Windstream Holdings Inc. of Little Rock on Tuesday announced the appointments of William LaPerch, the former president and CEO of AboveNet Communications Inc., and Michael Stoltz, a former audit partner with Ernst & Young, to its board of directors.
The publicly traded telecommunications firm (Nasdaq: WIN) said the two qualify as independent board members under Nasdaq listing requirements.
LaPerch will serve on the board’s compensation committee, and Stoltz will serve on the audit committee. The appointments are effective immediately.
The appointments come as two other executives prepare to leave the board. Windstream said Dennis Foster will retire on Feb. 1. And Francis X. “Skip” Frantz will leave the board and become chairman of the board of Windstream’s real estate investment trust spinoff, announced in July.
Frantz will leave the Windstream once the spinoff is complete, likely in the first quarter of 2015.
“I am delighted to welcome Bill LaPerch and Mike Stoltz to our board,” Jeff Gardner, Windstream’s president and CEO, said in a news release. “Both are distinguished professionals with deep experience in telecommunications and finance.
“Bill’s extensive telecom and technology background will be very beneficial in shaping our ongoing transformation strategy. Mike has provided sound financial advice and strategy to leading public telecommunications providers and his financial expertise uniquely positions him to join our audit committee,” Gardner said.
LaPerch, 59, is the former chief executive of AboveNet, a provider of bandwidth infrastructure services. Before working at AboveNet, LaPerch was president of network services and president of enterprise services for Metromedia Fiber Network. He also has held various operations and engineering positions at MCI WorldCom Inc., a global communications company.
LaPerch serves on the boards of Digital Realty Trust, a leading global provider of data center solutions, and Imation Corp., a global scalable storage and data security company. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and received a Master of Business Administration degree from Columbia University.
Stoltz, 63, a former audit partner with Ernst & Young, has nearly 40 years experience serving clients primarily in the telecommunications, media and entertainment industries.
Prior to joining Ernst & Young in 2002, Stoltz was a partner with Arthur Andersen providing audit, finance and specialized project services to clients in the energy, governmental and telecommunications sectors.
Stoltz is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is a registered CPA in several states. He serves on the advisory council of SAMMinistries, the largest provider of homeless prevention services in San Antonio. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in finance and a Master of Business Administration degree from Miami University in Ohio.
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