CHICAGO: Printing giant RR Donnelley & Sons is searching for a new vice president of corporate communications following the departure of William Lowe last month.
CHICAGO: Printing giant RR Donnelley & Sons is searching for a new
vice president of corporate communications following the departure of
William Lowe last month.
Lowe, who held the post for nearly five years, left the dollars 5
billion printer last Thursday, intending to set up his own PR agency.
Prior to joining Donnelley, Lowe had run his own firm, Lowe Corporate
and Financial Communications, for 11 years.
Donnelley, the country’s largest commercial printer, expects to use an
executive search firm as well as internal resources to fill Lowe’s spot,
and is searching for someone with PR experience at a Fortune 500
company.
’This is obviously a key role in the corporation,’ said Ed Davis,
director of professional staffing, noting that the position reports to
the company’s vice chairman. One Chicago newspaper had speculated Lowe
would not be replaced, but Davis said the report was false. ’We are
definitely engaged in a search to replace him,’ he said. Davis did not
address rumors in the Chicago PR community that Lowe had been asked to
leave.
Lowe portrayed the split as an amicable and mutual one. ’A look at what
Donnelley needs going forward convinced me that it was time to go back
to my first love, which is running a firm,’ he said.
Whoever steps into Lowe’s shoes will face a challenging PR
situation.
Standard & Poor’s recently lowered its rating on Donnelley corporate
credit and senior unsecured debt from single A-plus to single A,
expressing some concerns about higher debt levels and the company’s
ability to continue improving its financial performance. S&P did note,
however, that Donnelley has bettered its profitability and cash flow in
recent years.
Lowe said he already has secured clients for his new venture, which he
hopes to open within a week or two, but he would not disclose names.
