Terry Vaudry, chair of the audit committee and a director at the firm since September 2010, will become the chief executive of the soft-armour maker Oct. 1.
He will take the place of Fraser Campbell, who was interim CEO since Doug Lucky resigned amid an executive shakeup in in July.
At the time, the company said that PSP founder Brad Field (who was also a CEO for 22 years) would likely become the next CEO, but on Thursday the company announced Mr. Field has resigned his position on the board of directors.
“Terry has become increasingly involved in the operations of PSP over the past several months as the company has completed its right-sizing, and has made an important contribution to the company's return to near-term profitability,” stated Mr. Campbell on Thursday.
PSP is still in the midst of a review of strategic alternatives, a phrase that is often, but not always, used when a company is considering a sale.
The company has been struggling with profitability for several years since leaving the west coast for Ottawa to keep an eye on the competition, although it did post a narrow net income of $100,000 in the third quarter of 2012.
“Profitability is a significant milestone in the transformation of the company,” stated Mr. Lucky, who was CEO at the time.
“We're creating a business platform on the back of focus and alignment decisions, a stable balance sheet, and a value-added operating cost structure.”
In 2010, following problems with losses and selling assets, PSP warned it was close to bankruptcy. Mr. Lucky was appointed in September that year to help fix the company’s finances. PSP subsequently merged with holding company Zuni in December 2010.
Mr. Lucky moved PSP’s headquarters to Arnprior from Kanata to save rent costs, and also worked to bring back key customers such as the RCMP and Department of National Defence, who both signed deals in 2011.
The company has attempted to sell some assets this year and to undertake a reverse takeover with ArmorWorks with no success so far.
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