Amcore Chooses Successor To Longtime CEO Forced By Age Policy to Make

Amcore Financial Inc. has named Carl J. Dargene chairman and said it would promote Robert J. Meuleman to president and chief executive officer.

Mr. Dargene, who is currently president and CEO, will relinquish these posts at yearend. Then Mr. Meuleman, currently executive vice president and chief operating officer for banking subsidiaries, will take command of the $2 billion-asset Rockford, Ill., company.

Mr. Dargene, 65, succeeds Roger Reno, 70, who retired last week after 13 years as chairman and 30 years as a director, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age.

Mr. Meuleman is "an experienced, expert banker with a lot of people skills," said Mr. Dargene, who became president and CEO in 1986 and has been an Amcore director since 1982. He had previously been an executive with a Rockford hardware maker.

Mr. Meuleman, 56, joined Amcore in 1981 as an investment officer. He became president of Amcore Bank, Rockford, in 1990 and executive vice president of the holding company in 1991.

"When you start to groom a successor, the most ideal one is one who would have been elected by his peers," Mr. Dargene said. That describes Mr. Meuleman, he said.

"I think Bob's a real good choice," agreed Gregory P. Anderson, an analyst at the Chicago Corp. "He's got a good grasp of the entire operation. I've just always assumed it was going to be him."

Mr. Meuleman said he would continue the company's focus on customers and sales; his growth strategy foresees opportunities both internally and through acquisition.

"I'm very pleased and very excited" about the promotion, he said.

Mr. Dargene was required to retire as CEO at the end of the year he turned 65, according to company policy. Such a policy is good to foster upward mobility among employees, Mr. Anderson said. But it also can mean a loss of talent.

In this case, "having Carl stay on as the chairman is a bonus," Mr. Anderson said.

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