Top 40 distributor InnerWorkings (asi/168860) has announced a CEO succession plan that will see Rich Stoddart take over as president/CEO on or before April 5. Current CEO Eric Belcher will transition into the role of executive chairman of the board of directors.

Stoddart currently serves as global president of Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett Worldwide, a global advertising agency. Prior to holding that position, he ran Leo Burnett North America for 11 years as chief executive Officer and president.  “I am thrilled to be joining InnerWorkings at such an exciting time,” said Stoddart. “Eric and the team have done a tremendous job establishing InnerWorkings as an industry leader, and we see significant opportunity to leverage our unique position in the marketplace to grow the business.” 

Executives at InnerWorkings felt that now was an advantageous time for a leadership transition. “When the Board and I began our succession planning last spring, our goals were to ensure an orderly leadership transition, and to identify an executive who could build on our market leadership as a disruptor and innovator and lead our business through its next phase of growth,” said Belcher. “We believe we've found such a leader in Rich. He is an exceptionally talented leader with a track record of driving growth and innovation for some of the world's most famous brands and corporations.” 

Leaders at InnerWorkings were highly complimentary of Belcher’s performance as CEO.

“During Eric's tenure, he led a growth strategy that has taken InnerWorkings from a Midwest-focused print management business to the world's leading marketing execution agency, increasing revenues from $77 million in 2005 to more than one billion dollars in 2017 and quadrupling our earnings per share,” said Jack Greenberg, a longstanding InnerWorkings director and current board chairman. “I'm delighted that Eric will succeed me as chairman and actively support Rich as we transition leadership roles and continue to guide the business toward future growth.” 

Greenberg will continue to serve on the InnerWorkings board as lead independent director. 

As the new CEO, Stoddart will work closely with Belcher and the board. Stoddart began his career in 1985 at Leo Burnett. He has also served in managerial positions at Fallon, another Publicis Groupe agency headquartered in Minneapolis, as well as the Ford Motor Company. Stoddart was the chairman of the American Advertising Federation from 2013-2015, and has served as a member of the board of directors of Hasbro Corporation since 2014. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Stoddart resides in Chicago with his wife and two daughters. 

In its latest listing, Counselor ranks InnerWorkings as the 15th largest distributor in the industry, after estimating the firm’s 2016 sales were $147 million.