Vermont Paper Uses AI To Cover Town Meetings (mediapost.com)

Christian Jünger is to become the new Chairman of the Management Board/CEO of the German Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe. As Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House, announced yesterday, Jünger will take up his new position on October 1. Jünger succeeds Thomas Rathnow, who stepped down from the role in April after resigning for personal reasons. Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe has since been managed on an interim basis by Britta Egetemeier and Thomas Pichler. In his new role, Jünger will lead Verlagsgruppe’s strategy to drive its future growth and consolidate its position as leading German-language publisher. As CEO of Verlagsgruppe, he will report to Nihar Malaviya and will sit on Penguin Random House’s Global Executive Committee. Christian Jünger will join Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe from Rowohlt Verlag, where he has supervised Sales, Purchasing/Manufacturing, Controlling, Rights and Licenses, IT, and HR as Managing Director since 2021. Previously, he gained significant experience in the retail book sector at Amazon Germany, where he most recently served as Head of Vendor Management Books, managing the business with specialist and foreign-language books, calendars, and wholesalers.

Jerry Cheatham, a 36-year finance leader within Sonoco, has been named interim Chief Financial Officer, replacing Chief Financial Officer Rob Dillard, who has departed the Company. Mr. Cheatham has been Vice President of Global Finance for the Company’s Industrial Paper Packaging segment since December 2022 and previously served in several finance and accounting leadership roles since joining the Company in 1988. Mr. Cheatham holds a BS degree in Accounting from South Carolina State University and an EMBA from Vanderbilt University. The Company is undergoing a retained search for internal and external candidates to identify and select a permanent Chief Financial Officer. “Jerry is a trusted and respected leader within Sonoco who brings strong financial and operational expertise into this role. He will ensure an orderly transition of duties and provide further stability to our global finance organization,” said Howard Coker, President and Chief Executive Officer. “I want to thank Rob for his contributions since joining the Company in 2018, and for helping to build our current finance team and focusing our strategy to transform Sonoco into a global leader in sustainable metal and fiber packaging through several significant transactions, including the acquisitions of Eviosys and Ball Metalpack and the recently announced divestiture of our Thermoformed and Flexible Packaging (TFP) business to Toppan Holdings. We wish him all the best in his future professional and personal endeavors.”

Grainger reported results for the 2017 third quarter ended September 30, 2017. Sales of $2.6 billion increased 2 percent versus the third quarter of 2016. There were 63 selling days in the 2017 third quarter, one fewer than the 2016 third quarter. On a daily basis, sales increased 3 percent versus the prior year. Net earnings for the quarter of $162 million were down 13 percent versus $186 million in 2016. Earnings per share of $2.79 decreased 9 percent versus $3.05 in 2016. "Our U.S. business had strong volume in the quarter driven by our strategic pricing initiatives and an improving demand environment. We saw a solid response from digital marketing activities that began in mid-August, particularly from our mid-sized customers. We continued to streamline our portfolio with the divestiture of a noncore U.S. specialty business, which affected sales in the quarter," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer DG Macpherson. "Our single channel online businesses continued their strong sales growth and improved profitability. Our Canadian business continues to be challenged as we execute our turnaround strategy. Click Read More below for additional information.