Tennant Co. Promotes General Counsel Amid Leadership Shift

Tennant Co. announced Monday that Kristin Stokes has been promoted to general counsel after serving as the interim legal chief at the industrial cleaning equipment company since July.

“It’s a change in position, it’s a change in my peers, but it’s a company that I’ve grown up at as a lawyer, and that’s fantastic,” Stokes said. She added that she plans to focus on efficiency and appropriately resourcing her legal department in the coming year.

The shift is part of a bigger set of leadership changes that include a new chief executive officer at the company, Dave Huml.

“This transition reflects our complete confidence in Kristin’s ability to meet the evolving needs of the organization as we grow,” said Huml in a Dec. 14 statement.

Stokes, who officially assumed her new position on Dec. 10, is the Minneapolis-based company’s third general counsel since 2017. Her predecessor Mary Talbott joined the company in 2019, following Jeffrey Cotter, who took the chief legal role in September 2017.

Stokes came to Tennant in 2008 as associate general counsel and assistant secretary. She was previously the senior legal counsel at MoneyGram International for four years, and started her career as an associate with Lindquist & Vennum.

Talbott joined medical company Gravity Diagnostics as chief legal officer in September after leaving Tennant, according to her LinkedIn profile. Cotter now works for business technology company Deluxe Corp. as chief administrative officer, senior vice president, and general counsel.

Tennant is one of many companies that has taken austerity measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company cut executive pay and furloughed some employees, among other measures, according to its second quarter earnings report. Those steps led to about $15 million in savings, the company said in the report.

Tennant later reported a net income of $11.7 million in the third quarter of 2020, down from $14.6 million in the same period last year.

Stokes said some Tennant customers, like hospitals, schools, and other essential businesses, have continued to require Tennant’s products and services through the pandemic.

“As we start to reopen the economy, cleaning truly is the the number one focus of customers,” Stokes said.

Aside from Huml, who will move from chief operating officer to CEO, Tennant also announced Monday that Rusty Zay will serve as chief commercial officer. Former CEO Chris Killingstad will be the company’s strategic advisor, and Tennant’s former Chief Financial Officer Thomas Paulson will return in January as interim CFO.