David Rawden from AlixPartners named as Interim CFO
SCHAUMBURG, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
The Board of Directors of Career Education Corporation, (NASDAQ: CECO),
today announced that Chief Financial Officer Reid Simpson will be
leaving the Company on March 31, 2015 to become Chief Financial Officer
at ShopperTrak, a Chicago headquartered leading global retail analytics
provider. David Rawden of AlixPartners, a business advisory firm which
specializes in turnarounds and restructurings, will serve as Interim CFO
effective April 1, 2015. Mr. Rawden’s experience includes interim CFO
positions at Allied Holdings, Inc., Exopack Holdings SA, and X-Rite,
Incorporated. It also includes prior education experience when he served
as the Executive Vice President of Finance at Savannah College of Art
and Design.
The Company also announced that Michele Peppers, Vice President
Accounting & Reporting, who has served for nearly 11 years in the
Company’s finance department in various roles of increasing
responsibility, has been designated as the Company’s principal
accounting officer effective April 1, 2015. Mr. Rawden and Ms. Peppers
will oversee the Company’s financial reporting while its Board of
Directors finalizes its search for a permanent replacement for its Chief
Executive Officer. A search for a permanent CFO will be implemented
following that appointment.
“Reid has been an important component in the execution of our company’s
turnaround strategy and we wish him well in his future endeavors,” said
Chairman and Interim CEO Ron McCray. “The work that our financial team
has done to improve our organizational cost structure and reduce the
impact of the losses within our Transitional Campuses and Discontinued
Operations continues to stabilize our financial profile.”
“My decision to join ShopperTrak represents a unique personal
opportunity for me and is not a reflection on the strength of my belief
in Career Education’s future,” Simpson said. “There is a strong finance
team in place at Career Education and I have the utmost confidence in
their ability to continue to successfully support the execution of the
company’s turnaround strategy. I firmly believe that Career Education is
on a positive path forward and will emerge from this transformation as a
stronger company. I wish the company the very best going forward.”
McCray concluded, “Career Education has a strong history of success in
partnering with AlixPartners as they have been instrumental in helping
us identify and execute on our cost control initiatives over the last
several years. I welcome Dave to our team and look forward to him and
the AlixPartners team continuing to find more ways for us to improve our
operating platform. The Board and I remain focused on finding a
permanent solution for our CEO position. We have retained an executive
search firm and are well into the process of identifying and
interviewing internal and external candidates for the role. We are
encouraged at the caliber of candidates we have met so far, but will
remain patient until we have found the right leader that can finalize
our transition and take Career Education to the next level.”
David Rawden Background
Dave Rawden is an experienced financial professional with an extensive
background with public companies across a wide variety of industries
including manufacturing, transportation, distribution and education.
Most recently, he was CFO for a privately held regional specialty
trucking company servicing the energy industry. While there, Dave helped
the company restructure its debt, designed and implemented accounting
and liquidity procedures, all while significantly improving EBITDA. Dave
was also Interim CFO for Exopack Holdings SA, a privately held SEC
registered $700 million manufacturer of flexible packaging; CFO for
X-Rite, Incorporated, a $250 million private/public manufacturer of
Electro/Optical color measurement devices; CFO for Allied Holdings,
Inc., a $1 billion publicly traded transportation company; and Executive
Vice President of Finance for Savannah College of Art and Design, a
non-profit private college that also had some for-profit elements to it.
Dave earned a Master of Management degree in finance and economics from
Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from
Michigan State University. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the
State of Michigan.
ABOUT CAREER EDUCATION CORPORATION
The colleges, institutions and universities that are part of the Career
Education Corporation (“CEC”) family offer high-quality education to a
diverse student population in a variety of career-oriented disciplines
through online, on-ground and hybrid learning program offerings. In
addition to its online offerings, Career Education serves students from
campuses throughout the United States offering programs that lead to
doctoral, master’s, bachelor’s and associate degrees, as well as to
diplomas and certificates.
CEC’s institutions include both universities that provide degree
programs through the master or doctoral level and colleges that provide
programs through the associate and bachelor level. The University group
includes American InterContinental University (“AIU”) and Colorado
Technical University (“CTU”) – predominantly serving students online
with career-focused degree programs that meet the educational demands of
today’s busy adults. The Career Schools group offers career-centered
education primarily through ground-based campuses and includes
Briarcliffe College, Brooks Institute, Harrington College of Design, Le
Cordon Bleu North America (“LCB”), Missouri College and Sanford-Brown
Institutes and Colleges (“SBI” and “SBC,” respectively). Through its
colleges, institutions and universities, CEC is committed to providing
high-quality education, enabling students to graduate and pursue
rewarding career opportunities.
A detailed listing of individual campus locations and web links to
Career Education’s colleges, institutions and universities can be found
at www.careered.com.
Except for the historical and present factual information contained
herein, the matters set forth in this release, including statements
identified by words such as “continue to,” “believe,” “will,” “expect”
and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements as defined in
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These
statements are based on information currently available to us and are
subject to various assumptions, risks, uncertainties and other factors
that could cause our results of operations, financial condition, cash
flows, performance, business prospects and opportunities to differ
materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these statements.
Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, we
undertake no obligation to update or revise such factors or any of the
forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future events,
developments or changed circumstances, or for any other reason. These
risks and uncertainties, the outcomes of which could materially and
adversely affect our financial condition and operations, include, but
are not limited to, the following: declines in enrollment; rulemaking by
the U.S. Department of Education or any state and increased focus by
Congress, the President and governmental agencies on for-profit
education institutions; our continued compliance with and eligibility to
participate in Title IV Programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965,
as amended, and the regulations thereunder (including the gainful
employment and financial responsibility standards prescribed by the U.S.
Department of Education), as well as national and regional accreditation
standards and state regulatory requirements; the impact of management
changes; negative trends in the real estate market which could impact
the success of our initiatives to reduce our real estate obligations
under discontinued operations; our ability to successfully defend
litigation and other claims brought against us; and changes in the
overall U.S. or global economy. Further information about these and
other relevant risks and uncertainties may be found in the Company’s
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014
and its subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Career Education Corporation
Investors:
Alpha IR Group
Chris
Hodges or Sam Gibbons
(312) 445-2870
[email protected]
or
Media:
Mark
Spencer
Director, Corporate Communications
(847) 585-3802
Source: Career Education Corporation