News just in late last night that Jim Heppelmann, current COO (that’s Chief Operating Officer to you) will take over the role of top dog at PTC, replacing long time CEO C. Richard Harrison in October this year. This is a move that many saw coming when Heppelman took over the COO role last year and to all intents and purposes became the public face of the company. According to the press release, Heppelmann joined PTC in 1998 as a Senior Vice President when PTC acquired Windchill Technology, a company he founded. He was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer in June 2001, and two years later was named Executive Vice President of the Software and Marketing Group and Chief Product Officer. In this role, he was responsible for strategic direction, product development, and marketing. He joined PTC’s Board of Directors in May 2008 and was named President and COO in March 2009. While Jim’s been running the show, this makes things official and it’ll be interesting to see how things develop. DIck Harrison put together a nice little quote in the press release which sums up things nicely”
“Jim is a great leader who has already created tremendous value for PTC, its customers, shareholders and employees as a strategic member of the executive team. With his background as an engineer, Jim is one of those rare individuals who can understand our customers’ business requirements and couple that with a unique vision for the industry, a passion for technology and the leadership qualities to drive the company to deliver solutions that provide measurable business value. I couldn’t imagine a better person to lead PTC and leverage the company’s momentum.”
Personally, I’ve got a lot of time for Jim. As with many of PTC’s management team, he’s not afraid to say exactly what’s on his mind. Though I do find the microsite put together for the leadership change a little odd. There’s something about that montage that looks less “Executive Announcement” and more ummm.. “Memorial“. Oh and what’s Dick up to now? according to the release, he’ll continue to “Focus on key customer and investor relationships that support the company’s strategic initiatives, while continuing to perform his duties as Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors.”
