Press Release: Absolute Board Co. (Absolute) is stoked to announce Frank Messmann has been appointed Global Chief Executive Officer effective August 15, 2016 and will be based in our Oceanside, USA headquarters. The move has been made to accelerate Absolute in delivering its mission “To get more people skateboarding.”
Over the last five years Absolute has been one of the main drivers of growth in skateboard participation globally. Absolute Founder Ben Mackay said; “I am stoked there are so many new people skateboarding because of brands like Penny and Z-Flex and this will continue to be our company mission! As the business has grown Luke (Campbell, co-owner) and I have assessed the opportunities ahead and the need to continue to invest in our future growth. We need to always stay focused on the basics and keep doing the very things that made us successful in the first place. We need a simple business that develops cool and functional products, remains agile and executes well. Frank is one of the most respected and proven leaders in the skateboard industry and the ability to achieve these goals is exactly what Frank will bring to Absolute. With Frank on board I will be able to focus completely on continuing to develop innovative new products and phenomenal collaborations which we will launch in 2017 and beyond. We are currently in a challenging trading environment and this appointment is an investment that better allows us to execute new product strategies, expand strategic brand partnerships and better support our retail partners, customers and team.”
Frank Messmann brings over twenty years of CEO/General Manager experience. Growing up in Copenhagen, Denmark Frank started skateboarding on a plastic skateboard before later becoming a professional skateboarder. Frank was recruited in his twenties to set up the Powell-Peralta European office and in the late 90s Frank was the driving force behind World Industries’ global expansion. More recently Frank was the European GM of DC Shoes and then GM of Sole Technology Europe (Etnies, Es, Emerica skate shoes). Most recently Frank was CEO of Black Box Distribution in the US housing the Fallen Footwear, Zero Skateboards and Insight Apparel brands.
