DIC orders leadership change at Reichhold

By Patrick Raleigh, ERJ On-line news editor

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina- Reichhold Inc. has appointed John Gaither as president and chief executive officer and Douglas Frey as chief operating officer (COO) of Reichhold.

Gaither takes over the helm at Reichhold from Gary Krall who had served as chairman and CEO. A company spokesman declined to comment on further on the change of leadership but said it was a decision taken by Reichhold's Japanese parent company Dainippon Ink and Chemicals (DIC).

Gaither spent 32 years with Reichhold before leaving the company in 1998 to work with technology companies in Research Triangle Park. He previously served as president of three different Reichhold divisions, COO and chairman of European operations.

Frey spent 17 years with Reichhold before leaving the company in 2001. He held senior manufacturing, sales and marketing positions at Reichhold, and was president of its former Emulsion Polymers Division.

“Doug Frey and I have worked together for many years, and we look forward to rejoining Reichhold and providing the leadership to move the company through these challenging times of industrial globalisation and consolidation,” Gaither said in a Reichhold press statement.