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.”
