EiKO Global (Olathe, KS): The company appointed two senior executives. Matt Johnson has been named CEO and Rick Laird is now president of North American operations. Prior to joining EiKO Global, Johnson was the COO of Pep Boys, where he led operations, supply chain, merchandising and project management. Prior to Pep Boys, he served as COO and executive VP for Parts Authority, a distributor of automotive replacement parts, tools/equipment and transmissions.
Laird has over three decades of lighting experience, including a prior senior executive stint at EiKO. He began his lighting career at Philips Lighting in 1990, moved to Osram Sylvania in 1995, and joined EiKO in 2007. He also led the EiKO business in 2017, taking the helm from Gary Withers, the founder and then CEO of EiKO Global. After a short time away from the company, Laird has stepped back in to work with Johnson and the executive leadership team to continue to grow the business and take the company to the next level.
In his comments on the appointments, Withers said, “The lighting industry has been changed forever by the events of the past few years. There is growing interest in the conservation of scarce energy resources, rising popularity of sustainable and automated lighting technologies as well as the refactoring of global supply chains. The change in leadership will position EiKO Global to lead from the front on these important market changes for the benefit of our customers and partners.”
“We are excited to have the opportunity to bring together such a unique combination of talent and experience to the EiKO Global leadership team”, said Michael Morrissey, managing principal at Inverness Graham Investment, in the press release. “As our new CEO, Matt impressed the board with his vision for the future of the business and his strong commitment to providing a superior customer experience. We are looking forward to supporting and working with Matt and Rick as they grow and enhance the EiKO business.”
EiKO Global, LLC is a 45-year-old North American owned and operated lighting manufacturer with offices in the United States, Canada, Europe and APAC.