Windstream Holdings Inc. of Little Rock said Tuesday that Brent Whittington, its chief operating officer, is resigning effective Sept. 1.
The company said it will eliminate the COO position after Whittington leaves and split its duties between Mark Faris, executive vice president of operations, and Randy Nicklas, executive vice president of engineering and chief technology officer.
Both men will report directly to Jeff Gardner, the company’s CEO.
“I’m very proud of all we’ve accomplished over the past eight years,” Whittington said in a news release announcing his departure. “It has been an amazing period in my career and I will be forever thankful to have worked with such a fantastic team.
“Windstream is in a great position with a strong leadership team and talented employees,” he said. “I’m confident in the company’s ability to successfully execute its vision.”
Whittington became COO in August 2009. Before that, he was executive vice president and CFO. He came to Windstream in December 2005 after having been senior vice president of operations for Alltel Corp. of Little Rock, the publicly traded telecommunications firm that created Windstream that same year. Verizon purchased Alltel in 2009.
Whittington joined Alltel in 2002 as vice president of finance and accounting. Before that, he worked for Arthur Andersen LLP for eight years.
“Brent has been instrumental to Windstream’s success from our formation as a company and throughout our transformation,” Gardner said. “I thank him for his leadership and counsel, and I wish him the very best in the future.”
Whittington is on the board of directors of Rignet and the board of trustees of The Nature Conservancy of Arkansas.
Shares of Windstream (NYSE: WIN) closed down 0.35 percent to $11.32 on Tuesday.
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