Stanton Chase Opens Office in Memphis

May 30, 2018 – Stanton Chase International has continued its strategic expansion to support the business environment in Tennessee with the addition of three new directors and a new office in Memphis.

Veteran executive search consultants Deadrick Baker, Roxana Svensson and Ken Nimitz have joined the firm as directors, enhancing practice group specializations in the healthcare, financial services, industrial and consumer products and services industries. “Stanton Chase is the only top 10 global retained executive search firm with a presence in Tennessee,” said Daniel Casteel, managing director of the Nashville office and regional vice president, North America for Stanton Chase.

“With the opening of our new office in Memphis, we are better positioned to partner with our clients to attract the right leadership talent into their organizations that, quite simply, makes all the difference when competing in today’s environment. We’ve continued to build our team with the addition of three new directors — each a true veteran within their respective industries, with deep experience in niche industry specialization areas,” he said.

Major corporations with headquarters in Tennessee include FedEx, AutoZone and International Paper, all based in Memphis. Tourism contributes billions of dollars each year to the state’s economy and Tennessee is ranked among the top 10 destinations in the U.S.

New Additions

Mr. Baker, an executive and business consultant with more than 20 years of experience as an advisor to senior leaders at multiple Fortune 500 companies, specializes in talent management, succession planning, compensation and benefits, employee relations, executive coaching, leadership development and training initiatives. He will focus his executive consulting expertise within the healthcare, consumer products and services, and financial services industries. Mr. Baker formerly served as chief people officer of Health Essentials.

Ms. Svensson is an experienced diversity and inclusion business consultant with more than 20 years of global engineering leadership experience and extensive knowledge of multi-cultural talent management, lean manufacturing and diversity and inclusion programs. She specializes in developing innovative diversity and inclusion initiatives in the engineering and industrial industries. Previously, Ms. Svensson was director of diversity and inclusion at Schneider Electric.

Mr. Nimitz brings more than 25 years of global experience in operations management, recruiting, training and development, and technical marketing and sales to the Stanton Chase Nashville team. He developed a passion for building corporate cultures, teamwork and mentoring in the oil and gas services, IT development, biotech, and maritime industries across North America, Southeast Asia, South America, the Middle East and Russia. Mr. Nimitz focuses on the natural resources and energy and industrial sectors. He previously served as COO of Allied-Horizontal Wireline Services.

Recent Expansion at the Firm

Stanton Chase has appointed new leaders in several of practices over the past year. In April, it opened a new office in Seattle. David Kimbro, a senior executive search veteran of almost 20 years, joined the firm as managing director of the new location. With broad experience in functional leadership across the C-suite, Mr. Kimbro’s clients range from start-ups to large public companies.

Stanton Chase began the year by opening an new office in Washington, D.C. Jeff Perkins was appointed managing director of the location. Mr. Perkins has vast experience in leadership consulting and executive development as CEO of Huntbridge, a leadership consulting firm that provides hand-crafted solutions for talent leaders.

Just recently, Stanton Chase also opened an office in Philadelphia. Dan Hobbs was named managing director of the new location. Mr. Hobbs brings over two decades of experience in search and leadership assessment projects for a broad range of privately and publicly held companies. 

In December, Stanton Chase has appointed new leaders in several of practices over the past year. In December, the firm added Scott Clark as managing director in its industrial, engineering and construction practices. An experienced human resources executive, Mr. Clark has placed hundreds of senior executives in a variety of functions across these sectors.

In September, Peter Deragon, the managing director of the Los Angeles office of the firm, was named global sector leader for the carriers, third party & contract logistics practice. Mr. Deragon, who is also the North American leader for the financial services practice group, has more than 30 years of experience in operations management, institutional sales and executive search consulting.

Last August, the firm named Hans Nilsson as aviation & aerospace global sector leader. He will work out of the firm’s offices in Zurich and Miami. Mr. Nilsson has more than 25 years of industrial and management consulting experience in the aviation, aerospace, transportation and technology industries.

The firm also appointed Dale Zankl as the director of its natural resources and energy practice for the Middle East. Based out of the firm’s offices in Dubai, he consults with new and existing clients on their leadership challenges in regard to natural resources and energy in the Middle East.

The firm named Steve Caliger as North America regional practice leader for the technology industry practice group. With over 21 years of executive search and consulting experience, Mr. Caliger helps develop leadership teams with investors and boards for C- and VP-level executives.

Bernard Layton, managing director of the Chicago office, was named practice leader for the firm’s global industrial practice group. Mr. Layton will oversee activity related to Stanton Chase’s global presence in the industrial sector. He has executed more than 750 searches across a wide range of senior and mid-management positions.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Will Schatz, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media