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Tony Lorenz speaks on stage at the 2018 Visionary Awards ceremony.
After four years as CEO of PRA, Tony Lorenz announced yesterday that he is stepping aside.
“With our equity partners in August 2017, we set a plan to redefine our business and brand, accelerate our growth, and build a fantastic team,” Lorenz wrote in a farewell post on LinkedIn.
Lorenz helped steer the company through a major transformation that included rebranding the business, acquiring DSC, Briggs, Destination Nashville, Koncept, One Smooth Stone, and acquiring many PRA franchise locations. In addition, he expanded the company’s reach in new markets through partnerships with Kuoni, Tour East, and other leading brands, with many more partnerships on deck.
“I am genetically wired into new challenges,” Lorenz told Convene after the announcement. “I accepted a big challenge when I first started at PRA in January of 2016. Today, PRA is in a much better place.”
Lorenz’s entrepreneurial mindset is evident in his decades-long career in the business events industry. He founded ProActive Inc. in 1993, and then led strategy and creative at Freeman after Freeman acquired the company, and he launched BOB.tv (Best of Business Television) in 2011, running the company until 2015. In addition, he serves as a trustee on the PCMA Foundation.
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“I’m going to take a break for the rest of the year,” Lorenz said. “In more than 25 years, that is one thing I have never done. It’s time to spend some quality time with my family and friends.”
It will not be an extended hiatus, however. “Everyone who knows me knows there is going to be a next chapter, and it promises to be as interesting as the chapters to date,” he said. “I am fortunate to have the opportunity to take a break in the action for a bit of time.”
Lorenz said he hands over the CEO reins “with great confidence to Mike Fiber to lead the next exciting chapter of growth and innovation at PRA. We brought Mike into the team knowing he could lead the entire business in time, if necessary. He can and will, beautifully.”
“Today is a great day for PRA,” he said.
David McMillin is an associate editor at Convene.