Cedar Fair CFO Peter Crage resigns
Posted
[Ed. note: The following is an excerpt of a press release. -J]
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN) today announced that Peter J. Crage has submitted his letter of resignation as the Company’s chief financial officer, effective June 22, 2011. Crage, 49, who has served in this position since 2005, is leaving the Company to pursue a new professional opportunity. David R. Hoffman, 42, vice president of finance and corporate tax, and Brian C. Witherow, 44, vice president and corporate controller, will lead the finance function in the interim while the Company conducts a search for Crage’s successor.
“On behalf of the Board and the entire organization, I want to sincerely thank Peter for his tireless efforts and loyal service to Cedar Fair over the years,” said Dick Kinzel, president and chief executive officer. “Peter is a consummate professional and an even better person. His insight and candor will be missed. We wish him nothing but the very best as he moves on to this new opportunity.
“We built significant operational and financial momentum during the past year and fully expect to maintain this strong performance trajectory in 2011 and beyond,” he said. “Given the strength of our financial team, we expect this transition to be seamless.”
“I wish to thank Dick and my colleagues, as well as the Board, for the confidence they have consistently shown me during my tenure at Cedar Fair,” said Crage. “While I am tremendously excited about my new position, it was certainly not an easy decision for me to make given my strong connection to Cedar Fair and the wonderfully talented men and women who work here. I am proud of what we accomplished together and look forward to watching them build upon this success.”
As previously announced, the Company is in the process of naming a new president, who will succeed Kinzel as chief executive officer upon the completion of his contract. Today’s announcement does not, in any way, affect the Company’s plan to name this new senior leader in the near future.
Read the entire press release from Cedar Fair.
Whether he left because of his boss or not, it still demonstrates the inability of the guy at the top to retain people. That inability now ranges from the lowest underlings up to two chief executives. Huge leadership failure.
Jeff - Editor - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
The last thing I want to do is defend Dick but I'm not sure losing the CFO draws the same parallels to some of the other management that has been bled under Kinzel. If Crage had been a "lifer" then I would be a little more suspicious.
But, he has only been there since '05 (short by Cedar Fair standards) and Sandusky ain't exactly most livable city. I can see someone with CFO talents looking to go to a larger company and/or a more interesting community for family reasons.
Now, that isn't to say that this can't easily be a case of another person who is growing tired of Kinzel's poor decisions but I think it isn't quite as easy to draw that conclusion with this individual.
wahoo skipper said:
and Sandusky ain't exactly most livable city
Agreed - I'd not pick that town unless the compensation was extremely stellar where I could afford to do a 90 min commute from Columbus.
At this point, he may have a feel for where the company is headed in terms of Kinzel's replacement and its not someone he thinks he wants to work with. He may also understand that the new president/CEO will want to bring in his own folks so why not get out when you can.
Jerry said:
do a 90 min commute from Columbus.
90 minutes? It's 120 miles including city strrets and interchanges. Even if it were freeway the entire way, you'd still have to do 80mph to make it in 90 minutes. :-)
884 Coasters, 34 States, 7 Countries
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If you live on the north side - I think 90 is about right. Of course I think most folks got the idea of my point...
Are we sure he resigned? These things can be confusing for Cedar Fair. ;)
"If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins." --- Benjamin Franklin
Well, given the timing of this news and now looking at the later release concerning the rejection of another Special Meeting at the behest of Q I really don't know what to think.
Sure, it could just be coincidence but I also have to wonder if he Crage wouldn't delay his announcement considering everyone knew this other announcement was forthcoming.
And herein lies the problem with Kinzel: You just can't believe much of anything at this point.
I live on the North side of Columbus. For me it is 105 miles, and the drive takes anywhere from 120-180 minutes depending on traffic, traffic signals, and trains.
My impression just from the press release is that Crage is leaving, as my sysadmin co-worker would say, "with cake".
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
/X\ _ *** Respect rides. They do not respect you. ***
/XXX\ /X\ /X\_ _ /X\__ _ _ _____
/XXXXX\ /XXX\ /XXXX\_ /X\ /XXXXX\ /X\ /X\ /XXXXX
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RideMan said:
I live on the North side of Columbus. For me it is 105 miles, and the drive takes anywhere from 120-180 minutes depending on traffic, traffic signals, and trains.My impression just from the press release is that Crage is leaving, as my sysadmin co-worker would say, "with cake".
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
That's what happens when you drive one of those Amish buggies Dave.
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