DIRTT ousts founder, appoints new CEO
Founder Mogens Smed is out at DIRTT Environmental Solutions Ltd. following a bitter management shakeup at the Calgary-based office construction company, while a new CEO has been appointed to the firm.
Smed, a well-known Calgary businessman, has served as executive chairman at DIRTT since agreeing to step down in January as CEO as part of a contentious reorganization. In a terse statement issued Monday, the company said Smed’s departure was effective immediately.
“We acknowledge the enormous contribution Mogens has made since founding DIRTT, and this was a very difficult and carefully considered decision by the board,” newly appointed board chairman Steve Parry stated.
“However, Mogens has not adequately performed the agreed assigned duties, requiring the board to align management resources to begin building a more collaborative, adaptable and responsive team that creates the ability to successfully scale the business.”
DIRTT, which specializes in the design and manufacturing of prefabricated interior spaces, removed Smed from the CEO role and ousted president Scott Jenkins in January. The moves were questioned by shareholders at a testy annual general meeting in June that Smed called “embarrassing.”
Smed, 70, helped found DIRTT, or Doing It Right This Time, in 2004. The company went public in 2013.
In a separate release Monday, the company announced the appointment of Kevin O’Meara as chief executive following an eightmonth search. O’Meara is a cofounder of Dallas-based Builders FirstSource, a manufacturer and distributor of building products.
He succeeds Michael Goldstein, who joined DIRTT as interim CEO in January and has now left the company.
“Kevin’s appointment was the clear choice of everyone who participated in the extensive search process, including DIRTT’s board and senior management,” Parry said.