May 26, 2021   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Covia Announces Management Changes

Covia, a leading provider of mineral-based and material solutions for the Industrial and Energy markets, today announced that Richard Navarre, Covia’s Chief Executive Officer and President, has elected to retire effective May 31, 2021.

“It has been a privilege to lead the talented and dedicated team at Covia through the very challenging times of the past two years. Despite the unprecedented downturn in one of our key markets and managing through both COVID-19 and a restructuring in 2020, our business is performing well and the strategy that we have executed positions the company for success and growth. I am confident in the leadership team, and the strategic direction of the company, and wish Covia success in the future.”

Covia also announced today that Shawn Williams, Chairman of the Board, will take on the additional role of Acting Chief Executive Officer and that Andrew Eich has been promoted to the position of President, where he will lead and execute our strategies for growth in the Industrial and Energy segments. Mr. Eich will also maintain his role as Chief Financial Officer until a replacement is named.

Commenting on the changes, Mr. Williams stated, “I’m honored to accept the role of Acting CEO during this important time for the Company and I am further pleased that the company is poised to execute the next steps in our succession planning process through the promotion of Andrew Eich to the role of President. I am confident that Andrew’s experience and leadership, in both the commercial and financial areas of our company, will allow the company to continue accelerating the execution of our strategy.”

Mr. Williams continued, “On behalf of the Board, and the management team, I want to thank Rick for his leadership and significant contributions to Covia, both in his current role as well as during his time as Chairman of the Board. He has played an instrumental role in positioning Covia for the future.”

Mr. Williams served, most recently, as the CEO of Nexeo Plastics, a portfolio company of One Rock, from 2019 to 2020. Prior to his role as CEO, he was Executive Vice President – Plastics for Nexeo Solutions from 2012 to 2019 where he led a global team managing $2 billion of revenue as a plastics value-added distributor. Prior to Nexeo, Mr. Williams served as President – Momentive Global Sealants for Momentive Performance Materials. Prior to Momentive, he had a 22-year career with GE serving in a variety of business unit and commercial leadership roles. Mr. Williams is an Independent Director for Tetra Technologies, Inc. He earned his M.B.A. in 1992 from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 1985.

Mr. Eich has been with Covia and its predecessor companies since 2012, serving most recently as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Covia since 2018. Mr. Eich has also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, and as a member of the Board of Directors, of Unimin (a predecessor company to Covia). Previously, he held a variety of roles in corporate finance, M&A, investor relations and accounting at Aetos Capital and KPMG LLP. Mr. Eich received a B.A. in Economics Management from Ohio Wesleyan University and is a CPA (inactive) and CFA charterholder.

The changes announced today will be effective June 1, 2021.