Wayne Matzke Retiring From Grande Cheese

(Fond du Lac, WI)  Wayne Matzke, President and CEO of Grande Cheese, has announced he will retire from the firm in February 2017.  “I’ve spent 17 great years with Grande and it has been an honor and privilege to lead the firm,” he said. “I am extremely proud of this company’s growth, development and its many successes which were all attained while remembering our commitments to Associates, trademark excellence, our history and traditions. We are now poised for the future and it is the right time to transition to the next generation of company leadership.”

The responsibilities of Matzke’s role will be restructured and divided between a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a newly formed company position of Chief Operating Officer (COO).  “With our continued growth in products and markets, it makes sense to restructure in this manner to provide a strong foundation for the future,” said Matzke.

Todd Koss, Grande’s current Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will become the CEO. Koss has been with Grande for 16 years, also having served as Director of Strategic Planning.  Prior to joining Grande he held several leadership positions at Procter & Gamble and worked in banking as well. Koss has an MBA in Finance from UW-Madison and was a WARF fellow recipient. He also has a bachelor of science-finance degree from UW-La Crosse. Koss has served on a number of nonprofit boards including the Fond du Lac County Economic Development Corp., the UW-Fond du Lac Foundation Board and the UW-La Crosse College of Business Administration Advisory Board.

Ryan Cropper, Grande’s current Group Vice President-Trademark Products has been named as the COO. Cropper has been with Grande for eight years and previously served as the firm’s Vice President of Human Resources and Director of Financial Analysis and Planning.

Prior to joining Grande, he held leadership roles at Schneider National, Kimberly-Clark and Hewlett-Packard.  Cropper has an MBA in Strategic Finance, Organizational Design and Economics from Brigham Young University.  His bachelor’s degree is in economics from the University of Utah.

“I am confident the new structure and leaders will build upon the foundation developed over the past 17 years.  Great things are ahead for Grande,” added Matzke.

Matzke and his wife Mary will continue to reside in Wisconsin after his retirement.