Kadant Inc., a Massachusetts-based maker of engineered systems for the pulp, paper and industrial processing sectors, announced a multi-year chief executive succession plan on 10 September 2026. Michael C. Colwell, currently senior vice president of the company’s industrial processing segment, will become president and chief operating officer on 1 October 2026, then add the chief executive and director titles on 2 January 2027.
Current president and CEO Jeffrey L. Powell will remain in the CEO role alongside Colwell through the January transition date, giving the incoming leader roughly three months as president before formally taking over as chief executive. Powell will then become executive chairman of the board, with plans to continue as a non-executive director and board chairman after his retirement on 1 January 2028.
A staged handover, not a clean break
The layered timeline, in which Colwell gradually assumes leadership responsibilities while Powell remains available for a full year of strategic guidance, reflects an increasingly common approach among mid-sized industrial companies seeking to reduce the operational risk of a CEO transition. Jonathan W. Painter, the current board chairman, is set to retire from the board entirely on 2 January 2027, the same date Colwell becomes CEO.
Continuity in a specialised industrial niche
Kadant supplies equipment used in recycling paper and paperboard and processing timber for packaging, tissue and wood-products manufacturers, a specialised industrial segment where customer relationships and engineering expertise take years to build. Promoting from within the industrial processing business unit keeps that institutional knowledge in place through the transition.
Why It Matters
Multi-year, staged CEO transitions are designed to reassure investors and customers that a company’s strategy will not shift abruptly, even as new leadership takes over. For a specialised equipment maker serving global manufacturers, that continuity matters directly to the reliability of long-term supply and service contracts.
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