ICG Replaces CEO at PaperExchange

PaperExchange.com, a privately held Boston company scrambling to stabilize its business after shifting from an online exchange to provider of web applications for paper and pulp companies, announced that CEO Kent Dolby has resigned.

Dolby came on board in January, when the startup was still owned by the Kraft Group, was developing a website where pulp and paper companies could buy and sell products and was planning an IPO.

But with the shakeout in business-to-business exchanges and the onset of a bear market, the Kraft Group sold the business in September to Internet Capital Group .

In November PaperExchange shifted to an application service provider model. While keeping the exchange going, it fired 17 of 125 workers.

Now the company has new leadership. In a brief statement, it said Dolby decided to leave to spend more time with his family, which lives in Pennsylvania.

Effective immediately, Bob Brenner, a 13-year analyst for Andersen Consulting, has taken the CEO job. The statement said Brenner has been the “primary architect of the expansion” in PaperExchange.com’s business model.

At Andersen, Brenner concentrated on the planning, design and implementation of order management, production and financial systems. He implemented several large solutions for the forest products industry. He holds an MBA from Oregon State University and a bachelor’s degree from Linfield College.

ICG CEO Walter Buckley said, “Bob has been an important member of the PaperExchange team and has been driving the evolution of the company. He is the ideal choice to shorten PaperExchange’s path to profitability and leadership.”

Also, Duane DeSisto, who recently added the title of chief operating officer to his chief financial officer duties, will now also assume the role of president. DeSisto has more than 20 years of accounting and finance experience, including as CFO of AAI-Foster Grant and Zoll Medical Corp. He has an MBA from Bryant College and a bachelor’s degree from Providence College.