Herman Miller Announces Senior Leadership Promotions and Appointments

ZEELAND, Mich., March 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ: MLHR) today announced the following leadership promotions and appointments, effective immediately.

• Greg Bylsma, previously Chief Financial Officer at Herman Miller, has been named Chief Operating Officer of Herman Miller North America (Work and Learning), following Curt Pullen's decision to step down from the Company.
• Malisa Bryant, previously Vice President of North America Sales at Herman Miller, has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Sales and Distribution for Herman Miller North America (Work and Learning). She will report directly to Brian Walker, President and Chief Executive Officer.
• Jeff Stutz, previously Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer at Herman Miller, has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

"We are pleased to announce these promotions and appointments, which reflect the deep bench of talent within our organization and will support the actions we have and are taking to reignite growth in our North American Contract Segment," said Mr. Walker. "In addition to serving as our CFO since 2009, Greg has led our global manufacturing operations for the past two years. His deep experience with the Company makes him a perfect fit to lead our North American business.  I am confident that Greg will play an integral role in executing the initiatives we have put in place to accelerate growth in our North American contract business.  I would also like to thank Curt for his many years of service and contributions to our Company.  He has been a valuable member of our team and we wish him all the best."

"I look forward to taking on my next challenge at Herman Miller and I'm confident that we have the right tools and strategy in place to return to higher growth," said Mr. Bylsma. "I am also proud of the Finance team we've built at Herman Miller, and Jeff has been a key part of that.  I am confident he is the ideal choice to succeed me as CFO."

Mr. Walker continued, "Malisa was a key hire at Herman Miller last year and brings with her a proven track record in the area of sales leadership.  Given her passion to win and significant industry experience, she is well suited to reinvigorate our sales and distribution organization throughout North America.  We still have a lot of work ahead, and I look forward to working closely with her in this capacity."

Mr. Walker concluded, "As a fourteen year veteran of Herman Miller, Jeff brings significant experience with our business and industry.  He is a strong, well-respected leader, and the expansion of his responsibilities over the past two years will allow for a seamless transition.  I look forward to continuing to work with him as we execute our strategy to drive shareholder value."

Greg Bylsma
Mr. Bylsma has been Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Herman Miller since February 2009.  He also has served as Principal Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller of Herman Miller.

Malisa Bryant
Ms. Bryant joined the Company in 2013 as Vice President and General Manager of Focused Market Segments. Prior to joining the Company, she held several leadership roles within the industry, including the Vice President of Customer Support, Vice President and General Manager of Strategic Accounts, and Vice President of Sales for Allsteel, in each case at HNI.

Jeff Stutz
Mr. Stutz joined Herman Miller in 2001 and has held numerous roles within the Company's finance organization, including Chief Accounting Officer, Treasurer & Vice President of Investor Relations, Assistant Corporate Controller, and Director of Consolidations and Reporting.  He began his career as an auditor at Deloitte & Touche.

About Herman Miller
Herman Miller's inspiring designs, inventive technologies and strategic services help people do great things and organizations to perform at their best. The company's award-winning products and services generated approximately $1.9 billion in revenue in fiscal 2014. A past recipient of the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award, Herman Miller designs can be found in the permanent collections of museums worldwide. Innovative business practices and a commitment to social responsibility have also helped establish Herman Miller as a recognized global leader. In 2014, Herman Miller again received the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's top rating in its annual Corporate Equality Index and was named among the 50 Best U.S. Manufacturers by Industry Week. Herman Miller is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol MLHR.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act, as amended, that are based on management's beliefs, assumptions, current expectations, estimates, and projections about the office furniture industry, the economy, and the company itself. Words like "anticipates," "believes," "confident," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "likely," "plans," "projects," "should," variations of such words, and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. These statements do not guarantee future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, likelihood, and degree of occurrence. These risks include, without limitation, the success of our growth strategy, employment and general economic conditions, the pace of economic recovery in the U.S. and international markets, the pace and level of government procurement, the impact of the Affordable Care Act on healthcare markets, the increase in white-collar employment, the willingness of customers to undertake capital expenditures, the types of products purchased by customers, competitive-pricing pressures, the availability and pricing of raw materials, our reliance on a limited number of suppliers, our ability to expand globally given the risks associated with regulatory and legal compliance challenges and accompanying currency fluctuations, the ability to increase prices to absorb the additional costs of raw materials, the financial strength of our dealers and customers, the mix of our products purchased by customers, our ability to locate new DWR studios, negotiate favorable lease terms for new and existing locations and the implementation of our studio portfolio transformation, our ability to attract and retain key executives and other qualified employees, our ability to continue to make product innovations, the success of newly introduced products, our ability to serve all of our markets, possible acquisitions, divestitures or alliances, the outcome of pending litigation or governmental audits or investigations, political risk in the markets we serve, and other risks identified in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Therefore, actual results and outcomes may materially differ from what we express or forecast. Furthermore, Herman Miller, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update, amend or clarify forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Herman Miller

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