Season of Change

CHANGES ARE UNDERFOOT at Allied Waste Industries Inc., Scottsdale, Ariz., to help improve company performance. In early October, Allied announced that Charles H. Cotros had replaced Thomas Van Weelden as chairman and CEO. At first, the company announced that Van Weelden would continue in his position as the firm's president. However, just weeks later, Van Weelden resigned, “effective immediately,” to “pursue other interests,” according to Allied. Cotros will now also serve as president.

Cotros, a 43-year veteran of the food service industry who worked as chairman and CEO of Sysco Corp. from 2000 until his retirement in 2002, was appointed to Allied's board of directors in July.

“I speak for the entire organization when I say that we are not happy with the overall operating results, and we need to get back on track,” Cotros said in a conference call announcing his hiring as chairman and CEO. “We have consistently not grown the business and, from an earnings perspective, have disappointed our stakeholders.”

To further “maximize efficiency” in operating procedures, Allied will be changing its organizational structure, according to a filing with the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company expects this reorganization will lead to the elimination of 30 jobs. Allied, which organizes itself geographically into 12 regions, “will eliminate its four areas and reduce the number of regions by three” to nine. Some of the remaining districts will be re-aligned, the firm has indicated. “Related restructuring and other costs are anticipated to be between $5 million and $10 million,” the company's SEC filing says.