Seventh Generation Parts Ways with Hollender

In a newsletter to its customers, Seventh Generation announced it will part way with company founder Jeffrey Hollender. Chuck Maniscalco is still president and chief executive officer; Hollender served as executive chairman to the company.

“In the life of every company, there inevitably comes a time when difficult decisions must be made. These moments are rarely deliberately sought but instead thrust upon us by unexpected circumstances and unforeseen events,” said the newsletter, released online to subscribers. “Recently, Seventh Generation faced such a situation and in the end made a change that we want you to know about: Our co-founder Jeffrey Hollender’s employment relationship with the company has ended…we want to emphasize to you that, although our leadership has changed, our aspirations have not.”

Seventh Generation, headquartered in Burlington, VT, ranked 42nd on Happi‘s Top 50 (http://www.happi.com/articles/2010/07/42-seventh-generation) with estimated annual sales of $150 million. The company recently expanded its distribution to Wal-Mart stores and debuted a hand wash.