Ener1 announced changes to its senior leadership team this week, including the resignation of Charles Gassenheimer, the man formerly in charge as the Chief Executive Officer of Ener1.
The president of Ener1 and CEO of EnerDel, Christopher Cowger, will replace Gassenheimer as CEO. Board member Thomas Snyder will step in to take over Gassenheimer’s role of non-executive chairman of Ener1’s board. The changes are effective immediately and Ener1 fully expects Gassenheimer to resign from the firm’s board of directors. In addition, Ener1’s board of directors has been expanded to ten seats to include Cowger.
This shake-up comes amidst concerns of Ener1’s future viability. Ener1 stock (NASDAQ ticker symbol HEV) closed Tuesday at $0.19 and has plummeted 94 percent over the past year.
NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Ener1, Inc. HEV -4.85% , a leader in lithium-ion energy storage solutions, today announced two changes to its senior leadership team. Board member Thomas J. Snyder is replacing Charles Gassenheimer as chairman by assuming the role of non-executive chairman of the board. Chris Cowger, who has been serving as president of Ener1, will take over as chief executive officer from Mr. Gassenheimer, who is leaving the company. The changes are effective immediately. Mr. Gassenheimer is also expected to resign from Ener1’s board of directors.
In addition, Ener1’s board of directors has expanded the number of board seats from nine to 10 naming Chris Cowger to fill the new board seat.
“We are fortunate to have hired Chris Cowger earlier this year,” stated Thomas J. Snyder, non-executive chairman of the board, Ener1, Inc. “He’s done an excellent job re-focusing Ener1 on the needs of its current and potential customers.”
Speaking on behalf of the board of directors, Snyder continued, “We very much appreciate all of Charles’ contributions over the last five years in building Ener1 into a leader in lithium-ion energy storage solutions. We also anticipate that Chris’ experience from working in executive leadership positions with companies like Dell and AMD, will bring additional expertise and insight to the Ener1 board to help us grow our business and achieve our business goals.”
About Ener1, Inc.
Ener1, Inc. is a publicly traded HEV -4.85% energy storage technology company that develops compact, lithium-ion-powered battery solutions for the transportation, utility grid and industrial electronics markets. The company has sales and manufacturing locations in the United States, Korea and Russia, as well as a joint venture based in China. Ener1 also develops commercial fuel cell products and nanotechnology-based materials. For more information, visit Ener1’s web site at www.ener1.com .
