AKRON, Ohio – Alec Pendleton, chairman of the board of Ken-Tool, has announced the appointment of Douglas Romstadt as company president. Romstadt succeeds Pendleton in this position, while Pendleton continues as Ken-Tool Chairman. The appointment became effective on Sept. 20.

Romstadt joined Ken-Tool in March 2004, serving as the company’s comptroller. He holds a bachelor of science degree in finance from The Ohio State University and earned his MBA from Case Western Reserve University.

Commenting on his new position, Romstadt noted, “It is a great honor and opportunity to lead Ken-Tool into the future. With nearly 90 years of history as the leading manufacturer of tire service tools in the world, Ken-Tool presents me with a challenge to continue on a long record of successes. I have major shoes to fill, following in the tracks of previous leaders like Scott Meyer and Alec Pendleton.

“I’m looking forward to the challenges. I feel there are many opportunities in front of the Ken-Tool team to make improvements throughout the business, which will position us for continued growth and success. I intend to focus heavily on making inventory investments that will enable us to fill orders more quickly and provide the highest level of service possible. In addition I want to strengthen our vendor relationships and continue to develop and manufacture the high quality tools our customers need to make their businesses more productive.”

He added, “Alec (Pendleton) has been very active in the business over the last few years, and he’s going to be ‘taking a few steps back’ from the day-to-day operation of the company. He will continue be involved from a high-level perspective, and I will be interacting with him to guide our future growth.”