NEWS

Tami Longaberger resigns as company CEO

Kent Mallett
Reporter
  • Longaberger parent CVSL announced John Rochon Jr.%2C a CVSL director%2C will replace Tami Longaberger.
  • Longaberger was founded in 1973 and became a %241 billion business in 2000%2C when it employed 8%2C200.

NEWARK – Tami Longaberger, who led the Longaberger Co. since her father died in 1999, has resigned as CEO and director of the company.

Tami Longaberger has resigned as the company's CEO.

Longaberger parent company CVSL announced that John Rochon Jr., vice chairman of CVSL and son of the CVSL chairman, will take over as Longaberger chairman, president and CEO.

The company that Dave Longaberger founded in 1973 became a $1 billion business in 2000, when it employed more than 8,200 people.

Tami Longaberger became president of the company in 1994, while her father remained as chairman. She took more of a leadership role as her father battled kidney cancer in his final years.

The Newark-based company has struggled for more than a decade, with sales plummeting to roughly $100 million annually and employment dwindling to 230 employees, including 68 at its Newark corporate office, which had 500 employees shortly after it opened in 1998.

In a letter to the Longaberger Co. family, Rochon states his commitment to the company.

"The mission of The Longaberger Company that Dave Longaberger began almost half a century ago continues," Rochon wrote. "Leadership is hard work. It isn't glamorous. I'll promise you one thing: I will be your long-term president."

The company has had at least seven presidents, including Tami Longaberger for two stints, since Dave Longaberger passed the torch to his daughter in 1994. The company reported in February that its most recent president, Michael Somoroff, left after less than a year. Somoroff came to Longaberger after a career in photography and filmmaking.

"I pledge to give the wonderful team in Ohio and the equally wonderful team in Dallas my very best, to guide the operations of this company and to get you and your customers the Longaberger treasures, both products and the treasures of the heart, which you richly deserve," Rochon Jr. wrote.

Rochon states in his letter that he had a four-hour telephone conversation open to every member of the sales field.

"It's clear to me that Longaberger needs several things," Rochon wrote. "First, it needs hands-on, day-to-day leadership, not a revolving door of executives.

"The other thing it needs — which you have told me loud and clear — is just to get Longaberger products, whether they are baskets or pottery or anything else, to you and your customers in a timely way. That's a reasonable thing to ask."

The publicly traded CVSL Inc., with U.S. headquarters in Dallas, acquired Longaberger in 2013. The company was apparently on the verge of collapse when CVSL purchased it, Rochon said.

"We set out to rescue the company from certain demise," Rochon said in his letter. "Thanks to a lot of hard work by you, and by the teams in Ohio and Texas, with God's help we succeeded together in saving the company. Now, it's time to move ahead.

"The Longaberger Company is bigger than any one person. It's about love: the love of American craftsmanship, the love of friends and family and the love that leads people to stick together even in tough times, to rescue what is worth saving and to build for the next generation."

Rochon states in his letter that he took over the company in response to a request from his father, John Rochon Sr., chairman of CVSL and former chairman of Mary Kay.

"I literally grew up in direct selling," Rochon wrote. "When I was a little boy, my father was chairman of Mary Kay, and I was always surrounded by the sales field leaders at our house and at company events."

Carol Brown, a Longaberger sales associate for more than 20 years, from Dover, Delaware, said she respects and admires Tami Longaberger but also likes what she's heard from Rochon.

"I do like some of the ideas he has and he's listening to the sales field," Brown said. "I'm saddened for Tami. Sometimes you have to change in business."

People seem to rush to judgment about Longaberger, Brown said, particularly in Ohio. She said her business has declined, but her income still tops $100,000 annually.

"People are quick to condemn them, but you have to remember the good," she said. "We have to look at how much this company has enriched people's lives."

Russell Mack, a CVSL director and spokesman for Longaberger, said Tami Longaberger also has resigned from the CVSL board but owns CVSL shares. The Dave Longaberger Trust also has a minority stake in the Longaberger Co., Mack said.

The removal of Longaberger was not part of any CVSL plan when it acquired the company two years ago, Mack said. He declined comment on Longaberger's compensation package, but he said the resignation was dated April 28, effective in 30 days.

Brenton Baker, director of marketing and communications for Longaberger, had no comment on Tami Longaberger's resignation.

Longaberger got its start when Dave Longaberger, the fifth of 12 children, resurrected his family's trade in 1973. At that time, it was called J.W.'s Hand-woven Baskets, after his father, John Wendell Longaberger.

Tami's daughter, Claire Longaberger Kaido, who joined the company two years ago as communications manager, also has left the company, Mack said.

Dave Longaberger's brother, Gary, and his wife, Lynn, remain part of the company, Rochon stated.

kmallett@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8545

Twitter: @kmallett1958