Rory Paton-Ash retires as CEO but remains on the board while Mike Berube becomes CEO and president of the company.

Mark Sanders replaces Berube as chief operating officer. He was previously president of Strata Proximity Systems.

Strata was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, and Paton-Ash has since served as its president and CEO since then.

Over the last 22 years under his leadership, Strata has grown from a timber roof supports manufacturer and supplier exclusively in the United States coal mining market to a global leader in mine safety products and technologies across all types of mining.

“I have decided that the timing is right for me to retire as CEO. I believe the company is very well positioned to continue to grow and prosper under the new management,” Paton-Ash said.

Berube joined Strata in 2010, bringing with him over 20 years of business management, sales and product development expertise.

Before joining Strata, he served as director of global data solutions for Argon ST, now Boeing. As chief operating officer, Berube oversaw the day-to-day operations of the company, strategy, sales and marketing with responsibility for bottom-line profitability.

“We are fortunate to move into this next phase, with Rory as a supporting board member, helping drive growth and continued success. The management team and I are extremely proud to lead Strata in the execution of our projected growth plan,” Berube said.

Sanders joined Strata in 2012 after 26 years of service at Joy Global. He was the former Joy Global vice president of corporate marketing. He has a strong market understanding, operations expertise and international business development experience, Berube said.

“With Mark’s big-business track record he is not only a great asset in the running of the day-to-day operations, but he will also continue to streamline our business processes and help drive our growth through operational efficiency,” he said.