Tennant Company Announces Senior Leadership Updates to Direct ERP Transformation and Drive Product Innovation

Rhea-AI Summary

Tennant Company (NYSE: TNC) announced senior leadership updates with Barbara A. Balinski appointed as Senior Vice President, Chief Transformation Officer, and Patrick W. Schottler as Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Technology Officer, to drive ERP transformation and product innovation. Balinski will lead the business process transformation initiative while Schottler focuses on product innovation and disruptive technologies. The company aims to consolidate and modernize business processes through an organization-wide SAP conversion. Balinski's experience in leading R&D, Marketing, and IT functions will be important to the success of this initiative. Schottler, with his cross-functional expertise, will manage the company's growing portfolio of brands, innovation pipeline, product lifecycle management, and disruptive technologies to drive enterprise growth.

Positive

• Barbara A. Balinski and Patrick W. Schottler's appointments as Senior Vice Presidents will strengthen Tennant Company's leadership team and support its enterprise growth strategy. Balinski's focus on ERP modernization and Schottler's role in driving product innovation demonstrate the company's commitment to growth and innovation.

Negative

• Splitting the Chief Innovation and Technology Officer role to focus on business process transformation may disrupt the leadership structure and operations within Tennant Company. The significant initiative to consolidate and modernize business processes through an organization-wide SAP conversion poses implementation risks and challenges that could impact operations.

Barbara A. Balinski Appointed Senior Vice President, Chief Transformation Officer

Patrick W. Schottler appointed Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Technology Officer

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tennant Company (NYSE: TNC), a world leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of solutions that help create a cleaner, safer, healthier world, today announced it has made changes to its senior leadership team to support its enterprise growth strategy. Barb Balinski will provide dedicated executive oversight to the Company’s business process transformation initiative as the Company’s Senior Vice President, Chief Transformation Officer; Pat Schottler will move into a new role focused on product innovation and disruptive technologies as the Company’s Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Technology Officer.

Senior Vice President, Chief Transformation Officer

Barb Balinski has served as Tennant’s Chief Innovation and Technology Officer (CI&TO) since 2021, leading the Company’s R&D, Marketing, and IT functions. In 2023, the Company kicked off a significant initiative to consolidate and modernize its business processes through an organization-wide SAP conversion. Focused executive oversight of this transformative work is critical to its success, so earlier this year Tennant made the decision to split the CI&TO role to allow her to focus her time. With the newly created role of Chief Marketing and Technology Officer now filled, Balinski will complete her transition to the role of SVP, Chief Transformation Officer, where she will be tasked with working cross-functionally to guide execution, drive alignment, and maintain momentum throughout this crucial initiative.

“Barb’s leadership of our ERP modernization effort to date has moved Tennant through some key milestones, including the development of the business case, definition of project scope, resource planning, partner selection, and project kick-off,” said Dave Huml, Tennant Company President and CEO. “She brings significant organizational knowledge to this role, along with experience working on business transformation and leading organizations through change. I am grateful to Barb for her focus and dedication to this work, and I believe her leadership will be critical to successfully completing our ERP modernization project.”

Balinski joined Tennant Company in 2018. She initially led the R&D function, overseeing the successful development of the Company’s groundbreaking autonomous robot program and developing a robust pipeline of new innovations. In 2021, she joined the senior leadership team, and has maintained responsibility for R&D, Marketing and IT functions as the Company has undertaken significant work to focus and leverage its product portfolio, expand offerings in key markets and segments, and expand robotics offerings. Prior to working at Tennant, Balinski led the engineering team at Whirlpool Corporation’s Integrated Business Units and spent 11 years with Saturn Corporation, a subsidiary of General Motors.

Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Technology Officer

The newly created role of Chief Marketing and Technology Officer will be tasked with delivering enterprise growth through disciplined management of the Company’s growing portfolio of brands, its strong innovation pipeline, holistic product lifecycle management, and focused oversight of Tennant’s disruptive technologies. The Company has chosen Pat Schottler, currently Tennant’s Vice President, Marketing, to fill this new role.

“Pat has developed extensive knowledge of the Tennant business working in a variety of leadership roles in the enterprise,” said Huml. “As leader of our Asia-Pacific business unit and in his current role, he has demonstrated his ability to work cross-functionally and align his organization around strategic goals. His breadth of experience across the business will serve him well as he takes on this newly created role.”

Schottler joined Tennant Company in 2011 after 11 years at Honeywell. Before joining Tennant’s Asia-Pacific business as Director of Business Development and Strategy, he held leadership roles in new product development and program management. In 2017, he assumed leadership of the APAC business, a role he held for five years before assuming responsibility for the Company's global marketing and product development functions in late 2022.

Said Huml, “With strong leadership from both Pat and Barb, Tennant is well-positioned to achieve the goals we have set for our current enterprise growth strategy. I look forward to watching Pat contribute in his new role and execute our key strategic objectives, particularly in the areas of new product development and go-to-market. At the same time, Barb’s experience with organizational change and her strong leadership ability will allow her to focus and champion the business transformation efforts that are key to Tennant’s future growth aspirations. Innovation is a core competency at Tennant, and both Barb and Pat are strong innovation advocates who will lead their organizations to drive growth for Tennant.”

Company Profile

Founded in 1870, Tennant Company (NYSE: TNC), headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, is a world leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of solutions that help create a cleaner, safer and healthier world. Its innovative products include equipment for maintaining surfaces in industrial, commercial and outdoor environments; detergent-free and other sustainable cleaning technologies; and cleaning tools and supplies. Tennant's global field service network is the most extensive in the industry. Tennant Company had sales of $1.24 billion in 2023 and has approximately 4,500 employees. Tennant has manufacturing operations throughout the world and sells products directly in 15 countries and through distributors in more than 100 countries. For more information, visit www.tennantco.com and www.ipcworldwide.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240503179222/en/

INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT:

Lorenzo Bassi

Tennant Company

Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations

investors@tennantco.com

763-540-1242

Source: Tennant Company

FAQ

Who was appointed as Tennant Company's Senior Vice President, Chief Transformation Officer?

Barbara A. Balinski was appointed as Tennant Company's Senior Vice President, Chief Transformation Officer.

Who will oversee product innovation and disruptive technologies at Tennant Company?

Patrick W. Schottler will oversee product innovation and disruptive technologies at Tennant Company as the Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and Technology Officer.

What initiative did Tennant Company kick off in 2023?

Tennant Company kicked off a significant initiative in 2023 to consolidate and modernize its business processes through an organization-wide SAP conversion.