James Roberts named CEO at Apex Tool Group
Apex Tool Group, LLC, has named James Roberts as its new chief executive, taking over for Thomas Wroe, Jr., who came out of retirement in 2013 to lead the company.
Roberts was previously CEO of The Chamberlain Group for the past five years, a provider of access control solutions serving industrial, commercial, automotive and consumer markets.
He also held several senior executive positions at Newell-Rubbermaid, including leading its IRWIN Tools & Hardware segment. Roberts also served as president of Worldwide Hand Tools and Hardware at The Stanley Works, and he spent 19 years at Black & Decker, including serving as President of Worldwide Accessories.
Wroe, a 40-year veteran of Texas Instruments and former chairman and CEO of Sensata Technologies, came out of retirement in September 2013 to join Apex Tool Group's Board as chairman, and subsequently became CEO in October 2014.
"As we planned for succession, Jim emerged as a proven CEO with deep tool industry knowledge and leadership capability," Wroe said.
"My goal was to help bring strategic focus to the business while accelerating our journey to become a growth-oriented, high performance organization," he added. "We've made strong progress towards becoming a more profitable, best cost, sustainable enterprise with a bright future ahead. Jim brings tremendous focus on the customer, strong experience in product and brand management, and has run similar businesses. I'm excited to be working with Jim and believe he's the right leader to take Apex to the next level."
With Wroe continuing in place as chairman, Roberts will also become a member of the board of directors.
"I am excited about joining this dynamic global company, and working closely with Tom and the management team," said Roberts. "Apex Tool Group has strong market share, great brands, global positioning and a world-class operating platform. I want to thank Tom for his leadership and accomplishments. I appreciate his tremendous drive for results, sense of urgency, commitment to creating value for our shareholders, and supporting the efforts of our nearly 8,000 associates around the world. I welcome his continued guidance and contributions as our executive chairman."