MSC Appoints Kari Heerdt As Chief People Officer

MELVILLE, N.Y., Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- MSC INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY CO. (NYSE: MSM), a leading distributor of Metalworking and Maintenance, Repair and Operations ("MRO") supplies to industrial customers throughout North America, is pleased to announce the appointment of Kari Heerdt as the company's Chief People Officer. In this role, Ms. Heerdt will be responsible for overseeing the company's people strategy and all aspects of MSC's associate relations, community relations and human resources function. Ms. Heerdt will be based in Davidson, NC. Click to Tweet: @MSC_Industrial is pleased to announce the appointment of Kari Heerdt as the company's first Chief People Officer.

"I am excited to join MSC, a company that is committed to investment in and the development of its associates as a critical part of its growth strategy," said Ms. Heerdt.  "A company's people are its greatest assets, driving the culture and living the values of an organization, both of which are very important for a growing customer-focused business like MSC. I look forward to contributing to the effort by partnering with all of our associates to help them grow and prosper as part of MSC."

A talented and experienced HR executive, Ms. Heerdt brings more than 20 years of experience in implementing and overseeing human resources strategies and talent management solutions for a broad range of industries and companies. Prior to MSC, Ms. Heerdt served as a Partner at Aon Hewitt, a leading human resources consulting firm, where she oversaw one of the company's largest client relationships. Ms. Heerdt also spent nearly a decade with private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, where she was selected to serve as the Chief Human Resources Officer for two of its companies and was responsible for building high performance cultures and the human resources infrastructure to support them.

"The addition of Kari as our Chief People Officer marks a critical step for MSC as we continue to transform the company for the future," said Erik Gershwind, President and Chief Executive Officer, MSC Industrial Supply. "We are excited to have someone join our team who brings such extensive industry experience and clearly understands how important our core values are to our future. Kari will focus on building upon our strong pool of talent to ensure our culture is nimble and even more prepared to adapt to change within the industry, further enabling MSC to continue to meet the future demands of our associates and customers."

Ms. Heerdt earned a B.A in Sociology from Mount Holyoke College and an M.S. in Human Resource Management from Purdue University.  She is also an active member of the Society for Human Resource Management as well as the alumni associations for Mount Holyoke College and Purdue University.

About MSC Industrial Supply Co.

MSC Industrial Supply Co. is one of the largest distributors of Metalworking and Maintenance, Repair and Operations ("MRO") supplies to industrial customers throughout the United States. MSC employs one of the industry's largest sales forces and distributes approximately 600,000 industrial products from approximately 3,000 suppliers. In-stock availability is approximately 99%, with next day standard delivery to the contiguous United States on qualifying orders up until 8 p.m. Eastern Time.  For more information, visit MSC's website at http://www.mscdirect.com.

SOURCE MSC Industrial Supply Co.