Ecolab Inc. recently announced that Dan Schmechel, chief financial officer for the past decade, will step down at year-end. Scott Kirkland, currently the company's corporate controller, is being promoted into the CFO position.
Schmechel has been CFO at the St. Paul manufacturer since 2012 and helped steer the company through several big deals, including its $2.3 billion purchase of Champion Technology in 2013 (and a later deal to merge part of that business with Texas-based Apergy). Earlier this year, Ecolab agreed to pay $3.7 billion in cash to acquire Purolite, a fast-growing Pennsylvania company that makes specialty resins used in the pharmaceutical and other industries.
Ecolab CEO Christophe Beck said, "Schmechel's deep knowledge and unwavering commitment to our company, its people and to improving our finance function have been essential to our growth."
Kirkland has worked at Ecolab since 2015 and served in various roles, including senior vice president of finance for Ecolab’s former energy segment, as well as vice president of finance for Asia Pacific and Latin America. He previously held finance positions with Novartis International AG and at PwC, and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Northern Iowa.