Republic Services appoints new company president, COO

Republic Services Inc. of Phoenix has announced Jon Vander Ark is assuming a new role as president of the company. As president, Vander Ark is responsible for the company's ongoing transformation and growth, Republic says. He will oversee operations, sales, marketing and business development and will continue reporting to Don Slager, the chief executive officer.

Prior to Vander Ark’s appointment as president, Slager served as both president and CEO of the company.

Vander Ark was promoted from his role as chief operating officer (COO), developing greater rigor around safety, fleet readiness, labor effectiveness and route optimization, Republic says. He joined Republic Services in January 2013 as executive vice president (EVP), chief marketing officer, responsible for advancing the Republic Services brand, elevating the company's customer-centric service approach, and introducing its Priority Based Selling technique and Capture tablet-based pricing tool.

In 2016, Vander Ark assumed the role of EVP, operations, overseeing performance and financial results across the field organization. Prior to Republic, he served as a partner at McKinsey & Company's Detroit office, managing clients across a variety of industries, including transportation, logistics, manufacturing and consumer products. He received a bachelor's degree from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Tim Stuart will succeed Vander Ark as COO. Starting as operations supervisor, Stuart has had nearly 25 years in the industry and gained a deep experience across of all aspects of business operations, Republic says. He joined the company in 2006 as director of operations and has since held roles of increasing responsibility, including area president, vice president of customer experience, region vice president, region president and, most recently, EVP of operations.

Republic says during his tenure, Stuart pioneered the company's customer experience efforts by implementing service commitment methodologies and metrics, along with the use of Net Promoter Score as a key customer insight tool. Stuart received a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and an MBA from Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers.

As COO, Stuart is responsible for continuing to operationalize the company's strategy and execute its business plan across field operations. In addition to leading the general management organization, he will have functional responsibility for safety, operations effectiveness, engineering, environmental compliance and fleet management, Republic says. Stuart will continue reporting to Vander Ark.

"We've built a high-caliber executive leadership team through a commitment to leveraging composite strength and creating deliberate development plans for our people," Slager says in a news release. "Both Jon and Tim work effectively together and have delivered sustainable results for our customers and shareholders. They have built strong teams and remain focused on making Republic a place where the best people come to work.  I'm looking forward to working closely with them in their new roles as we continue to strengthen the Republic way and accelerate the company's growth over the coming years."