Great Lakes CEO retires earlier than planned

OAK BROOK - Great Lakes Dredge & Dock's board of directors accelerated the date of retirement of CEO Jonathan W. Berger and has also accepted his resignation from the board.

Berger had been expected to retire no later than April 17.

Berger's retirement follows the Dec. 27, 2016 announcement of the appointment of Lasse Petterson as CEO, effective on the completion of his U.S. citizenship process, which is anticipated during the first quarter of 2017. During the interim period, Mark Marinko, who has served as Great Lakes' Chief Financial Officer since 2014, will also serve as Interim CEO. Marinko is expected to continue in the CFO role when Petterson assumes the CEO role.

"During the more than six years that Jon led Great Lakes, the company successfully executed a large number of complicated domestic and international dredging contracts," said Chairman Robert B. Uhler, P.E. "Also under his leadership, the Company has made important investments to its fleet and fleet refreshment, including the ATB hopper dredge expected to become operational in the second quarter of 2017."

Berger will remain available to assist with the transition of the new CEO, as necessary.

The company also announced that Uhler has been appointed chairman of the board. Uhler is assuming the role from Major General (Ret.) Michael J. Walsh who requested to step down as chairman in order to accommodate his other professional time commitments. Walsh will continue to serve as an independent director and the Company expects to continue to benefit from his deep knowledge of dredging and his experience with the Corps of Engineers, Great Lakes' primary customer.

Uhler has served on the board since October 2015, including on the compensation and audit committees. He recently served as lead director on the executive search special committee and has been a contributor to the board based on his many years of commercial engineering and construction experience.

Uhler is a West Point graduate and decorated Vietnam combat veteran. He also has a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Florida and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.