Salt Lake City, UT – Black Diamond, Inc., a Utah-based supplier of high performance outdoor, action sport and ski equipment, is expected to appoint Aaron Kuehne to interim chief financial officer, effective March 15, 2013, serving as the company’s principal financial officer and principal accounting officer.
Kuehne, the company’s current vice president of finance, will succeed Robert Peay, who has tendered his resignation from the position to pursue personal interests effective as of March 15. Peay plans to remain involved with the company on a part-time basis through the end of 2013.
“Robert has been with Black Diamond for more than 16 years and we owe him deep gratitude for the quality of his service and significant contributions,” said Peter Metcalf, president and CEO of Black Diamond. “He has been a trusted partner who earned the respect of our board of directors, our shareholders and all of our associates, and we wish him the very best in his new endeavors.”
Kuehne, who has been with Black Diamond for more than two years, earned his MBA from the University of Utah and is a CPA with prior experience as a manager at KPMG. Before joining the Company in 2010, Kuehne served as the corporate controller of Certiport, a provider of test delivery services for the global workforce and academic markets.
“Aaron has the complete support of the board and our executive management team in assuming these responsibilities,” said Metcalf. “During his time at Black Diamond, he has shown leadership and dedication, being intimately involved in our global accounting, finance and treasury functions, including the development and execution of key strategic and financial initiatives, risk management and the integration of our two recent acquisitions of POC and PIEPS. Through his many travels to our worldwide locations, Aaron understands the dynamics at play in continuing to execute our long-term strategic plan of growing a profitable business that provides meaningful returns to our shareholders.”
The company intends to conduct a formal search for a permanent CFO and Kuehne will be considered part of that search.