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Mindy Rich named chairman of Rich Holdings, Inc., family-owned corporate parent of Rich Products

Ms. Rich, 64, succeeds her husband, Robert E. Rich Jr., as only the third chairman in the company's 77-year history.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A leadership change is coming to one of Buffalo's biggest employers.

Rich Products announced Monday Melinda Rich will succeed her husband, Robert E. Rich, Jr. as chairman of Rich Holdings, the parent company of family-owned Rich Products.

During her 37-year career with the company, Ms. Rich, 64, has served as vice chairman, executive vice president and member of the board of directors. 

In a release, the company called the move "a long-planned transition" and that her husband will support his wife as she leads the company. 

“This decision was made after years of very deliberate and careful planning,” Ms. Rich said in a message to Rich’s 12,500+ associates worldwide. “Intentional succession planning is a crucial part of fostering a robust leadership pipeline – especially in a family-led company like ours. We expect and demand that our senior leaders actively participate in this kind of forethought, and we hold ourselves accountable to the same expectations as stewards of Rich Products and our family of businesses.”

Melinda Rich, known as Mindy, takes the helm of the global food company that provides cakes and icings, pizza, appetizers and more to homes, restaurants and bakeries around the world.

“Serving this company as chairman is one of the great honors of my life,” she said. “I’ve had the privilege of being an integral part of Rich’s for nearly four decades and deeply admire and respect what we, as the Rich family, have built over the past 77 years. I have the utmost pride in what our family name stands for and an even deeper desire to preserve and protect what my predecessors worked so hard to establish.”

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