American seafood company Stavis Seafoods is breaking with its tradition of having one person, Richard Stavis, function as both president and CEO, hiring foodservice veteran Greg Burgess to function as the company’s president.
Stavis will remain as the Boston-based company’s CEO, and also now function as director of sales. Stavis told SeafoodSource the decision was, in part, personal – now, he gets “to drive change from the meat of the company,” interacting more directly with his customers than he has in the past.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been able to connect that way,” he said. “I’m really loving this.”
Burgess (pictured) served in management and executive positions at All American Foods, AGAR Supply and Reinhardt Foodservice. Stavis noted, in a statement announcing Burgess’ appointment, that at AGAR Supply, Burgess’ strategies more than doubled revenue at that company.
“Greg is an important addition to our management team,” Stavis said in the statement. “I have great confidence in his abilities and expertise. Greg's industry and management experience will help build the business for the future.”
Stavis told SeafoodSource the new leadership changes are part of a larger plan to push sales more aggressively. Splitting the top job, Stavis said, just made sense.
“This will meet our customers’ needs so much better,” he said.
