Qwest found out Monday that it’s losing its chief executive. The Denver community found out Thursday that it is losing one of its most influential civic leaders.
Retiring Qwest chief executive Dick Notebaert said Thursday that he plans to sell his home in Denver and move back to Wisconsin after his successor is found. He and his wife, Peggy, own a house near Lake Geneva, and Notebaert attended the University of Wisconsin.
“He could pick up the phone and call corporate executives and, without a doubt, get a return call,” said Denver lawyer Steve Farber.
Notebaert also has political connections, said Farber, who met Notebaert through Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., a mutual friend.
“It’s a huge loss for the community,” former Mayor Wellington Webb said. “We just have to hope that the Qwest board is able to find someone equal to Dick’s talent that is committed not only to the business but also committed to the civic engagement within the community.”
In addition to restoring credibility at Denver-based Qwest and saving the company from near-bankruptcy during his five years as chairman and CEO, Notebaert was deeply involved in various aspects of the community, including the arts and education.
He co-chairs a citizens group headed by Webb that is working to solve a building crisis facing Denver Public Schools. Notebaert hasn’t decided what his role will be with the group after his retirement.
He also played a key role in helping Denver land the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
“When we were going after bringing the convention to Denver, he was one of the first people that we sat down with,” said Farber, who co-chaired the efforts. “We’ll miss Dick Notebaert, and we’ll miss what he meant to this community.”
Qwest pledged $6 million in cash and services to help pay for the convention. But the local organizing committee is still hustling to raise the money necessary to cover the event.
Notebaert said he has received more than 1,000 e-mails since announcing his retirement, including one from a senator who joked that “he’s going to introduce a law on the floor of the Senate that would make it illegal for me to retire.”
Notebaert, who turns 60 this summer, said his five grandsons, his role on two outside company boards and his nonprofit commitments will keep him busy.
“I’ll probably spend most of my time in Wisconsin,” he said, making it easier for his grandsons to visit him from Chicago.
Notebaert said he has given some recommendations on a successor to the Qwest board, which has hired executive- search firm Spencer Stuart to help with the search.
He thinks his replacement should have a strong “retail mind-set.” Qwest is in the midst of a high-stakes battle with Comcast and other cable companies for residential phone, Internet and pay-TV customers.
“We’re in a very competitive business. You have to be thinking constantly about attack, counterattack,” Notebaert said.
The new leader should be a “seasoned veteran” from the communications sector.
“The communications-sector knowledge would be helpful because you’d understand Washington, D.C., and the different franchising and regulatory bodies you’d have to deal with,” Notebaert said.
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
MORE FROM NOTEBAERT
Additional excerpts from an interview Thursday with Qwest chief executive Dick Notebaert:
On his decision to retire:
“On Thursday night, I made a decision. I woke up Friday morning, didn’t change. And told the board … I’ve pondered it for a long time.”
On Qwest not finding a merger partner during his tenure:
“It’s not that I didn’t try. It’s not that every day I’m not trying. But you have to have a strategically complementary asset. … Another thing you gotta have is, and don’t underestimate this, is you have to have a willing seller or a willing buyer.”
On whether he’ll return to corporate life:
“I have no plans to be a CEO. I have no job lined up.”
On his expectations for Qwest’s recovery:
“I thought it would take three years to become a normal company. It took five.”
On how long the search for a successor will take:
“People talk about ‘you’re going to be here till the end of the year.’ I always say we didn’t set a date certain. … We would hope we could move this sooner rather than later.”
