W.W. Grainger Inc., Chicago, said its president and chief operating officer will leave the company. At the same time, the company is changing its operational structure to meet its aggressive growth targets.
Wesley M. Clark, president and chief operating officer, will leave the company to pursue other opportunities effective June 1. He will also resign from the board.
As part of the reorganization, Executive Vice President James Ryan, a 24-year company veteran, has been selected group president of the Grainger-branded businesses in the United States. This unit represents all of Grainger’s businesses operating under the Grainger brand in the United States, including the 400 branches and nine distribution centers in its domestic supply chain network and Grainger’s outsourcing business. All of the company’s business units now report directly to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard L. Keyser.
“Our new structure is exactly what we need to execute on our strategies and to grow sales and earnings,” said Keyser. “We are just beginning to see the results of the actions we took late last year and plan to accelerate our expansion program in the United States.”
He added, “Under Jim Ryan’s leadership, we are aligning our operational strengths, including sales and supply chain, to better serve our customers. With more manufacturing jobs moving offshore, Grainger has an ongoing business development effort to evaluate the opportunities to supply maintenance products to overseas operations.”
Ryan joined Grainger in 1980 in product management. He was promoted to president, Grainger’s parts division, in 1994, vice president for information services in 1996, and president of Grainger.com in 2000. He became executive vice president of marketing, sales, and service in 2002.