NEWARK, NY -- IEC Electronics today named Jeff Schlarbaum president and chief executive, following the ouster of the company's longtime board.

He had served in a variety of executive roles at IEC from 2004 to 2013, including president from October 2010 to February 2013, and executive vice president and president of contract manufacturing from October 2008 to October 2010. Prior to that, Schlarbaum served in senior management roles with various contract manufacturing companies including Plexus.

He holds an MBA from Pepperdine University.

In a statement, Schlarbaum said, "I am honored to be given the opportunity to lead IEC's revitalization efforts to return this company back to its industry leading performance. During my previous tenure at IEC, the company's success was a result of formulating a new strategy to differentiate IEC from its peers in the contract manufacturing industry, affecting a new leadership philosophy and leveraging a high quality, dedicated workforce."

Jeremy Nowak, recently appointed chairman of IEC, added, "During Jeff's tenure, the company experienced significant sales growth of over 500% simultaneously achieving some of the industry's highest profit levels. Jeff was respected by customers and employees alike. Since his departure, the Company lost its way, but with an entirely new Board of Directors and Jeff now in the CEO role, we look forward to working hard on behalf of our customers and shareholders to return the company to world-class stature."

Schlarbaum was elected a director earlier this month as part of a platform of dissident shareholders led by the company's largest stockholder, Vintage Opportunity Fund. In the runup to the election, he had been disparaged by the company's longtime chairman, Barry Gilbert, who said he lacked "the skills or the ability to contribute to IEC's future success," which led to the termination of his employment in 2013.  Gilbert was among those ousted as result of the recent shareholder vote.

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