COST OUT AT PEPSICO
Tim Cost, who joined PepsiCo in Dec. 2010 as executive VP-global corporate affairs, is out at the soft drinks, juice and snacks marketer. He will take on a “consultative role,” according to a statement released to O’Dwyer’s.
Cost |
PepsiCo says the “transition is taking place to accommodate Tim’s plans to spend more time with his family in Philadelphia.”
The 30-year PR veteran joined the Purchase, N.Y.-based company from APCO Worldwide, where he had an executive VP slot.
Earlier, he was senior VP-corporate affairs at Wyeth, executive VP-corporate affairs at Aramark, senior VP at Pharmacia and senior VP-communications & strategy at Centocor.
Cost, who chaired the National Investor Relations Institute, began his career at Eastman Kodak.
PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said it “has been rewarding for us to have someone with Tim’s experience at PepsiCo. “We look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role.”
Julie Hamp, the former General Motors executive, remains in the senior VP/chief communications officer post.
The New York Post reported Jan. 5 that PepsiCo may lay off 4,000 workers in a bid to bolster profits.
WCG GETS GRATES
Gary Grates, president/global managing director of Edelman Change and Employee Engagement and onetime VP corporate communications at General Motors/North America, has taken a senior management post at WCGC, parent company of San Francisco-based independent firm WCG.
He is to tackle change management, corporate positioning, strategic development, mergers & acquisitions and global expansion.
Jim Weiss, CEO of WCGC, called Grates’ recruitment a “game-changing hire” that will spur the next phase of evolution and growth of the firm.
At GM, Grates also served as global process leader for internal communications and was a member of the teaching staff of its university.
Earlier, he was president of GCI BoxenbaumGrates and executive VP/managing director of GCI Consulting, a unit of GCI Group Public Relations.
In his more than 25-year career, Grates has counseled, PepsiCo, Volvo, Kraft, Caterpillar, Shell, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, and GE. |
