ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Ecolab announced that its Chief Financial Officer, Steven L. Fritze,
will step down as CFO on October 1, 2012, and will retire at the end of
this year. Fritze has been Ecolab's Chief Financial Officer since 2002.
Douglas M. Baker, Jr., Ecolab's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
also announced that Daniel J. Schmechel will become Chief Financial
Officer on October 1.
"Steve has been an outstanding CFO and made lasting contributions to
Ecolab throughout his 32 years of service," Baker said. "During his
tenure, Steve served in nearly every finance area, and under his
leadership, strengthened the talent, processes and effectiveness in each
to help build world-class operations and finance leaders. He has always
acted as a business partner, consistently bringing excellent executive
and strategic leadership to the entire management team. His dedication
to the company has been the hallmark of his work, and his counsel and
support is something that I have valued greatly. Steve is a terrific
example of Ecolab's culture of excellence, and we are a much better
company because of his contributions. We wish him every success in this
next phase of his life."
"I have been incredibly fortunate to have worked for such a fine
company," Fritze said. "Ecolab does good in the world, has strong
values, high ethical standards and consistently wins in the marketplace.
It doesn't get better than that. I am highly confident in Dan and
extremely proud of the great Finance team that we have developed over
the years. Together, the team is clearly capable of supporting the
business going forward without missing a beat."
Schmechel, 52 years old, joined Ecolab in 1995 and has led almost every
major finance area. He is currently the Executive Vice President,
Finance, where he has responsibility for Tax, Treasury and the Corporate
Controller functions. Prior to that, he served as SVP, Finance Services
and Systems, with responsibility for Shared Services and Information
Technology. Schmechel also was Senior Vice President, Global Supply
Chain, on an interim basis. During his 17 year career with Ecolab, he
also has had an assignment in Europe as the SVP, Business
Transformation, and has served as both the Corporate Controller and
Treasurer. Schmechel has an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at
Dartmouth and a B.S. degree from Yale University.
"Dan is absolutely ready to help lead Ecolab as CFO," Baker said. "He
has served in the critical finance areas and in Europe, and possesses
excellent financial and management skills. We look forward to Dan's
leadership as we continue to pursue our aggressive growth plans."
With 2011 pro forma sales of $11 billion and more than 40,000 employees,
Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene and
energy technologies and services that provide and protect clean water,
safe food, abundant energy and healthy environments. Ecolab delivers
comprehensive programs and services to the food, energy, healthcare,
industrial and hospitality markets in more than 160 countries. For more
Ecolab news and information, visit www.ecolab.com.
(ECL-C)
Ecolab Inc.
Michael Monahan, 651-293-2809
Source: Ecolab Inc.
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