- Push-out Score determined
- After about 12 years in the position
- Accolades, praise, thanks and good wishes for Owens
- Celeste Mastin taking over
- Owens said 103 words
(exechange) — St. Paul, Minnesota, September 26, 2022 — Jim Owens, chief executive of H.B. Fuller, leaves. As announced by H.B. Fuller Co. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Monday, September 26, 2022, James J. (Jim) Owens leaves his post as chief executive officer at the adhesives provider, after about 12 years in the role, effective December 3, 2022.
Jim Owens’s duties as CEO will be taken over by Celeste B. Mastin, currently Chief Operating Officer at H.B. Fuller Co.
“Accelerate organic growth and enhance the Company’s margin profile”
H.B. Fuller did not give an explicit reason for Jim Owens’s departure from the CEO post. Mastin said: “I believe strongly in our strategy and vision and I will remain focused on expanding on these strengths to accelerate organic growth and enhance the Company’s margin profile to achieve our strategic goals and reach our full potential.”
Precise information regarding Jim Owens’s future plans was not immediately available.
“Retire”
H.B. Fuller said: “Celeste Mastin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, will succeed Jim Owens as H.B. Fuller’s President and Chief Executive Officer, effective December 4, 2022. Upon assuming the role, Mastin will also join the Company’s Board of Directors, replacing Owens, who will be retiring.”
H.B. Fuller further said: “James J. Owens will retire from both the Board of Directors of the Company and the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective December 3, 2022.”
Share price increase since September 2017
The announcement follows an increase in H.B. Fuller Co.’s share price of 20% since September 2017.
In the position of CEO since 2010
Jim Owens became CEO of the Company in 2010.
Owens will remain with the Company in a non-executive capacity through December 31, 2022 to assist with the CEO transition.
Jim Owens has served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the H.B. Fuller Board of Directors since 2010.
He previously held the roles of Senior Vice President, Americas, in 2010, and Senior Vice President, North America, from 2008-2010.
Prior to joining H.B. Fuller, he held a variety of management positions with National Starch, now Henkel Corporation, for 22 years, including Senior Vice President, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, and Vice President and General Manager of Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
He also serves as a board member for the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Chemistry Council, Donaldson Company, Inc., and on the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Business Board of Overseers and Executive Education Advisory Board.
Owens earned his undergraduate in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware and his MBA from Wharton Business School.
Push-out Score determined
The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding Jim Owens’s move on a scale of 0 to 10.
exechange reached out to H.B. Fuller and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 40.2022 ($).