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Beltsville, Md--WD Lab Grown Diamonds, a producer of large, ultra-high-quality laboratory grown diamonds, has promoted Mike Grunza to CEO as part of WD’s leadership succession plan.

The industrial industry veteran has served on WD Lab Grown Diamonds’ board since 2020 and served as interim president since August. He replaced Sue Rechner who was the CEO at WD since 2019 who is retiring.

“I’m excited to leverage our operational and innovative excellence with the WD team and accelerating our positions in the diamond luxury and diamond electronics markets,” said Mike Grunza. “I’m looking forward to both expanding our capabilities in existing markets as well as exploring the boundaries for our diamonds’ application in industrial markets.”

Grunza previously served as CEO of Form Technologies, a Charlotte, N.C., global process engineering and materials forming company since 2020. A veteran of General Electric Aviation and GE Power and Water, he has deep technical and software acumen and a depth of experience in metals and materials businesses, WD said in a statement.

“Over the last two years, the Huron Capital team has been impressed with every aspect of Mike’s acumen in the space, his relationships, and his vision for WD,” said Brian Walker, partner with Huron Capital Partners, which is the majority owner of WD Lab Grown Diamonds. “Mike’s leadership will support our ambition in both the diamond luxury and diamond electronics markets and our team has already benefited from his operational and financial performance optimization experience. He is the natural successor to Sue Rechner.”

“After 3 years of leadership and positioning the company for its next stage of growth, Sue sought to retire. The board is thankful to Sue for her leadership and commitment to the business. We wish her well in her retirement.,” said Mike Beauregard, senior partner with Huron Capital. “I am highly confident that this team is on a path to capture its potential and drive a generation of growth.”