- After about a year and a half in the position
- Anna Fabrega taking over
- Hurlbert will remain as Senior Vice President of Strategy at Local Bounti
- Hurlbert kept it short and said 54 words
(exechange) — Hamilton, Montana, May 26, 2023 — Craig Hurlbert, co-chief executive of Local Bounti, leaves his position. As announced by Local Bounti Corp. in a news release published on Thursday, May 25, 2023, and in a regulatory filing published on Friday, May 26, 2023, Craig M. Hurlbert leaves his post as co-chief executive officer at the indoor agriculture company, after about a year and a half in the role, effective June 5, 2023.
Travis Joyner, who serves as Co-Chief Executive Officer, will also leave his post, effective as of June 5, 2023.
Craig Hurlbert’s and Travis Joyner’s duties as co-CEOs will be taken over by Anna Fabrega, most recently Chief Executive Officer at Freshly, LLC, as sole Chief Executive Officer.
“Execute on our growth strategy”
Local Bounti did not give an explicit reason for Craig Hurlbert’s departure from the co-CEO post. Local Bounti Co-CEO Craig Hurlbert stated: “With Anna as our new CEO, we are poised to expand our reach as we execute on our growth strategy.”
Hurlbert will remain as Senior Vice President of Strategy at Local Bounti
Local Bounti stated: “Craig Hurlbert, who has served as the Co-Chief Executive Officer and principal executive officer and as Chairman and member of the Board since November 2021, will become the Senior Vice President of Strategy of the Company, effective as of June 5, 2023. Mr. Hurlbert will continue to serve as a member of the Board.
Travis Joyner, who has served as the Co-Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board since November 2021, will become Chief Technology Officer of the Company, effective as of June 5, 2023. Mr. Joyner will continue to serve as a member of the Board and, effective June 5, 2023, will assume the role of Chairman of the Board.”
Share price decline since May 2022
The announcement follows a decline in Local Bounti Corp.’s share price of 93% since May 2022.
In the position of CEO since 2021
Craig Hurlbert became CEO of the Company in 2021.
Hurlbert has served as the Company’s Co-Chief Executive Officer and as Chairman and member of the Board since November 2021.
Hurlbert co-founded the Company’s predecessor company in August 2018.
Hurlbert also co-founded BrightMark Partners, LLC, a growth equity and management firm providing capital and resources to venture, growth phase and middle-market businesses, and served as a Managing Partner from January 2014 to March 2021.
Previously, Hurlbert served in various leadership roles at TAS Energy, a leading provider of high efficiency and modular cooling and energy systems for the data center, commercial, industrial, and power generation markets, including President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board. Hurlbert also held leadership roles at General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) and North American Energy Services.
Hurlbert is currently the Chairman of the Board at Clearas Water Recovery, a company utilizing patented, sustainable, and proprietary technology to solve high nutrient wastewater challenges in the municipal and industrial water markets.
Hurlbert earned his B.S. in Finance from San Diego State University and his M.B.A. from California State University-Long Beach.
54 words by Craig Hurlbert
In announcing his departure, Craig Hurlbert kept it short and said 54 words.
“A vision”
Craig Hurlbert stated: “We started Local Bounti with a vision to help solve global food shortages through a thoughtful and capital efficient approach that maximizes our unit-level economics through efficiencies driven by our Stack & Flow Technology. With Anna as our new CEO, we are poised to expand our reach as we execute on our growth strategy.”
40% of CEOs are forced out or fired
When CEO departures are announced, exechange determines the Push-out Score on a scale of 0 to 10 to assess how likely it is that the chief executive was pushed out or felt pressure to leave the position, with 0 being most likely a voluntary move and 10 being most likely a forced exit. Anything over a 5 indicates that there are valid reasons to believe an executive may have been pushed out.
Of the 314 CEO departures in the Russell 3000 Index evaluated over the past 12 months (May 26, 2022, to May 25, 2023), the average Push-out Score was 6.1, according to exechange data. References to conduct issues, disagreements and irregularities lead to the highest Push-out Scores. When performance issues, time with family or pursuit of other opportunities were cited as departure reasons, the average Push-out Scores were also significantly elevated.
Around 40% of the CEO departure events from the past 12 months received Push-out Scores of 8 or higher.
In other words, in the past 12 months, two in five departing CEOs were forced out or fired.
Push-out Score for Craig Hurlbert’s move determined
The Push-out Score regarding Craig Hurlbert’s move is explained point by point in the exechange report.
exechange reached out to Local Bounti and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.
Read the full story in the exechange report 22.2023 ($).