Former Walmart CFO among organizational changes at Ecoark Holdings
ROGERS, Ark. — Ecoark Holdings, a technology provider that helps fight waste in operations, logistics and supply chain for a wide range of corporate clients, announced key organizational changes as the company prepares for uplisting from the over-the-counter stock market to the NASDAQ Capital market.
These changes are highlighted by naming Jay Puchir as CEO and former Walmart Treasurer Charles Rateliff CFO and Treasurer.
The company also announced Ecoark founder Randy May will remain chairman of the board.
“Over the past 12 months, as a post-merger public company, we’ve successfully focused on fundraising and growth through acquisition. As we prepare for this critical next stage of the company and uplisting to Nasdaq, we’re proud to promote Jay as our new CEO to develop and execute our strategic growth plan and ensure we deliver maximum shareholder value,” commented Randy May, former CEO of Ecoark Holdings. “During his time as director of finance, secretary, and treasurer, Jay has been invaluable in helping Ecoark and our subsidiaries begin to adopt industry best practices. I’m looking forward to continuing to work closely with him as we enter this exciting next phase of the company’s maturation.”
Puchir has held executive roles at several companies prior to joining Ecoark Holdings. Most recently, he led Ecoark’s financial planning and analysis, treasury and secretary functions, and worked with the Corporate Controller with financial reporting. Jay began his career as an auditor and consultant with one of the Big 4 accounting firms, ultimately earning the position of Senior Manager. He then held the role of the Director of Finance/Controller at a state college, and then Associate Chief Financial Officer within a Fortune 100 healthcare organization. A licensed Certified Public Accountant, Jay received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his Master of Business Administration from Rutgers University.
Rateliff retired in 2005 from Walmart Stores as a SVP after a 25-year career. Following his retirement, he served as an independent consultant to several private investment groups. After receiving an MBA from the University of Arkansas, he was hired as an internal auditor for Walmart and within five years was promoted to Assistant Treasurer and later on, Treasurer. Over the course of his career at Walmart, Charles worked across several departments including compliance, risk management, profit sharing and associate benefits. Charles has been an independent member of the Ecoark board of directors since May 2016.
“Ecoark has rapidly and successfully transitioned from the development stage to a highly valuable collection of revenue-producing subsidiaries that solve major business challenges. We’re currently focused on improving our fundamentals, increasing sales through growth and acquisitions, and attaining profitability to maximize shareholder value,” said Puchir. “The fact that Charles is coming out of retirement to become CFO demonstrates his confidence in the company and the huge market opportunity in front of us. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to lead this highly dynamic organization with disruptive technologies through one of the most exciting processes in business.”
In addition to appointing Jay Puchir CEO and Charles Rateliff CFO, Ecoark Holdings also announced two additional executive changes:
COO Roshan Weerasinghe was appointed as CEO, Pioneer Products, an Ecoark subsidiary, to focus full time on business development and not corporate operations;
SVP of Business Development Gregg Hames will transition to his new role as VP of Professional Services, Zest Labs, an Ecoark subsidiary, moving from his role at Ecoark.
Ecoark also announced its board of directors voted to increase the number of Directors from seven to nine and will immediately begin searching for two additional independent directors to fill the vacancies.