Monday, April 14, 2014

Otter Tail Corporation held Annual Shareholders Meeting



Fergus Falls, MN –Otter Tail Corporation hosted 304 shareholders and guests at its annual meeting of common shareholders on April 14 in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. This was the corporation’s 104th annual meeting. Represented by proxy or present in person at the meeting were 77 percent of the corporation’s total shares outstanding.

Shareholders reelected John D. Erickson, Nathan I. Partain, and James B. Stake to serve three-year terms on Otter Tail Corporation’s board of directors. Erickson, Fergus Falls, Minnesota, has been a director since 2007 and is Otter Tail Corporation’s former president and CEO. Partain, Chicago, Illinois, has been a director since 1993 and was first appointed as chairman of the board in 2011. He is the president, CEO, and chief investment officer of DNP Select Income Fund, Inc., and president and chief investment officer of Duff & Phelps Investment Management Company. Stake, Edina, Minnesota, has been a director since 2008 and is a retired executive vice president of 3M Company.

During the meeting Otter Tail Power Company president and CEO Chuck MacFarlane, who assumed new corporate duties later that day, announced that Timothy J. Rogelstad would replace him as Otter Tail Power Company president. Rogelstad, who was vice president of the energy delivery, system operations, and capital budgeting areas at the utility, assumed his new role immediately and reports directly to MacFarlane. Rogelstad also will serve as senior vice president of Otter Tail Corporation’s electric platform.

“It gives me great pleasure to announce Tim’s new role,” said MacFarlane. “Tim has a strong understanding of, and dedication to, Otter Tail Power Company. His education, experience, and accomplishments make him ideally qualified. Tim is an excellent thinker and negotiator, and he has honed these traits as he’s accepted greater responsibility during his nearly 25 years with the power company. Under his leadership, I expect that Otter Tail Power Company will continue its tradition of providing reliable and economical service while maintaining good relationships with customers, industry peers, and regulators.”

According to Edward J. (Jim) McIntyre, Otter Tail Corporation CEO, Rogelstad has demonstrated through ongoing leadership his ability to position the company for success. “From leading development of an international power line from central North Dakota to central Manitoba to leading Otter Tail Power Company’s first large-scale wind generation strategy—and countless contributions in between—Tim has been pivotal in evolving the utility that we know today,” said McIntyre. “I’m confident that Otter Tail Power Company is in good hands on a solid path forward.”

At a meeting of the board of directors that followed the annual meeting of shareholders, MacFarlane officially assumed the role of president and chief operating officer of Otter Tail Corporation as previously announced. In his new role, MacFarlane will advance the growth and profitability strategies in place at both Otter Tail Power Company and the manufacturing and infrastructure businesses under Varistar while McIntyre will continue to guide corporate strategy as CEO. McIntyre expects to retire as CEO at the corporation’s annual shareholder meeting in 2015. MacFarlane is expected to be named as McIntyre’s successor at that time.

In other action at the board meeting, the board of directors appointed Timothy O’Keefe as director to fulfill retiring director Gary Spies’s remaining term. Spies, Fergus Falls, Minnesota, retired from the board subject to an orderly succession plan established by the corporation’s governance guidelines. O’Keefe accepted the role, having retired this spring as the executive vice president of the UND Alumni Association and chief executive officer of the UND Foundation in Grand Forks, North Dakota. “Tim is a successful entrepreneur and senior executive with strong North Dakota and Midwestern connections,” said Nathan Partain, chairman of Otter Tail Corporation’s board of directors. “He has led retail, financial, and non-profit organizations successfully for 35 years. And I’m confident that his skills in team work, governance, recruiting and developing talent, building relationships, and problem solving will serve our board well.”