The Board of Directors of Milliken & Company has announced the appointment of Halsey M. Cook Jr. as the company's President and Chief Executive Officer, effective September 1, 2018. J. Harold Chandler, the current president and chief executive officer, re-appoints the chairman of the board.
Harold Chandler, the current chairman, president and CEO of Milliken & Company, said: "The board is confident in Halsey's leadership and believes he will lead Milliken to write a new chapter. Halsey's extensive experience will help us accelerate the pace of development, More importantly, he will introduce changes for us to further leverage Milliken's advantages in technological innovation, production excellence and customer care. Under his leadership, we will have a mature management team that can efficiently execute the established Strategy to translate it into sustainable business results. In addition, his experience and leadership style in diversifying global business development fits Milliken's values, corporate culture and commitment to society. "
In his thirty-year career, Cook has worked for many large and diverse global companies with strong manufacturing and distribution capabilities, which also laid the foundation for his long-established family business such as Milliken. He has held leadership positions in sales, marketing, and product development at multinational or US companies such as United Technologies and Legrand North America. Prior to joining Milliken, Cook was president and CEO of Sonepar USA. Sonepar USA is a global distributor of family-owned electrical products and related solutions. With these experiences, Cook will be able to drive endogenous growth through continuous innovation, while looking for strategic acquisition opportunities to drive Milliken's business development. Cook holds a bachelor's degree in economics and English from Southern University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Virginia.
Commenting on the upcoming Milliken team, Cook said: "I am honored to be recognized by the Milliken Board of Directors. Milliken is a respected company with talented employees and vast space for development. I Looking forward to meeting the team and listening to their ideas and suggestions for Milliken's next stage of development. "