Posted by Sarah Barnes on Mon, Aug 09, 2010 @ 10:25 AM
Chicago, August 2010 – Cook Associates, a leading executive search and M&A advisory services firm, announced that it has named Mary Kier to serve as the CEO for the Executive Search Group. Cook Associates’ former CEO, John Kins, will remain with the firm as Chairman. The promotion comes at a time of celebration for Cook Associates as it will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2011.
In her new role, Mary will manage the day-to-day operations of the Executive Search group. Additionally, she will continue to manage the Consumer Products and Services practice, Diversity practice, as well as the global partnership with InterSearch, one of the top international executive search organizations in the world.
In promoting Mary to CEO, John Kins stated, “I am pleased to turn over the day-to-day operations of our search group to Mary Kier, a veteran of executive search and one of the top consultants in the industry. Mary is highly respected by her clients, candidates and Cook personnel. She has demonstrated a strong and passionate commitment to the success and longevity of Cook Associates Executive Search and I am confident she will continue do an incredible job.”
Mary Kier remarks on her recent promotion, “I feel honored to have been chosen as the next CEO for the Executive Search group of Cook Associates. To follow in John Kins’ footsteps and to continue to build this organization is a wonderful challenge. Our Executive Search group has always held as its hallmark to strive for quality in everything that we do, and to delight our clients with a truly engaged search process. Our clients have come to expect a passionate approach to securing talent, and to being their best ambassadors. I intend to foster this in the years ahead and I look forward to working with the leadership team to ensure that we always make a positive contribution to our clients’ success.”
Be sure to follow Mary’s popular Executive Search blog, “Successful Careers in the Making”: Click here.
About Mary Kier
Mary began her search career with the firm in 1984 and has been promoted several times to her current position of CEO of Cook Associates Executive Search. In addition to her own search practice in Consumer Products and Services, Mary leads the Consumer & Retail practice, managing an integrated team of consultants specializing in Consumer Services, Consumer Durable and Non-Durable Goods, CPG and FMCG.
In addition, Mary serves as the firm's Diversity & Inclusion practice leader. She is passionate about building diverse teams and has successfully worked with members of senior management teams to develop high performance plans to build best-in-class diverse organizations. Cook Associates recognizes the value in a team comprised of diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. The Diversity & Inclusion Practice believes that organizations with a strong belief in diversity recruitment will be prepared to take the lead in their respective industry for years to come.
Mary is also actively involved in the firm's partnership with InterSearch - one of the top ten worldwide executive search consortiums. Mary coordinates relationships with the international search partners and speaks at annual global summits.
Throughout her search career at Cook Associates, Mary has been recognized for bringing unique value to every search initiative and for passionately delivering on her promises. She measures her success on personally contributing to the face of corporate America, uniting the best and brightest talent to her client companies. She is respected for her comprehensive understanding of the strategies, operations and management of companies in the Consumer marketplace and for her grasp of the cultural nuances of companies and executive leadership teams. Her search work encompasses CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CMOs, Divisional Presidents as well as functional heads of Sales, Marketing, Finance, HR, and Operations.
Mary received her BS degree in Management and Industrial Relations with high honors. She is a member of several industry organizations.
Posted by Sarah Barnes on Mon, Jun 14, 2010 @ 09:50 AM
Chicago, IL – June 2010 – Cook Associates Executive Search is proud to welcome Four Corners Group, a well-respected, innovative and successful boutique executive search firm in Canada, to the worldwide network of executive search firms, InterSearch.
The partnership was initiated by John Kins, CEO of Cook Associates, the InterSearch member from the United States. After a comprehensive assessment of independently owned and operated executive search firms in Canada, Kins overwhelmingly endorsed Four Corners Group as the best choice for InterSearch. According to Kins, “Four Corners Group stood out as the most successful of the many firms we considered. They are very well-respected in Canada and have an impressive list of satisfied clients.” Kins was also impressed with the firm’s ability to offer innovative services and solutions not found at other search firms.
Mr. Andrew Norrie, Managing Partner and Co-founder of the Four Corners Group, comments, “The search industry has been stagnant in terms of offering new solutions; clients appreciate our innovation and the unique services and solutions that we offer – it is an approach that creates great results.” In May 2010, Norrie traveled to the InterSearch global conference in France to cement Four Corners Group as the Canadian member. “This is a great opportunity for our firm and our clients”, Norrie said, “the InterSearch brand is one that aligns nicely with our own values and focus on quality and we’re excited by this new partnership.”
This partnership creates a new search firm in Canada that is capable of executing executive search assignments on a global level and also gives the firm easy access to International candidates. As the exclusive Canadian member of InterSearch, Four Corners Group is now able to build on their existing national presence in Canada and partner with some of the best privately-held search firms in the world.
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Cook Associates, Inc. is a retained Executive Search and M&A Advisory Services firm. Our core business is creating value at the intersection where talent and opportunity connect, and we are uniquely positioned to help our clients capitalize on the brightest talent and best performing companies in the marketplace. Our client base ranges from multinational corporations to early stage entrepreneurial companies, private equity and venture capital firms. Brand name clients include American Express, The Blackstone Group, Canon, GTCR, Juniper Networking, Levi Strauss & Co., Pitney Bowes, and SiriusXM Satellite Radio. For additional information, visit www.cookassociates.com.
Four Corners Group, a leading executive search and talent solutions firm, is located in downtown Toronto. Canadian owned and operated, the company has successfully completed search assignments in every Canadian province. With 35 years of combined executive search experience, the Partners have created a firm representative of their past success. Learn more at www.fourcornersgroup.com.
InterSearch Worldwide is a global network of search firms consistently ranked amongst the largest retained executive search practices in the world by Executive Recruiter News and search-consult magazines. InterSearch is currently represented in more than 40 countries, staffed by local professionals selected for their experience and reputation in their own markets and their ability to operate internationally. Further information on InterSearch can be found at www.intersearch.org.
Posted by Sarah Barnes on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 @ 09:24 AM
InterSearch Worldwide, a leading global network in the executive search field, just revealed its updated corporate logo and new website.
The new logo was designed by Avant Design and Marketing Inc, Illinois, USA and was chosen from a shortlist of proposed designs by InterSearch Worldwide's General Assembly during the organization's recent annual conference in Budapest.
"InterSearch is quite a powerful name describing our core business in an excellent way, and we want our logo to give an instant recognition of what we successfully do in more than 40 countries worldwide. The old logo served us well for two decades but today we are implementing new ideas and strategies that need to be represented in our global and local branding. A clean and easy to read logo supports the image of InterSearch - an international organization represented by strong local partners, working in an integrated and efficient manner in order to offer the highest quality of services to our clients. Our brand is currently registered in over 60 countries" stated Patricia Epperlein, Chairwoman of InterSearch Worldwide.
InterSearch's global website, http://www.intersearch.org/, also underwent a major redesign in order to be in line with the contemporary brand image projected by the new logo.
InterSearch's US partner, Cook Associates, played a significant role in the website's redesign. "The InterSearch website is our 24/hour online business shop which should reflect InterSearch's identity and values: a dynamic and entrepreneurial organization ranked among the top international executive search firms, with international approach and expertise as well as an impeccable local reputation allowing us to act as a trusted extension of our clients" said Sarah Barnes, Director of Marketing/ Communication at Cook Associates.
All InterSearch partners will adopt the new logo by the next InterSearch Annual Conference and General Assembly, to be held in Marseilles, France, in May 2010.
InterSearch Worldwide is a global network of search firms consistently ranked amongst the largest retained executive search practices in the world by Executive Recruiter News and search-consult magazines. InterSearch is currently represented in more than 40 countries, staffed by local professionals selected for their experience and reputation in their own markets and their ability to operate internationally. For additional information, please visit http://www.intersearch.org/.