Tecumseh Products names new CEO
8/1/2007TECUMSEH Six months after the ouster of its long-time leader, Tecumseh Products Co. has a new chief executive officer.
Edwin L. Buker will join the Fortune 1,000 firm August 13 from Citation Corp., a manufacturer of metal components in Birmingham, Ala.
The appointment of the 54-year-old manufacturing veteran marks the final chapter in a dispute that arose in January when the board of directors fired Todd Herrick, a grandson of the founder of the Lenawee County firm.
With $1.8 billion in annual sales, Tecumseh is a leading supplier of compressors for commercial refrigerators and freezers as well as of engines for lawn mowers and snow-blowers.
Mr. Herrick s family controls more than 40 percent of voting shares of the firm.
His dismissal led to a threatened proxy fight and lawsuits that were eventually settled out-of-court.
As part of the settlement, Mr. Herrick gave up his board seat but was allowed to serve on the board in a non-voting capacity. Albert Koch, a board member and Tecumseh management consultant with whom Mr. Herrick had clashed, agreed to leave the board when a new CEO was named.
The new CEO has led Citation since 2002. Prior to that, he held numerous positions in the auto industry including vice president of new-model development for BMW Manufacturing Corp. in Munich, Germany. Other assignments included BMW s assembly plant in Spartanburg, S.C., a Honda plant in East Liberty, Ohio, and Visteon Corp.
He holds a bachelor s degree in mechanical engineering from Tri-State University, Angola, Ind., and an MBA degree from Ohio University in Athens.
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