Derby Fabricating Solutions, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky has selected Jason Kellams as its new President and Chief Operating Officer. In addition to Louisville, Derby Fabricating has three additional plants in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Derby Fabricating is part of Private Equity Group Capital Partners’ portfolio of businesses.
After evaluating several talent and executive search firms, Capital Partners partnered with Centennial to lead a national search for their next President and COO. “The choice to partner with Centennial was based on the firm’s strong understanding and proven track record of working with privately held and private equity ownership transitions,” said Mark Langer, Principal with Capital Partners. Centennial’s experience recruiting in the automotive and manufacturing industries, and their focus on understanding character, culture and competency was important to us.”
Kellams brings more than 20 years of Executive Leadership and automotive experience to Derby. His experience spans operations and GM positions with automotive OEM, Tier and aftermarket manufacturers. Equally importantly, Jason was an excellent fit with the Derby culture and brings experience in the approach to continuous improvement that Derby is pursuing.
“The search for Derby Fabricating’s new President and COO began with Centennial utilizing a very efficient process to understand the culture of Derby Fabricating and Capital Partners.” said Langer. “The search process exceeded our expectations in terms of thoroughness, timing, and the quality of the executive candidates presented for consideration. We were impressed with each executive that the search committee interviewed, which makes us feel especially pleased to add Jason to the team.”
“Jason brings passion and energy to Derby Fabricating combined with his strong experience in Automotive Manufacturing Operational leadership. His ability to connect with people, build strong teams, and drive growth made Jason the natural choice for Derby Fabricating,” comments Derek Jackson, Centennial’s former Director of Client Services who led Centennials efforts on the search. “Searches like this can be challenging, but working with the Capital Partners and Derby Fabricating team made this search especially exciting. When all of the entities involved in a leadership search are aligned on expectations, process, culture, and expectations, the results are impressive.”
Centennial is a talent strategy and executive search based in Cincinnati, OH with offices in Manhattan as well. Centennial conducts searches across all 50 states and represents clients in 13 different countries. Organizations and leaders have trusted Centennial to deliver solution-focused services and results since 1975. Centennial represents change and growth-minded executives, board members and business owners in planning for the best, hiring the best, and retaining the best executive leadership.