Bob Gunderman
A day after the resignation of founding CEO Jeff Gardner, Windstream Holdings Inc.’s new chief executive appointed a new CFO and named three executives to oversee company segments.
Tony Thomas, who became CEO immediately following Gardner’s resignation, on Friday named Bob Gunderman as chief financial officer.
Gunderman had been interim CFO since Oct. 1, taking over the post formerly occupied by Thomas when Thomas became president of Windstream’s planned real estate investment trust spinoff, set to launch early next year. Before that, Gunderman was senior vice president and treasurer.
Thomas said Gunderman will retain his duties as treasurer until a replacement is named.
“I am pleased to promote Bob to CFO,” Thomas said in a news release. “He is a skilled and seasoned finance leader with intimate knowledge of our business and the opportunities in front of us.
“Alongside our talented finance organization, Bob will play an integral role in driving improved operating performance and profitability at Windstream,” he said.
Thomas also named three executive to oversee “key business segments.”
David Works, executive vice president and chief human resources officer, is now president of enterprise. David Redmond, president of consumer, is now president of consumer and small and medium business. And Mike Shippey, senior vice president of carrier solutions, is now president of carrier.
Thomas said the new organization will “align focus” and “create a stronger organizational foundation” at the company. The three will have responsibility for sales, marketing, service delivery and customer care within their respective segments, the company said.
“Sharpening our strategic focus on our core segments, each led by accomplished and effective leaders within the company, will instill greater accountability for efficient, high quality performance,” Thomas said. “Additionally, the new structure aligns functions and responsibilities to better support the evolving needs of our customers and drive growth.”
Windstream, originally the wireline division of Alltel Corp. that was spun off eight years ago, has been transitioning away from traditional telephone services to business services, and those strategic growth products now account for more than 70 percent of revenue.
The publicly traded (Nasdaq: WIN) Fortune 500 company has more than $6 billion in annual revenue and provides services including cloud computing and managed services, to businesses nationwide. It also offers broadband, phone and digital TV services to consumers mainly in rural areas.
Many of Windstream’s top executives came from Alltel. Gardner had been Alltel’s executive vice president and CFO. Gunderman filled various management roles at Alltel, including vice president of internal audit, before joining Windstream in 2008. Thomas, who joined Alltel when it merged with 360 Communications in 1998, joined Windstream in as controller in 2006. Redman also worked for Alltel.
Shares of Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN) were trading down on Friday by more than 9 percent to $8.47.
Sign up for Daily E-news
