Burton Snowboards yesterday announced that COO MIKE REES will assume the role of CEO and take over day-to-day operations of the company. Founder JAKE BURTON, who has been serving as CEO since '10, will become the company’s Chair. The company considered hiring an outside candidate as CEO, but opted to promote Rees instead because Burton said he played a significant role in keeping the company profitable following the recession. Rees joined Burton in '09 at a time when the snowboarding industry was challenged by both the economic downturn and a series of poor winters with limited snowfall in North America. He previously worked at VF Corp. and served as CFO of the lifestyle brand Reef. In his new role, Rees will oversee product, marketing, sales, operations and finance. Burton will continue to provide strategic direction for the company and stay involved with product development and testing. Burton said, “Everyone is really comfortable with (Rees) and trusts him. It felt like the right move at the right time. Walking around (headquarters in Vermont), it’s not a radical change.” He added that Rees snowboards regularly and is not just a “financial guy who cares less.” Burton: “He’s not going to snowboard 100 days a year, but he’s not going to diss it either. He’s very supportive of it and gets it.”
