CLEVELAND – January 28, 2016 – Dix & Eaton announced today that Lisa Rose has been promoted to president of the firm. She joins an executive leadership team that also includes Chief Executive Officer Chas Withers and Executive Chairman Scott Chaikin.
Rose, 59, is currently a senior managing director and leads D&E’s investor relations practice. In her new position, she will partner with Withers in the areas of client service, practice development, talent development, and professional partnerships and alliances.
“Over nearly two decades with Dix & Eaton, Lisa has steadily taken on increasingly challenging responsibilities as a trusted advisor to senior-level clients and as a respected leader, mentor and counselor within our firm and across the community and beyond,” said Withers. “With her new role, we are further solidifying our executive leadership and drawing upon her considerable skills and experience to the greater benefit of our clients and the firm.”
As CEO, Withers will retain responsibility for D&E’s strategic vision and devote additional attention to client development and geographic diversification. Chaikin will continue his focus on client service and business development in his role as full-time executive chairman.
Rose will continue to lead key account teams and head the investor relations practice, which assists public companies in developing effective IR strategies and leveraging communications. She will also focus on growing the firm’s people and cultivating its culture.
“Lisa is an enthusiastic team player and outstanding leader who excels at serving clients, and we want to leverage that across the firm,” said Chaikin. “Colleagues seek opportunities to work on her client teams, and they consistently emulate her good example and excel as a result. She is unanimously respected and has been instrumental in establishing formal and informal programs to nurture the careers of others.”
Rose said, “As Dix & Eaton continues to evolve as a firm of employee owners, we are building upon the values that were originally instilled by Henry Eaton and enhanced by others who shaped the growth of the firm and influenced my career. I am tremendously excited and proud to have this unique opportunity to influence the firm’s performance and culture, and enrich the lives and careers of our colleagues.”
Nationally recognized for its expertise in investor relations, media relations and crisis communications, Dix & Eaton continues to handle major challenges such as proxy contests, corporate rebranding, culture change, crisis situations, CEO transitions, IPOs, M&A transactions and more. The firm has also invested heavily to expand its capabilities in evolving corporate priorities, including corporate social responsibility (CSR)/sustainability reporting, social media engagement, content marketing and marketing analytics.
“We have begun 2016 with tremendous momentum from a superb year that saw significant top- and bottom-line growth, continued broadening of services offered and geography served, and the deepening of relationships with many of our long-time clients,” said Withers. “Time and again, we have had the opportunity to do what we do best – help clients through their biggest opportunities and challenges.”
Dix & Eaton continues to serve the majority of northeast Ohio’s leading companies and institutions and now derives nearly half its income from non-Ohio clients such as AkzoNobel, BASF, Boart Longyear, Calumet Specialty Products Partners, IDEX, Illinois Tool Works, Kelly Services, PPG, Southwest Airlines and UnitedHealth Group.
About Lisa Rose
Lisa Rose, who joined Dix & Eaton in 1996, advises clients on a full range of strategic communications matters, including divestitures, mergers, acquisitions and leadership transitions. She has served on the firm’s Leadership Committee and Board of Directors and has been a key player in the firm’s evolution and success, including growing the investor relations practice, which represents more than one-fourth of the firm’s business. In prior roles at the firm, Rose had responsibility for leading the employee communications practice, staff assignments and professional development.
Rose has a particular interest in fostering the growth of professional women. She has established education and development programs for women within the firm and maintains an informal group of women she has met through professional networks, serving as an objective sounding board and mentor as difficult career and personal issues come up in their lives.
Rose devotes similar energy to the various community organizations she serves, most notably Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, with which she has been actively involved for more than a decade and recently completed two years as board chair.
She is also a board member of Presidents’ Council Foundation and of Bloom Artisan Bakery, Towards Employment’s first social venture; former board chair of Towards Employment; former board member of College Now and Saint Joseph Academy; and a member of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2009. She is also a member of In Counsel With Women, The National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. In 2012, she received the YWCA Greater Cleveland’s Women of Achievement Award, which celebrates the extraordinary accomplishments of women in Northeast Ohio.
Before joining Dix & Eaton, Rose was with Associated Estates Realty Corporation, where she served as manager of investor relations and was responsible for the design and implementation of the investor relations program for the newly public real estate investment trust. Earlier, she was with Reliance Electric Company, where her responsibilities included extensive participation in taking the company public, developing financial models used to determine the appropriate capital structure, and developing and implementing an investor relations strategy and program.
A graduate of Cleveland State University, Rose holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting, and is a certified public accountant.
About Dix & Eaton
Dix & Eaton is an integrated communications consultancy specializing in investor relations, crisis communications, media relations and marketing communications. Working as trusted partners, we bring deep experience, foresight and creativity to every relationship and help clients realize the full power of communication to drive results. Founded in 1952, Dix & Eaton is 100 percent employee-owned and has twice been named the nation’s best midsized firm. For more information, visit dix-eaton.vfdevserver.com.