SANDUSKY, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and immersive entertainment, today announced a strategic reorganization to its corporate leadership structure.
Robert (Bob) White, who since 2021 has served as senior vice president of business intelligence, has been promoted to chief commercial officer, a new executive-level position created to better meet the challenges of today’s dynamic consumer landscape and enhance the Company’s focus on driving guest demand. Additionally, Christian Dieckmann will step into an elevated role as chief strategy officer, focused on identifying growth opportunities and driving strategic initiatives at the Company. Both promotions are effective immediately.
As part of this strategic reorganization, Kelley S. Ford will transition out of the executive vice president and chief marketing officer position after serving 11 years in the post. To support the organizational change, she will remain employed in a non-executive role until March 29, 2024.
“I want to thank Kelley for her leadership and guidance over the years,” said Richard A. Zimmerman, Cedar Fair’s president and chief executive officer. “In 2012, Kelley became the company’s first dedicated chief marketing officer on Cedar Fair’s executive team. Since then, she has helped modernize and develop a comprehensive marketing function that has played a key role in the company’s growth. On behalf of all associates, I extend my sincere appreciation and respect for her many contributions to Cedar Fair.”
Zimmerman continued, “I am pleased to announce the promotions of Bob and Christian to new leadership roles within the company. Bob is a proven executive who has held key leadership roles across sales, marketing, and operations over his distinguished career in our industry. His wide range of experience perfectly complements the Cedar Fair leadership team, and I am confident he will make a significant impact on improving consumer demand and on driving growth in our business.
“Christian has a track record of building key relationships and successfully executing organizational growth strategies,” added Zimmerman. “Since rejoining Cedar Fair over four years ago, he has played an instrumental role in shaping our company’s evolution and strategic direction. I am immensely grateful for Christian’s partnership and look forward to strengthening that collaboration as he embarks on his new and expanded role.”
White, who has more than 40 years of experience in the amusement park industry, will be responsible for developing and directing the company’s commercial strategies for guest acquisition. He will report directly to Tim Fisher, Cedar Fair’s chief operating officer. Dieckmann, who has a decade of experience in the location-based entertainment space, including eight years with Cedar Fair, will focus on developing and executing growth opportunities across the company’s portfolio of properties. He will report directly to Zimmerman.
About Cedar Fair
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), one of the largest regional amusement-resort operators in the world, is a publicly traded partnership headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio. Focused on its mission to make people happy by providing fun, immersive and memorable experiences, the Company owns and operates 13 properties, consisting of 11 amusement parks, four separately gated outdoor water parks, and resort accommodations totaling more than 2,300 rooms and more than 600 luxury RV sites. Cedar Fair’s parks are located in Ohio, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, Texas and Toronto, Ontario. The Company also operates an additional theme park in California under a management contract.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements contained in this news release that are not historical in nature constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements as to the Company's expectations, beliefs, goals, and strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements may involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, may be beyond our control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct or that the Company's growth and operational strategies will achieve the target results. Important factors, including general economic conditions, the impacts of public health concerns, adverse weather conditions, competition for consumer leisure time and spending, unanticipated construction delays, changes in the Company’s capital investment plans and projects and other factors discussed from time to time by the Company in its reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) could affect attendance at the Company’s parks and the Company's growth strategies, and cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations or otherwise to fluctuate or decrease. Additional information on risk factors that may affect the business and financial results of the Company can be found in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the filings of the Company made from time to time with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether a result of new information, future events, information, circumstances or otherwise, that arise after the publication of this document.
