American Building Control board members, CEO resign

LEWISVILLE, Texas - American Building Control, formerly known as Ultrak, saw changes in its top levels of management as the company’s chief executive officer and three members of the board of directors announced their resignations. Company officials did not say in a press release why Chief Executive Officer Niklaus Zenger resigned, but attributed a new business strategy at the company to his tenure. The strategy included the December 2002 sale of Ultrak’s CCTV division to Honeywell, and restructuring of the company into core business units, reducing operating expenses and increasing profit margins. “When I had to take over, the company was in a very difficult situation,” Zenger said. The company today is well positioned to service future security needs with a talented employee pool, he said. Zenger became CEO last summer after the resignation of George Broady a few months prior; the two shared leadership after then President and CEO Peter Beare left the company. Bryan C.W. Tate, a member of the board of directors since October 2001, will become CEO. Tate was formerly the head of Digitel, a privately held telecommunications company in Atlanta. In addition to Zenger’s resignation, Gerard Codeluppi, Michael Morris, and Oliver Stahel all resigned from the company’s board of directors on Jan. 1. Company officials did not release the reasons for the trio’s resignation, but Tate indicated in a release that the company might be interested in working with the three in the future. “We appreciate the hard work and contribution that (they) provided during a challenging period over the last year,” said Tate in a release. “We would like to continue to benefit from their extensive contacts and experience for future business development,” Tate said. Lance Borvansky has been appointed an independent member of the board of directors. Officials said they expect to nominate another board member in the coming weeks.