The Board of Directors of the Hershey Entertainment & Resorts company has unanimously appointed TED J. KLEISNER, who for 20 years helped to make The Greenbrier "America's Resort," to be the company's new president and CEO, succeeding the retiring Scott Newkam.

 "Ted Kleisner is the ideal person to take Hershey Entertainment & Resorts to the next level of greatness, and, in so doing, to further support and fuel the legacy of Milton S. Hershey," said HE&R Board Member LeRoy Zimmerman.

Zimmerman was elected by his board colleagues to be the new chairman of the HE&R Board. Kleisner and Zimmerman both will begin their new duties January 1.

 "Hershey Entertainment & Resorts advanced considerably under Scott Newkam's leadership. I am absolutely certain that Ted Kleisner will propel us further still," Zimmerman said. "It is a coup to land someone of his national gravitas."

Kleisner, 62, recently retired as president and CEO of the Greenbrier Resort and Club Management Company, which owns and manages The Greenbrier, the world-famous, 6,500-acre resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

A national leader in destination management, Kleisner, a third-generation hotelier, also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Culinary Institute of America and on the Board of Directors of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. He is chair of the Association's Resort Committee. He was awarded the "Independent Hotelier of the World" honor in 1993 and, in 1994, was named "Resort Executive of the Year."

Kleisner has served on the Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Board of Directors since 1996. He is intimately familiar with the company and its long-term strategic planning.

"Ted is a superb choice to lead this great company," Newkam, whose retirement from Hershey Entertainment & Resorts will take effect January 1, said. Newkam voted in favor of Kleisner's appointment. "He is a respected leader in our industry, a proven executive and an honorable person. There could be no better choice."

Long active in West Virginia civic organizations, Kleisner and his wife Karen are relocating to Hershey. "Hershey is one of the most remarkable communities in the world. We want to become part of it in every way," Kleisner said.

Zimmerman, the new Board chair, is senior counsel and former chairman of the board of Eckert Seamans. Pennsylvania's first elected Attorney General, a post he held for eight years, Zimmerman is chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hershey Trust Company and the Board of Managers of the Milton Hershey School.