Chris Snyder leaving Folience

CEDAR RAPIDS — Chris Snyder is stepping down as president and CEO of Folience for personal reasons, he told employees last week.

“Folience is a great company, and I've enjoyed my time here,” Snyder said in an email. His last day will be Feb. 14.

Snyder spent about 18 months at the helm of the employee-owned holding company that encompasses The Gazette, Life Line Emergency Vehicles in Sumner and Cimarron Trailers, which has operations in Chickasha, Okla., and Manhattan, Kan.

Folience has about 500 employees between the three companies and its shared services division.

Folience Board Chairman Tom Pientok said the company will begin a search for a new leader in the near future. Pientok will work with members of the Folience leadership team — leaders from each of the business units — during the transition.

“We have a great team and our company is in a solid position, so we expect things to be 'business as usual,’ ” Pientok said in the statement to employees.