Korzenski, 52, will also retain his responsibilities as the company's president and coo, positions to which he was appointed on April 17, after serving since February 2005 as the company's executive vice president of sales and marketing.
In his new role as ceo, the company said Korzenski succeeds Robert L. Hulseman, 74, who has held management roles at the company for more than 50 years. Hulseman will maintain his leadership role in the company by continuing to serve as the company's chairman of the board of directors.
Korzenski has more than 25 years of experience in sales and operations in the disposable foodservice industry. He joined the company as senior vice president in February 2004 when Solo Cup Co. acquired SF Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Sweetheart Cup Co. In February 2005, he was promoted to executive vice president of sales and marketing.
While at SF Holdings, Korzenski served in a number of positions over a ten-year period, including president and chief operating officer of Hoffmaster as well as The Fonda Group, Inc., both of which are now part of Solo Cup's broad product portfolio. Prior to that he served as vice president of operations and vice president of sales and marketing for Scott Paper Co.
"Bob Korzenski has the energy, experience and leadership skills to take Solo Cup's performance to the next level," said Robert L. Hulseman, chairman of the company. "Since joining us two years ago, he has demonstrated a commitment to strategic, operational and financial excellence that will serve our customers, other business partners, investors and employees well for many years to come."
"I am pleased and honored to succeed Robert Hulseman, a member of the company's founding family, as chief executive officer," Mr. Korzenski said. "I look forward to continuing the solid progress made in integrating the operations of Sweetheart Cup, Hoffmaster Tissue and The Fonda Brands that we acquired in the SF Holdings transaction, thereby creating a strong platform for future growth."
Of his promotion, Korzenski said he would continue building the value of Solo Cup Co. for its customers, vendors, investors and employees.
"We have great, long-term relationships with our business partners, which we value highly and which have helped us become the recognized leader in our industry. We are sharply focused on the manufacture of disposable foodservice products for the consumer/retail, foodservice, packaging and international markets," Korzenski said. "We are making solid progress in integrating the operations of Sweetheart Cup, Hoffmaster Tissue and The Fonda Brands, thereby creating a strong platform for future growth. We continue to actively and successfully implement our business plan, introduce new products, meet our customer and vendor commitments, and create a dynamic work environment for our employees."
Solo recently announced that it is implementing a nationwide DSR training program. DELAY IN FILING 2Q REPORT Separately, the company today reported a temporary delay in the filing of its SEC Form 10-Q for the company's second quarter ended July 2. The company said it will need the additional time to complete an internal review initiated by Korzenski of issues with regard to certain accounting practices and procedures related to the current and/or prior periods. These issues pertain primarily to the timely recognition of certain customer credits, accounts payable and accrued expenses and the valuation of certain tangible and intangible assets.
The company said the internal review of the accounting matters, which is being led by Eric A. Simonsen, the company's recently named interim chief financial officer, will be completed as soon as practicable. Upon completion, the findings will be discussed with the company's board of directors and the company's independent registered public accountants, KPMG LLP, after which the company will file its results for the three- and six-month periods ended July 2 and discuss those results with the financial community.
Currently, the internal review relates to the fiscal periods commencing with the SF Holdings transaction. It has not yet been determined whether any restatement of the company's financial results will be necessary based on the accounting review, or what the magnitude of any such possible restatement might be. The company has informed its lenders of the delay in the release of its second-quarter 2006 financial results and has initiated discussions with them regarding an extension of the deadline for providing such information.
Korzenski said: "When I became president and coo in April, one of the first things I did was to launch a thorough review of our business. Through that review, it became clear that certain of the company's accounting practices and procedures may not have been as well-developed and/or as rigorously and consistently applied as they should have been. As soon as we identified this issue, we commenced an in-depth internal examination of our financial accounting and reporting, which is still under way and which we expect to complete in a timely manner.
"While vigorously addressing these accounting matters, we continue to actively and successfully implement our business plan, introduce new products, meet our customer and vendor commitments, and create a dynamic work environment for our employees."
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