WS Packaging Group, Inc. (wspackaging.com) has appointed Charlie Eitel as its new chief executive officer effective April 1, 2015. Eitel joins the company in an operating role after having served on the WS Packaging board of directors since May 2014. Eitel replaces Fred Tinsey, who has left the company to pursue other opportunities.

“WS Packaging has a rich heritage of providing innovative solutions and great service to its customers,” Eitel says. “I love connecting people and building teams. I very much look forward to getting to know our customers on a personal level and all of our associates throughout our network.”

Over the course of his career, Eitel has held leadership positions with The Simmons Bedding Company (chairman, vice chairman, and CEO), Interface, Inc. (president and CEO), and Collins & Aikman Floorcoverings (president and CEO). He also serves on the board of directors of Mattress Firm (NASDAQ: MFRM), Duke Realty Corporation (NYSE: DRE), and American Fidelity Assurance Corporation.

"We are very pleased to have Charlie in place for the next phase of the company’s growth,” says Art Byrne, WS Packaging Group chairman. “Charlie is an accomplished executive with a long track record of growing manufacturing businesses through a core focus on the customer. His experience will be highly complementary to WS Packaging’s industry-leading innovations, strategic capital investments, and lean-centered principles which work to deliver innovative, cost-effective solutions to our customers."

 A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Eitel is a 1971 graduate of Oklahoma State University and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He was inducted into the OSU College of Business Hall of Fame in 1997 and was inducted into the OSU Alumni Hall of Fame in February 2005.