Bridgestone reshuffles West region leadership roles

Nashville, Tennessee – Bridgestone has announced two executive appointments in its ‘West region,’ covering the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, effective 1 May.

In a 29 April statement, the Japanese group said it is separating the roles of West chief executive officer and group president, North America, to provide “increased clarity of scope and focus” in delivering business goals.

Scott Damon will remain West CEO, while Robert Johnson has been appointed group president, North America.

In the new role, Johnson will lead North America Core Tire and assume full profit and loss responsibility for the region.

Wade Sempkowski has been named West chief financial officer, succeeding Johnson.

Johnson brings “a powerful combination of financial, operational and customer-facing leadership” to North America, while Sempkowski brings “deep finance expertise” to the CFO role, said Damon about the appointments.

Johnson joined Bridgestone in 2016 and most recently served as West CFO, a role he assumed in May 2024.

Sempkowski joined Bridgestone Americas in 2019 and has served as VP of finance, Bridgestone Americas, since 2022. He has also been a board member of TireHub since 2022.