DEBORAH JIAN LEE AP Energy Writer - August 13, 2009
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — DuPont said Thursday its finance chief will move to a new role and its chief operating officer will retire as the chemical maker consolidates 23 businesses into 14, in a bid to streamline its business.
As part of the consolidation, the Wilmington-based company said it eliminated the five group vice president positions, and their supporting business structures, to remove layers of the company. The group vice presidents have been assigned new roles within the 14 businesses. The streamlined organization will bring business decisions closer to customers and increase regional responsibility and accountability.
Among a litany of personnel changes, DuPont said that, effective Nov. 1 Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Keefer will be succeeded by Nicholas Fanandakis, who has served in a range of financial and business leadership positions during his 30-year career at DuPont. Keefer will move to overseeing the performance coatings business, corporate strategy development process, and overall cost and working capital productivity efforts.
Richard Goodmanson, COO, will retire as planned effective Sept. 30. His role will not be filled; instead responsibilities will be shared among the company's four executive vice presidents, the CFO and the CEO, said a DuPont spokesman in a phone interview.
DuPont shares rose 32 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $12.44.
