CHICAGO — Lawson Products Inc. on Tuesday announced the appointment of Cesar Lanuza as president and chief executive officer of Lawson’s operating company, and the retirement of president and CEO Michael G. DeCata, effective April 4, as part of an ongoing succession plan.
DeCata will transition his role through May 1, when he will also retire from his remaining positions, including as a member of Lawson’s board of directors, and will then assume a role providing advisory services to Lawson’s board as part of a four-year agreement.
“As part of our continued succession planning and search process, we are very excited to welcome Cesar Lanuza as the new president and CEO of the Lawson Products operating company," said Lawson Chairman J. Bryan King. "Cesar’s high energy, industry expertise and successful track record, coupled with his customer-centric leadership style, are well-suited to take Lawson to the next level of growth and profitability. He is an excellent fit with our vision and direction following the completion of our strategic combination announced late last week.”
“I am thrilled to be joining Lawson at such an exciting time for the company and our customers,” Lanuza said. “Lawson Products is a world-class organization with strong and engaged teams, and my goal is to push the vision forward to further accelerate revenue growth and profitability. I am confident that we will continue to evolve our products, services, and capabilities to better service our customers.
"We have a strategic growth plan for Lawson through both organic and inorganic strategies and have a clear focus on end markets with longer-term secular growth. The strategic combination of Lawson, TestEquity and Gexpro Services opens new opportunities to increase wallet share through cross-selling, leveraging best-in-class services and expanding our digital capabilities across the platform. The future has never been brighter for Lawson Products.”
Mr. Lanuza brings a combined 30 years of global experience and is a multi-cultural and bilingual leader, who most recently served as chief executive officer and director at Jon-Don LLC. Prior to this position, he served as president for North America and Asia Pacific at Optimas OE Solutions LLC and previously as vice president/general manager at W.W. Grainger Inc., where he also served in various senior-level positions for more than 10 years located in North America and South America. Lanuza has also held multiple cross-functional roles at General Electric-Healthcare and United Technologies. He earned an engineering degree from Universidad Internacional de las Americas in San Jose, Costa Rica, and an MBA from INCAE Business School. Cesar resides in the Chicago area with his wife, and he has two sons.
“On behalf of the board, management team and Lawson employees, I want to thank Mike for his significant contributions that have led to the success and growth of Lawson for the last decade," King said. "During his tenure, Mike has been a steadfast leader and his commitment to operating excellence has been instrumental in the Company’s evolution and value creation for our shareholders.”
“I want to sincerely thank the Lawson board of directors for their confidence in me, and I would also like to thank and recognize the dedicated Lawson employees for their hard work and commitment during my tenure at Lawson," DeCata said. "It has been an honor to serve as president and CEO during this important period of transformation and growth for the company. As an ongoing Lawson shareholder, I am highly confident in Lawson’s ability to grow and create long-term value under Cesar’s leadership. I look forward to my new role as an advisor to the board and especially looking forward to spending more time with my family.”
