Photo courtesy of Fender Music Corporation Fender Music Corporation President of Fender Asia Pacific (APAC) poses with a Fender electric guitar.

EAGLE RIVER — Edward “Bud” Cole, part-time resident of Eagle River, has been named Fender Musical Instruments Corporation’s next Chief Executive Officer and a member of the corporation’s Board of Directors. Cole will serve as CEO-Designate beginning Jan. 19, and will officially assume the CEO role on Feb. 16 succeeding Andy Mooney, who will retire following a decade of transformative leadership, according to a release from the Fender corporation.

Cole currently serves as President of Fender Asia Pacific. “As Fender enters its 80th anniversary year,” the release states, “Cole’s appointment underscores the rise of a Midwest-raised executive to the helm of one of the world’s most iconic music brands–signaling continuity, growth, and a renewed focus on global scale, live music participation, and direct-to-consumer investment.”

Cole’s family roots trace back to the Keweenaw Peninsula dating back to the 1840s in Eagle River and later, Calumet. Cole is committed to the area’s historic preservation, owning several properties of historic significance, including the Eagle River Lighthouse, built in 1856, the Sand Hills Lighthouse, built in 1919, and Eagle River’s German Hotel, a log structure built in 1846 by Joseph Long in 1846. The third floor of the hotel served as the town’s first jail.

Cole joined Fender in 2015, and most recently served as president of the Asia Pacific region, where he led some of the company’s most significant growth initiatives, He played a pivotal role in strengthening Fender’s presence across 14 APAC markets.

Cole was the keynote speaker at the 2018 Spark Plug Awards, where it was announced he had donated $25,000 to both the Omega House and the Copper Country Humane Society.

During the awards ceremony, Cole said “giving opens the doors to receiving,” so he likes to continuously give to show his gratitude. Both organizations are among his favorites.

In November, 2017, Cole surprised Horizons Alternative High School, in Mohawk, with 10 brand new, top-of-the-line professional quality Fender ukuleles.

During the presentation of the instruments to the students, Cole explained why he wanted to give the school the ukuleles.

“When I was in school, I was not the best student,” he said, “and a musical instrument, for me, helped me make sense of the world.”

Cole told the students that what is important about music is it is a way for people to expand themselves.

“The thing about music is lets you collect your thoughts,” Cole said. “It’s not just playing it. There’s so much science and cool stuff behind why a guitar sounds the way it does.”