Cannondale has announced that Paul Francese will be joining the company on October 1st as its new Chief Financial Officer. The hiring of Francese fills the last remaining vacancy in Cannondale's executive team, and comes two months after Bell Sports veteran John Doerr joined the company as its new Chief Operating Officer.
Francese comes to Cannondale from Pitney Bowes, Inc. where he was Vice President of Finance, Information Technology, and Change Initiatives. At Pitney Bowes, Francese was responsible for financial reporting, accounting controls, strategic planning, budgeting and acquisitions. Prior to working at Pitney Bowes, he held managerial positions at General Electric, United Technologies and Litton Industries. Francese holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Rutgers University, an M.B.A. from the University of New Haven, and is a graduate of the General Electric Financial Management Program.
David Uri a Director of Cannondale and a Partner at Cannondale's parent company, Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P., said that Francese's hiring leaves Cannondale well-positioned for the future. “Paul is the last piece of the puzzle,” said Uri. “He has extensive experience working with leading consumer product companies known for their financial excellence and best practices. We look forward to instituting new systems and controls with Paul's help, and achieving a new level of fiscal discipline.”
“With the addition of Paul and John Doerr, we now have an exceptionally strong and well-rounded executive team,” continued Uri. “Cannondale is undeniably one of the world's top brands of high-end bicycles, and now our goal is to have every aspect of our business support that positioning with equally high levels of performance.”
With its executive team in place, Cannondale is gathering momentum as it heads toward 2004. “It's great to see the innovation that Cannondale is introducing for '04, because that's what really drives customers into our store,” said Cannondale dealer Dave Guettler of River City Bicycles in Portland, Oregon. “I expect that Cannondale will be our most profitable brand of bikes next year.” Rick Gurney of Plano Cycling in Texas agreed. “We're very pleased with Cannondale, and impressed with the dedication of their people and the quality and innovation of their products. The 2004 line looks great – they've done their homework and upped the ante again.”
