Content area
Full Text
GOUVERNEUR, N.Y. - Kinney Drugs will wrap its 100th anniversary year with the passing of the torch from Rich Cognetti, chairman and chief executive officer, to Craig Painter, president and chief operating officer. Painter will assume the role of chief executive officer, but Cognetti will retain the chairman role and will remain involved in big-picture strategic issues.
Cognetti joined the company in 1969 as a pharmacist and rose through the ranks, becoming president and chief executive officer in 1991. Harold Kinney, son of the chain's founder, interviewed Cognetti and his wife over hot dogs in the chain's hometown here and, according to Cognetti, "got to know us as people." A hot dog and a handshake later, Cognetti embarked on a career path that would last more than...