Ron Hedley announced his plans to retire earlier this week.

President of the Fusion board, Guy Huberdeau, says the board was a little shocked, even though they knew he’d be leaving in a year or so.

“We were always hoping he’d stay on and meet his 3 year contract he had signed. But, it wasn’t in the plans for him so that’s fine, but he kind of hinted to us over the last little while that he might be going sooner rather than later. It wasn’t a total surprise but it was still a shock.”

The hunt for his replacement will begin in the new year.

Huberdeau says if they could find a photo copy of Ron that’s the type of person they’d like.

“If you’re looking at all the qualities you want in a CEO, I think Ron pretty well checked off all those boxes. Basically, I think that’s the type of person we’d like to get if there’s one out there.”

Huberdeau says Hedley leaves some big shoes to fill, and the best part about him has been his people skills.

“Ron was really well liked by the whole staff, the board, the members. He was really fun to be around, so that’s going to be the biggest part of what he brought to the table that’s going to be hard to replace.”

Huberdeau isn’t worried about Hedley’s retirement, saying he leaves the company in a good spot with a solid foundation.