TruGreen Appoints Kurt Kane as President and Chief Executive Officer

Highly Skilled Consumer Retail Brand Builder to Drive Increased Associate and Customer Engagement and Lead TruGreen into Next Phase of Growth

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Nov. 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TruGreen^®, the nation's leading lawn care provider, today announced the appointment of Kurt Kane as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Kane succeeds John Cowles, who leaves TruGreen after having successfully led the company through its most recent period of growth.

"We are pleased to welcome Kurt to TruGreen and believe his brand-building skillset and proven ability to lead and motivate employees will serve TruGreen well as it enters this next chapter of growth," said John Compton, TruGreen Chairman and an Operating Partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, TruGreen's majority investment partner. "Kurt's 'people first' leadership approach and commitment to innovative customer engagement will help TruGreen continue to deepen its associate and customer relationships across the neighborhoods we serve with industry leading and innovative lawn care."

Mr. Kane is a highly skilled leader with more than 20 years of experience driving increased employee engagement and customer satisfaction to achieve strong growth objectives in competitive markets. Mr. Kane most recently served as President, U.S., and Chief Commercial Officer at The Wendy's Company. In this role, he led all aspects of Wendy's U.S. business, which during his tenure grew to include nearly 5,900 restaurants and increased sales from $9 to $11 billion. Among his key accomplishments in this position were the development and implementation of strategic plans that drove the highest same restaurant sales growth achieved by the Wendy's brand in more than 15 years, reinventing the culture, structure, and mindset of the U.S. operations team, and successfully launching breakfast, which delivered approximately $750 million in incremental sales during its first year. As Wendy's Executive Vice President, Chief Concept and Marketing Officer from 2015 until 2019, Mr. Kane led the development of a new brand positioning and purpose driven advertising that reversed declines in 21 key brand equity metrics and drove digital and social engagement efforts to deliver communications that resulted in Wendy's being named "Digital Marketer of the Year" by AdAge.

"I am excited to join TruGreen and collaborate with all of my new colleagues to help TruGreen deepen its associate and customer engagement and continue on its strong growth trajectory," said Kurt Kane, TruGreen Chief Executive Officer. "TruGreen is an established yet dynamic and forward-thinking consumer brand, and I'm looking forward to helping our team energize our outstanding front-line associates to create new ways for customers to interact with TruGreen and continue to receive the very best science-based lawn care in the industry."

Before joining Wendy's in 2015, Mr. Kane held senior management roles at YUM! Brands, where he led and motivated frontline, service-oriented colleagues in the execution of innovative strategies to achieve significant growth at YUM!'s licensed brand Pizza Hut both in the U.S. and globally across 95 countries worldwide. Prior to his tenure at YUM!, Mr. Kane held increasingly senior executive positions at Frito-Lay, Molson Coors Brewing Company, and Procter & Gamble. He served as a Platoon Leader, Air Defense Artillery, in the United States Army and earned a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy and a Master of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin. 

Mr. Compton added: "We thank John Cowles for his many contributions to TruGreen's success over the past few years and we wish him the best in his future endeavors."

For more information about TruGreen and the new report, please visit TruGreen.com and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and X.

About TruGreen
Founded in 1973, TruGreen is the nation's leading lawn care provider, providing lawn, tree and shrub and pest services focused on exceeding its customers' needs. The company operates more than 290 locations across the United States and Canada, with more than 14,000 associates. TruGreen is the partner with the local, tailored solutions and science-driven expertise needed to help each outdoor living space look and feel its very best. For 50 years, TruGreen has stayed committed to making its customers' outdoor living space a place they can be proud of. For more information about TruGreen, please visit TruGreen.com and follow them on Facebook, Instagram and X.

SOURCE TruGreen