William Sherertz, the chairman and chief executive officer of Barrett Business Servicse Inc., died unexpectedly on Thursday morning, the Vancouver-based company announced. Sherertz, 64, had been hospitalized recently for treatment of respiratory failure.
The Barret Business Services (Nasdaq: BBSI) board of directors issued the following statement: “We are shocked and greatly saddened by the passing of Bill Sherertz. He was a visionary leader, a devoted father to his children and a good friend. The company’s directors and employees, as well as the many people he worked with and mentored over the years, mourn his loss. We extend our sympathies to his family, particularly his wife and four children, who meant the world to him.”
The board appointed Chief Operating Officer Michael Elich, who has been with the company for nearly 10 years, as interim president and chief executive Officer. Before joining BBSI, Elich was chief operating officer of Skills Resource Training Center, a staffing services company with offices in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The board also appointed long-time outside director and former Oregon state Treasurer Anthony Meeker as chairman. Meeker, who served seven years as treasurer, retired in 2003 as a managing director of Victory Capital Management Inc. He also served as chairman of the board of First Federal, a federally chartered savings bank headquartered in McMinnville, Ore.
Mr. Meeker said in a statement: “I am honored to serve as BBSI’s newly appointed independent chairman. Over the years, Bill built an exceptional executive management team with long tenures at the company. This team, led by Mike Elich, has been in charge of day-to-day operations since Bill’s original illness in mid-2008.”
