John Lawn has been appointed President at Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Co.
The Board of Directors of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company (HE&R) has announced the promotion of John Lawn to the role of President of the Company. Lawn’s new role became effective September 30, 2016, and is in addition to his current role as Chief Operating Officer. This announcement is the culmination of the succession planning process that current Chief Executive Officer and past President, William F. Simpson, Jr., and the Board initiated when Simpson notified the Board last June of his intention to retire on January 5, 2018. Lawn began his career with HE&R in 2004 as Food and Beverage Director at Hersheypark and became Assistant General Manager of Hersheypark in 2005. In 2010 Lawn was promoted to Associate Vice President of Operations, and then to the role of Vice President of Operations later that year. Lawn was elected Chief Operating Officer in 2015 and is responsible for management of all the Company’s operating divisions. Prior to joining HE&R, Lawn spent more than a decade working in a number of management roles in the sports, entertainment and hospitality industries, including General Manager of Centerplate at FedExField in Landover, Maryland and Executive Director of Major Events for Ridgewells, in Bethesda, Maryland. Lawn currently serves on the Board of Four Diamonds and The Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance. He was previously on the Board of Children’s Miracle Network and Junior Achievement of Central Pennsylvania.
