Franklin Quest Co. said Wednesday that Arlen B. Crouch, president and chief executive officer since 1989 of the time management firm, will retire on Feb. 28 to serve a three-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Jon H. Rowberry, currently vice president and chief operating officer, will replace Crouch as president and will remain COO. Chairman Hyrum W. Smith will assume the additional duties of CEO.The changes in top management follows last Wednesday's announcement that Franklin Quest will merge with Covey Leadership Center to form a new company to be called Franklin Covey Co. in a deal valued at $160 million. The merger is expected to be completed by May.
Franklin also said Wednesday that John L. Theler, formerly of Rubbermaid Corp., also has joined Franklin and will become chief financial officer.
And Mark W. Stromberg, formerly with US WEST, has joined Franklin as executive vice president of sales.
"Arlen has served Franklin Quest very well and will be greatly missed," said Smith of Crouch's retirement.
"We have had tremendous growth in revenue and earnings during his outstanding leadership. We understand and respect his desire to accept this mission call."
Crouch said his experiences at Franklin have been "terrific."
"Few people ever get to be a part of such a wonderful success story. We have put in place a great management team, and I have never been more optimistic about the future of Franklin Quest Co."
Crouch joined Franklin from brokerage firm Merrill Lynch where he had worked for 28 years.
Rowberry said he intends to pick up where Crouch leaves off but expects more changes as the merger is completed.
"I think that as time moves on, the merger with the Covey organization will bring us to a number of new initiatives and a refocusing of our strategy in the marketplace. But I'm not ready at this point to be any more specific," said Rowberry.
Rowberry is a graduate of Brigham Young University with a bachelor of science degree in accounting. A California native, he began his professional career with Deloitte & Touche international accounting firm where he was a partner from 1979-1982.
He spent three years as chief financial officer of a start-up technology company and then moved to Adia Services Inc. in 1985 where he served for seven years. He then became CFO for the Swiss parent company Adia S.A., based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
He left Adia in 1995 to join Franklin Quest as chief financial officer. He became COO last September. Rowberry and his wife, Larraine, have five children.