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First Posted: 5/27/2014
WILKES-BARRE — After narrowing nearly 100 resumes to 25 possible candidates, and then 10 telephone interviews to reduce the choices to two, the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry Tuesday announced they have hired the person they wanted most.
Frank Joanlanne, chairman of the chamber board, announced the hiring of Wico van Genderen, of Albrightsville, as the organization’s new chief executive officer, bringing an end to the five-month search. He will assume his new position on June 23.
“Mr. van Genderen brings a wealth of business experience, organizational and executive leadership skills to the chamber, and we are pleased to welcome him to the Wilkes-Barre community,” Joanlanne said. “We are confident that his career accomplishments in strategic and operational leadership, as well as his global marketplace expertise will pay dividends for Northeast Pennsylvania.”
Joanlanne said the 11-member search committee was unanimous in its selection of van Genderen, as was the vote of the entire 45-member chamber board. He said of the nearly 100 applicants, 25 made it to the second round, 10 were selected for telephone interviews and five were interviewed via Skype. From those five, two were chosen for final consideration, with van Genderen being the top-rated candidate.
“He has some very, very strong leadership and executive qualities in his experience,” Joanlanne said. When asked if they got the person they wanted, Joanlanne said, “Absolutely, yes we did.”
According to a news release from the chamber, van Genderen has been a global executive with 30 years of experience. He most recently served as chief operating officer/vice president and managing director for Diebold Corporation’s Asia Pacific Operations. He previously served Diebold as corporate vice president/global marketing and product management, vice president of Sales and Marketing/North America, and area vice president of eastern area sales in the United States.
He was a member of the cross functional team focused on re-engineering processes that led to a reorganization at Interbold, an IBM and Diebold joint venture
“My wife and I have family ties to the Wilkes-Barre area, and we are excited to become part of this community,” van Genderen said in the news release. “I am honored to serve as the chamber CEO and look forward to being a strong advocate of the business community and contributing to the success of a prosperous Wilkes-Barre.”
He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and business at Rutgers University and a Master of Business Administration from Drexel University before starting his professional career at IBM.
A member of the Shanghai American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, China, van Genderen has also served as a Junior Achievement volunteer teaching in the inner city Philadelphia public school system to improve graduation rates, increase college enrollment and to reinvest in the community and its future.
The Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry and its affiliated organizations are community, economic development and business service organizations working to support and encourage business growth and success in building the future of the community. For more information, visit http://wilkes-barre.org.