Top 40 distributor InnerWorkings (asi/168860) announced that Jeffrey P. Pritchett has resigned from the position of chief financial officer. Effective last week, Pritchett was replaced by the Chicago-headquartered company’s senior vice president of corporate development and strategic initiatives, Charles “Chip” Hodgkins.

Bridget Freas, senior vice president of finance and investor relations, told Counselor Monday that the firm aims to have a new permanent CFO in place within a couple months. External and internal candidates, including Hodgkins, will be given consideration, Freas said.

For now, InnerWorkings is confident that Hodgkins is more than capable of handling the responsibilities of interim CFO. "Chip is one of our brightest and most effective finance executives, and it's my pleasure to welcome him to the interim CFO role after working closely with him over the course of his 10 years with the company," said CEO Eric D. Belcher. 

In his senior VP role with InnerWorkings since 2014, Hodgkins has taken on increasing responsibilities in finance and operations. His areas of focus include supplier relations, accounts payable, logistics and strategic sourcing teams. In a statement, InnerWorkings said that Hodgkins has been instrumental in driving numerous strategic initiatives within the organization. Before taking on his current role, Hodgkins led InnerWorkings’ global mergers and acquisitions efforts from 2007 to 2013. During that time, he completed dozens of acquisitions. Prior to joining InnerWorkings, Hodgkins worked in investment banking and venture capital.

"The board and I are confident that Chip will effectively lead our finance function during this interim period based on his deep knowledge of our business and his track record of successfully leading numerous finance and operational initiatives,” said Belcher.

Pritchett had been at InnerWorkings since August 2015, Freas told Counselor. Freas said that Pritchett’s resignation related to a personal conduct issue that was inconsistent with company policy. Pritchett’s activities did not impact InnerWorkings’ business, operations, financial performance or financial reporting, the company said. Pritchett is not facing any criminal charges or civil suits in relation to the conduct, Freas said. “There was nothing like theft or harassment,” said Freas, adding that the misconduct centered on personal matters that compelled company leaders to believe it was wise to move in a different direction for CFO.

In light of the resignation, InnerWorkings felt it important to reaffirm its previously disclosed full-year financial outlook, which was issued in November. The company expects 2017 gross revenue in the range of $1.115 billion to $1.145 billion, non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA in the range of $65 million to $68 million, and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.47 to $0.50. “2017 is on track to be a record year for our company on both the top and bottom lines,” Belcher said. “We have a large backlog of new business awards, which, when combined with our strong pipeline, positions us well for 2018 and beyond."

With estimated 2016 North American promotional product revenue of $147 million, InnerWorkings ranked 15^th on Counselor’s list of the largest distributors in the industry.