Columbia, MD, March 7, 2014.

CEO General Ed Leland passes the baton to son of company founders

American Wood Fibers (AWF) announced today that later this year Stephen J. Faehner, son of company founders Frank and Joy Faehner, will assume the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The current CEO, General (R) Ed Leland, will retire after 17 years with AWF.

Under Gen. Leland’s guidance, the company saw significant growth. Manufacturing facilities expanded from five to ten, numerous new products were added, and annual sales revenue quadrupled. The exact timing of General Leland’s departure is dependent on the completion of several key hiring actions, but will be not later than the 30th of September 2014.

AWF is anticipating a seamless transition. Stephen Faehner (44) has served the company in progressively senior sales and management capacities for 20 years and in many ways has been preparing to lead AWF most of his life. All at AWF are proud that Stephen will be their CEO and are looking forward to continued profitable growth under his leadership.

“I am profoundly grateful for the monumental efforts from everyone at AWF that went into making the company what it is today. Though no longer with us, I am confident that founder Frank Faehner would have been beaming with pride at his son taking the reins at AWF” said retiring CEO Leland.

“I am humbled and excited to have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps and extraordinary leadership of my father and Ed Leland” said new CEO Stephen Faehner. “Building on the impeccable foundation laid by Frank and Ed, and with the help of our world class team, I look forward to an era of profitable growth, guided by our core values of caring for our AWF family and customers, and to making a positive contribution to the world in which we live by producing the highest quality products.”

American Wood Fibers was founded in 1966 and is a leader in the specialty forestry products field. The company offers large and small animal bedding, industrial wood flour, premium wood pellet products and transportation services. Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, AWF has ten manufacturing sites across the continental U.S.