014 Mid-Market CEO of the Year by CEO Connection, which honors companies with between $100 million and $3 billion in annual revenue.
The award was presented in October.
Prior to joining Otter Products in 2012 as president and chief operating officer, Lindgren worked for more than 25 years in the electronics manufacturing services industry at both private and public companies, most recently serving as executive vice president of global operations for Celestica Inc., a company that once employed about 800 people in Fort Collins. Lindgren was responsible for more than 20,000 employees in North America, Europe and Asia, delivering $7 billion in revenue.
"Having guided Otter Products' operations as president and COO for the past two years, I'm looking forward to leading the company into a new phase of growth," Lindgren said in a statement. "I'm privileged to work with a remarkable team of employees and am excited to work together with them to serve our customers and key business partners."
Lindgren received an undergraduate degree in business economics from Colorado College and completed executive education programs in finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and in strategy at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.