New Era Cap President PETE AUGUSTINE's surprising departure from the company was examined in a front-page piece by Samantha Christmann of the BUFFALO NEWS, who wrote Augustine and New Era Cap CEO CHRISTOPHER KOCH for more than a decade held the company's top two leadership positions, building the company "into an iconic international brand." The company on Monday announced it "would not search for a replacement" for Augustine. In the past, the two men "golfed and skied together," and Augustine even "was the best man at Koch's wedding." But now, with Augustine gone, the company said that it "has ambitious plans to scale New Era from a juggernaut in the headwear industry to a powerhouse, all-encompassing lifestyle brand." The company last year named PAUL MCADAM North American Division VP & GM to "help it do just that." With Augustine gone, McAdam now "is effectively the second in command at New Era." Koch on Thursday said, "Paul has quickly become an integral part of the company and he’s obviously driving the largest region of the world that we have."
MCADAM'S FAMILY: Since McAdam’s arrival, current and former employees said that they "have noticed a cultural and philosophical shift in vision at the 95-year-old company." There also has "been a concentrated effort toward making New Era a billion-dollar company and sweeping changes in how the company pursues that goal." Koch: "The focus we’ve had on the international side has been huge. Right now we market, design and sell in over 100 countries around the world. We brought Paul in a year ago to refocus our efforts on North America, a market that’s more mature, that needed more attention than we were giving it." Christmann notes New Era "has struggled with apparel since it got into that sector" in '07. New Era hopes that McAdam’s contacts and knowledge of the fashion industry "will help it establish itself as more than just a hat company in the United States and elevate its core headwear business." McAdam also has "influenced major cultural changes at New Era." McAdam: "We’ve gelled the team together more significantly over the last 12 months." He "integrated the company’s sales, marketing and product teams to streamline communication across departments and to make each of the company’s projects more collaborative." He also has "shuffled some employees around and brought in new, outside talent" (BUFFALO NEWS, 1/16).
