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Jane Blain Gilbertson[/caption]
Mark Hasting will become the new chief executive officer and president of Janesville-based retailer
Blain’s Farm & Fleet, replacing current CEO
Jane Blain Gilbertson, who will become executive chair of the company’s board of directors.
Blain Gilbertson is the daughter of Blain’s Farm & Fleet co-founder Norman Albert “Bert” Blain, who started the business in 1955 with his brother, William Claude Blain. Jane Blain Gilbertson joined the family business in 1985. Following the death of her father and uncle, she and her brother, Robert, bought out the remaining family shareholders in 1998. The siblings ran the business together for 16 years until Blain Gilbertson bought out Robert in 2014 and he retired.
Hasting joined Farm & Fleet in 2020 as chief stores officer. He has served as president and chief commerce and operating officer since August.
Prior to joining Blain’s Farm & Fleet, Hasting spent more than 20 years at Target, where he had many roles including store manager, district team leader, group vice president and vice president of store operations. He has also served as regional vice president at Starbucks and chief operating officer at Kum & Go.
“I am humbled and excited to take on this new role. It is my desire to continue the family culture to support the growth of Blain’s Farm & Fleet and our associates,” said Hasting. “Working with Jane these past 4 years has taught me so much about leadership and culture. It is my honor to be a strategic partner to her and her family in continuing to help this amazing organization to thrive.”
“The most important thing a leader must do is to plan for the organization’s next great leader,” said Blain Gilbertson. “This succession plan was put into place four years ago when we hired Mark to join our company as our chief of stores. From the beginning, the entire company and our vendor partners could see Mark’s character, values, intelligence and love for this business. He learned our business quickly through his humility and curiosity, and I was especially pleased to observe his strength for developing others. With Mark in the CEO role, I am confident we will continue to grow and thrive as a family-owned company delivering on our promise of making Blain’s a place where life is more rewarding.”
The leadership transition will take place over the next several months and will be complete in September, the company said.
“We will transition over the summer, allowing me to visit every one of our 45 beloved stores and each of our distribution centers,” said Jane Blain Gilbertson. “I want a chance to say thank you to all of the amazing associates that serve our neighbors every day, and my daughters, who both work in our business, will join me for a number of these visits.”
The company also announced today that senior vice president of store operations
Kim Treece will be promoted to chief stores officer.
“This is the perfect arrangement,” said
Nicole Gilbertson, daughter of Jane Blain Gilbertson and project management specialist at Blain’s Farm & Fleet. “I’m happy to see my mother take more time for herself to travel and enjoy life, and I’m glad she is going to continue to play an important role on the board. Mark is a strong leader, and with Mark leading the company and my mother leading the board, and, of course, the entire family supporting him, we will have excellent balance and synergy.”
“We have full confidence in Mark and Kim,” said
Sarah Gilbertson, daughter of Jane Blain Gilbertson and customer relationship marketing specialist at Blain’s Farm & Fleet. “The core of our family culture is that we treat our associates like family and our customers like neighbors, and Mark and Kim embrace that whole-heartedly. My sister and I are committed to keeping Blain’s a high performing family-owned business. These changes provide the leadership we need to continue to grow while keeping family at the center of the organization.”
Under Jane Blain Gilbertson’s leadership the company has added 10 new stores, including five in Michigan, and has grown its workforce from 3,500 to approximately 5,500.
“If you are standing still, you will be run over. I am proud of the growth and innovation we have cultivated,” said Jane Blain Gilbertson.
