Within a few months, everyone will know who's going to replace Dick Kinzel as Cedar Fair's new leader.
The amusement park company, announcing the latest step in its search to replace Kinzel, said Monday that it expects to complete the process by June 30.
Kinzel, 70, is scheduled to retire as Cedar Fair's president and chief executive officer on Jan. 2, 2012.
He also serves as chairman of the board. He was elected to a three-year term on the board earlier this year, so he'll likely stay on the board past his retirement.
"That would be determined throughout this succession planning process," said Stacy Frole, Cedar Fair's director of investor relations.
Cedar Fair announced Monday that it has hired Korn/Ferry International, an executive search firm, to help identify and evaluate candidates to run the company.
Korn/Ferry will work with a committee of three members of the Cedar Fair board: C. Thomas Harvie, a retired senior vice president at Goodyear Tire and Rubber; David Paradeau, owner and chief executive officer of Minnesota Zephyr Limited, and John Scott III, president and chief executive officer of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.
"Today's action is an important step toward the completion of our thorough process for a seamless leadership transition," Harvie said.
Cedar Fair's largest investor, Texas investment banker Geoffrey Raynor, has forced Cedar Fair to call a special meeting to consider whether to separate the jobs of chief executive officer and chairman of the board, and whether to make paying cash dividends a higher priority.
No date has been set for the special meeting, but that's expected to be announced soon.
Cedar Fair's board already has said the CEO and chairman jobs will be separated in about a year, anyway.
In a document filed Dec. 2 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company stated, "Following the expiration of Mr. Kinzel's employment contract, the board expects that the roles of chairman and CEO will be separate."
The amusement park company, announcing the latest step in its search to replace Kinzel, said Monday that it expects to complete the process by June 30.
Kinzel, 70, is scheduled to retire as Cedar Fair's president and chief executive officer on Jan. 2, 2012.
He also serves as chairman of the board. He was elected to a three-year term on the board earlier this year, so he'll likely stay on the board past his retirement.
"That would be determined throughout this succession planning process," said Stacy Frole, Cedar Fair's director of investor relations.
Cedar Fair announced Monday that it has hired Korn/Ferry International, an executive search firm, to help identify and evaluate candidates to run the company.
Korn/Ferry will work with a committee of three members of the Cedar Fair board: C. Thomas Harvie, a retired senior vice president at Goodyear Tire and Rubber; David Paradeau, owner and chief executive officer of Minnesota Zephyr Limited, and John Scott III, president and chief executive officer of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.
"Today's action is an important step toward the completion of our thorough process for a seamless leadership transition," Harvie said.
Cedar Fair's largest investor, Texas investment banker Geoffrey Raynor, has forced Cedar Fair to call a special meeting to consider whether to separate the jobs of chief executive officer and chairman of the board, and whether to make paying cash dividends a higher priority.
No date has been set for the special meeting, but that's expected to be announced soon.
Cedar Fair's board already has said the CEO and chairman jobs will be separated in about a year, anyway.
In a document filed Dec. 2 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company stated, "Following the expiration of Mr. Kinzel's employment contract, the board expects that the roles of chairman and CEO will be separate."
http://www.sanduskyregister.com/2010/de ... 20810tjxml