Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc., an industry-leading innovation company whose purpose is to elevate every life by transforming spaces into havens, today announced several key actions designed to accelerate its growth opportunities.
One Headquarters
The Company is consolidating its U.S. regional offices into one campus headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois, to best position the Company and its brands for long-term growth. The decision is expected to deliver a world-class, collaborative office environment to fuel the Company’s innovation, accelerate its digital solutions, and grow its core products.
“We have a huge opportunity ahead of us. Bringing together associates from across all our brands and functions into one state-of-the-art campus will help us to bring innovations and products to life faster, while also making the organization more efficient and aligned. We were fortunate to find a recently built campus in an ideal location that already has innovative and fun spaces where associates can dream and build, while fostering stronger relationships, collaboration and a sense of community.” – CEO Nicholas Fink
“We are confident that this new campus headquarters in Deerfield will enable us to best shape an environment where people can innovate together while delivering on our purpose, accelerating both the business and our associates’ careers, and building our reputation as an employer of choice in the Chicago area.” – CHRO Kristin Papesh.
Fortune Brands’ headquarters will ultimately occupy two buildings on its campus in Deerfield, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. The Company was incented to expand its headquarters in Illinois with annual tax credits to be provided through the State of Illinois Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) program.
By the end of 2027, the Company will have capacity for over 1,000 professional associates based in its new Deerfield headquarters. This includes associates who relocate from one of FBIN’s current offices as well as roles newly hired in the Chicago area.
The Company’s digital-focused office in San Francisco, California, along with its U.S. manufacturing facilities, U.S. distribution centers, sales offices and international sites, will continue operations as usual.
Simplified Executive Leadership Structure
The Company is simplifying its executive leadership structure by eliminating the role of Group President and replacing it with direct reporting lines and closer working relationships between the CEO and Fortune Brands’ commercial leaders.
“By working as peers across the leadership team and reporting directly to me in one physical location, the leaders of our major businesses and commercial functions will be best positioned to focus on the highest growth opportunities as we look to expand our leadership in brands, innovation and channel. This is the next phase of our evolution into a centralized organization, and a direct result of the progress the team has already made in a high-performing business unit-led matrix structure. We will be faster and more efficient.” – CEO Nicholas Fink
Cheri Phyfer, current Group President, will continue in an advisory role through July 1, 2025, at which point she will be leaving the Company to focus on other opportunities. “I am incredibly grateful for all that Cheri has done over the past seven years, both in her role as President of Water Innovations and Group President of Fortune Brands Innovations. Thanks to her leadership during a critical phase of the Company’s evolution, and the foundation which she helped build, we are well positioned to be able to take these next transformative steps,” said Fink.
With these changes, the following Fortune Brands leaders have been elevated to the Fortune Brands executive team: Leigh Avsec, EVP, External Affairs and Chief of Staff; Aaron Bores, EVP, Product Development; Kevin Campbell, President, Moen; Mark-Hans Richer, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer; Rachel Roberts, President, House of Rohl; and David Youn, President, Outdoors.
Barry Deployed to Lead Security and Digital
Dave Barry, CFO, has been named to President, Security and Connected Products. In addition to leading the Company’s iconic legacy security business, Barry will have direct responsibility for growing Fortune Brands’ digital business, including Yale and August smart residential locks, Master Lock connected lockout tagout and the Moen smart water ecosystem, including the Moen Flo leak protection solution.
“Through his tenure as CFO, Dave has proven himself to be a remarkable leader, with keen business insight, high standards, and exceptional focus on pursuing growth opportunities. The announcement today represents our commitment toward putting our best resources toward our biggest opportunities. I am excited to have Dave lead our iconic security and digital businesses, and I am confident he will help unleash our next chapter of rapid growth. I am confident that the key actions we announced today will make Fortune Brands a more agile and efficient organization and will unlock opportunities for growth and shareholder value. More than ever before, we will truly be able to harness the power of our scale and execute with excellence across our brands. Additionally, I am especially grateful to all our associates for their commitment and trust as we continue to evolve our organization.”- CEO Nicholas Fink.
A search for Barry’s replacement has been initiated. He will continue to serve as CFO until a new CFO is appointed, and Barry will work closely with the new CFO to ensure a smooth transition.
More information about these announcements will be shared at Fortune Brands’ upcoming fourth quarter and full-year 2024 earnings call on February 6, 2025.
