President Paul Byrne recently announced that after 28 years with Precor, including 13 as president, he will begin his retirement on September 1, 2013. Precor’s vice president – EMEA & APAC, Rob Barker, will assume the presidency in the culmination of a long-developing succession plan.
“Over the past 35 years, I have been fortunate to have been part of an industry that has contributed to the well-being of so many people, and to have spent 28 of those years at Precor has been beyond fortunate,” said Byrne. “It has been an immeasurable gift. I will retire with great pride in what we have accomplished and with eager anticipation of what lies ahead.”
Upon Byrne’s recommendation, Rob Barker was unanimously approved as the new president by the Amer Sports Board of Directors and Heikki Takala, the president and CEO of Amer Sports.
Barker joined Precor in 1995 as the U.K. sales and marketing manager, and has developed his experience through several positions. For the last five years Barker served as vice president – EMEA & APAC, and as a member of the global Precor senior management team where he has helped shape the company’s growth strategy.
“I am honored and excited to be asked by Paul Byrne and Heikki Takala to become the Precor president upon Paul’s retirement,” said Barker. “I congratulate Paul on his strong career and admire his extraordinary efforts in shaping Precor into the world-leading company that it is today. It has been my good fortune to work closely with Paul for many years and to see first-hand how Precor has, under his stewardship, innovated entirely new categories of fitness equipment and services like the EFX, AMT and Preva. It will be a pleasure to work with our employees worldwide to continue the Precor legacy of innovation.”
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
