Kerrii Anderson '79 has been named Chief Executive Officer and President of Wendy's International, Inc. The announcement was made by the company's board of directors Nov. 9. She had been serving as interim CEO since April. Details...
Anderson, 49, was interim CEO and President since April 2006, and was previously Chief Financial Officer. Anderson is also a member of the Board of Directors.
“Following a national search over the past six months, we have decided that Kerrii is our best choice for CEO,” said Chairman Jim Pickett. “Kerrii has demonstrated excellent leadership skills. As interim CEO, she began a transformation of the Company, improved Wendy’s performance, developed a new strategic plan and executed several transactions that will continue to create value for shareholders. The Board knows that Kerrii has a passion for the Wendy’s® business. She is committed to building strong relationships with our franchisees, and has the respect and support of Wendy’s management team. Our entire Board supports Kerrii, and we look forward to working with her in the future.”
Anderson joined Wendy’s in September 2000 as Executive Vice President and CFO, and was appointed to the Board in November 2000. In addition to her accounting and finance responsibilities, she has managed key areas of the corporation, including Strategic Planning, Human Resources, Supply Chain, Information Technology and Wendy’s bakery.
She and her husband Doug recently named two rooms in the Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center in honor of two former Elon faculty members. Anderson was on campus Oct. 19 for the dedication of the Labcorp Suite for Executive Education at the Koury Business Center.
“I look forward to continuing to lead this great brand and consider it a privilege to work with the entire Wendy’s system,” said Anderson. “We have a talented management team, dedicated employees, and outstanding franchisees that have supported me and the management team. Over the past six months we have restructured the Company and we will continue to aggressively manage our brand for success. Our highest priority is to build on our positive momentum and significantly improve profits in every Wendy’s restaurant in the system,” Anderson said.
“I am pleased with the progress we are making on the initiatives we announced in October to revitalize the Wendy’s brand, streamline and improve restaurant operations, reclaim innovation leadership and enhance store economics,” said Anderson. “As CEO, I will focus on maximizing the performance of this Company.
“In my first 100 days, working with our team and our Board, I will further analyze every facet of the business to identify additional core growth and profit opportunities for every restaurant in our system, beyond those already announced, for both the short term and the long term,” Anderson said. “Once this work is completed, targets will be established for management’s short-term and long-term incentive compensation.”
Prior to joining Wendy’s, Anderson was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of M/I Schottenstein Homes, Inc. for 14 years. M/I is a $1 billion NYSE-listed company that is one of the nation’s leading homebuilders. She was also on the Board of Directors of M/I.
Anderson has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Elon and an MBA from Duke University. Anderson has served on the finance committee of the Columbus Foundation, the OhioHealth finance committee and on several other boards.
She is currently on the board of LabCorp (Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings), a NYSE-listed company that is one of the world’s largest clinical laboratories, with annual revenues of $3.3 billion.
Read the full Wendy’s news release on Anderson’s appointment at the link below…