News Releases

GESCO Announcement

TORONTO, JANUARY 16 2017 -

Today marks, yet again, another progressive move in the ongoing evolution of GESCO. Our creed has always been to reinvent, to innovate, to change and to improve, intent on better serving our customers needs, while protecting the interests of our various stakeholders, be they suppliers, customers, associates, or shareholders. This announcement today is consistent with and in support of those long standing operating principles.

In keeping with all of this, the GESCO organizational structure must also evolve. From this point forward GESCO will be formally regarded as the parent company. Beneath it will be two GESCO corporate departments, Finance & Administration (F&A), and Supply Chain, Logistics & I.T. Alongside those will be each of the respective operating companies, which today include two, Shnier & Tierra Sol.

Before disclosing a number of new appointments, it is important to clarify that the various F&A and Supply Chain & I.T. services, that are currently embedded within each operating company divisions, will now have direct line responsibility into the GESCO CFO & COO respectively, and a strong dotted line into the various operating company heads.

So, following are a number of GESCO appointments.

Ed duDomaine will retain the position of President and CEO as well as Board member of GESCO, having joined in May 1997. Responsibility includes oversight of all operating companies, current and future, as well as the two GESCO corporate departments. In this capacity full accountability remains to the GESCO Board.

The GESCO Finance & Administration group will be led by its current incumbent Chief Financial Officer, Mike Devon. To remind everyone, Mike joined GESCO in April 2015 having served tenure at such companies as Molson Canada, Alfresh Beverages, Maple Leaf Foods and Proveer Sign & Graphics. Mike’s oversight includes all accounting, credit and human resource functions. Mike will report directly to the GESCO President & CEO.
The GESCO Supply Chain, Logistics and I.T. department will be led by its current incumbent Doug Wilcox, who joined Shnier in 2008. His title will now change from Shnier Vice President to GESCO Chief Operating Officer. Recall that Doug’s background includes career positions at Colgate-Palmolive, Hershey Foods and Electrolux Canada. This corporate department envelops inventory management, customer service, transportation services, warehouse operations and information technology. Doug will as well report directly to the GESCO President & CEO.

Shnier, the oldest of Gesco’s operating companies, will now be led by Paul Green, its newly appointed President. Paul has worked both long and hard to develop Shnier to its current market position. He has assisted in shepherding us through considerable change, as well as two successful turns in ownership. Paul joined in 1998 with background experience including ownership of an installation company, commercial sales, general sales and most recently Shnier Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Paul’s prime focus moving forward will remain Shnier sales & marketing, with dotted line responsibility for the two supporting GESCO departments. He will also report directly to the GESCO President & CEO.

Tierra Sol, will be led as previously announced by Chris Schneider, appointed President last April 2016. You may recall Chris joined Shnier in 2002 having worked at Schneider Foods, Sun-Rype Products and Shnier, first as Director of Marketing then adding I.T. and most recently as Vice President. Chris’s current duties include complete oversight of Tierra Sol, sales & marketing on a direct line basis and as previously noted dotted line on all F&A and Supply Chain and I.T. related functions. Chris will report directly to the GESCO President & CEO.

Moving forward the GESCO Senior Management Team members will include the GESCO CFO, GESCO COO, all operating company Presidents and the GESCO President & CEO. As additional companies are added to the fold those respective Presidents will serve in kind.

I wish at this time to thank all of the associates at GESCO and would ask that you join with me in congratulating all of those mentioned in the body of this announcement.

Ed duDomaine
President & CEO, GESCO
January 16, 2017