Swisher International Names New President

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Tom Ryan, Swisher International Inc.'s president and CEO, will retire on Dec. 31, the company announced today. He will be replaced on January 1, 2013 by Peter Ghiloni, currently Swisher's senior vice president of marketing.

Ryan began his career in the industry in 1967 and held his current title since 2004. "I am honored to have worked with so many talented people at Swisher through the years," said Ryan. "Swisher is a world-class organization with highly motivated and capable individuals dedicated in their pursuit of manufacturing and marketing quality products that are the leading brands in the tobacco industry."

Ryan added that he is confident Ghiloni is the right person to "lead Swisher into its next phase, and build upon our past success. His leadership and industry experience will help him to drive the company to even greater results in the future."

Ghiloni began his career in the tobacco industry with United States Tobacco Co. in 1972. In 1983, he moved to The Helme Tobacco Co. as vice president of marketing, and in 1991 was promoted to senior vice president of sales and marketing. Following the merger of Swisher and Helme, Ghiloni was named senior vice president of marketing for the combined company.

"I'm honored by the trust that the board [of directors] has placed in me, and while no one can truly replace Tom, I look forward to taking both my industry experience and what I have learned from him and other dedicated Swisher employees to move this company forward," said Ghiloni. "While our industry faces many interesting challenges, I also see great opportunity and I'm optimistic about where our team can take this company."

Swisher International Inc. is an international tobacco brand known for a large variety of cigars, filtered cigars and smokeless tobacco products sold under several names including Swisher Sweets, King Edward, Optimo, BlackStone, Santa Fe and Chattanooga Chew.