Altria Group Inc. has created two divisions and appointed a chief growth officer as part of a new structure aimed at accelerating the innovation at the tobacco giant.
The Virginia-based company named K.C. Crosthwaite senior vice president and chief growth officer of Altria Client Services LLC. He currently is president and CEO of Philip Morris USA Inc.
Altria set up separate divisions for its core tobacco businesses and innovative tobacco products, in line with its dual strategies of boosting profit from both segments.
Businesses that will form the core tobacco division are Philip Morris USA, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC, John Middleton Co. and Nat Sherman Inc. Jody Begley, tobacco products senior vice president, will oversee the division.
Heather Newman and Shannon Leistra will serve as president and CEO of Philip Morris USA and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, respectively. Ryan Bauersachs will become the managing director at Middleton, and Dominik Meier will hold the same post at Nat Sherman.
The innovative products segment will be overseen by Brian Quigley, president and CEO of the Nu Mark LLC subsidiary, which will focus on developing a portfolio of noncombustible products for nonsmokers, including e-vapor devices.
