American Greetings Corporation today announced it has appointed Gregory Steinberg as the Company's Chief Financial Officer effective March 1, 2014.  Mr. Steinberg was most recently the Company's Corporate Treasurer.  Greg will be responsible for all finance functions at the Company.  The Company's previous CFO, Stephen J. Smith, recently announced that he is resigning from the Company to accept another employment opportunity.<br /><br />Management Comments<br />Co-Chief Executive Officer Zev Weiss said, ""We are very pleased to promote Greg to the role of CFO.  Greg has already demonstrated leadership in leading our organization through complex transactions, managing key stakeholders, and we are confident that this transition will be seamless.  In addition, we have a very talented and experienced finance team that will support Greg and the rest of the organization.  Weiss added, ""Steve Smith has been a valued member of the management team over the past decade. He will be missed, and we wish him well.""<br /><br />Management Profile<br />Mr. Steinberg has been the Corporate Treasurer at American Greetings since 2006 where he was responsible for managing relationships with lenders and rating agencies to ensure the Company's access to the capital markets.  As Treasurer, he oversaw the Company's global cash management, foreign exchange, risk management, and various financial planning & analysis functions.  Greg also plays a key role in M&A activities including the acquisitions of Recycled Paper Greetings, Papyrus, and the recent management led buyout of American Greetings.<br /><br />Greg previously served as the executive director of investor relations, assistant treasurer and has held a number of other positions in the credit, finance, and treasury operations of the Company since first joining American Greetings in 1996.  Greg started his career in finance at Western Management, a management company for a diversified portfolio of businesses in the auto industry, was a finance instructor at a local college, and was assistant treasurer at GrafTech International, a developer and manufacturer of graphite and carbon material solutions.<br /><br />About American Greetings Corporation<br />For more than 100 years, American Greetings Corporation has been a creator and manufacturer of innovative social expression products that assist consumers in enhancing their relationships to create happiness, laughter and love. The Company's major greeting card lines are American Greetings, Carlton Cards, Gibson, Recycled Paper Greetings and Papyrus, and other paper product offerings include DesignWare party goods and American Greetings and Plus Mark gift-wrap and boxed cards. American Greetings also has one of the largest collections of greetings on the Web, including greeting cards available at Cardstore.com and electronic greeting cards available at AmericanGreetings.com. In addition to its product lines, American Greetings also creates and licenses popular character brands through the American Greetings Properties group. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings generates annual revenue of approximately $2 billion, and its products can be found in retail outlets worldwide. For more information on the Company, visit http://corporate.americangreetings.com.