HRST, an Eden Prairie-based company whose name stands for Heat Recovery System Technology, recently announced that its very first two employees, who have long led the company, are stepping down from the C-suite.

HRST employs engineers, designers, and technical advisors, who provide services and products to power plants around the world.

Robert Krowech, who founded the company in 1998 as a one-man operation and has since built it into a more than $10 million business with several offices, is exiting the CEO role. He's being replaced by Victor Ferris, who was promoted to the dual roles of president and chief executive.

HRST described Ferris' promotion as the “culmination of a four-year transition process implemented by” Krowech. Ferris first joined HRST in 2006 and became president in 2010.

Andrew Kubly, meanwhile, has been promoted to chief financial officer. Kubly has served as HRST's IT manager since joining the company in 2006. He replaces James Froemming, who has served as CFO since joining HRST as the company's second employee in 2000.

Krowech and Froemming will remain members of HRST's board of directors—although Krowech has a longtime passion beyond the boardroom.

Krowech, who is in his late 60s, was one of several local executives who were highlighted in a 2013 Twin Cities Business feature story, which explored the “double lives” of local business leaders. He is a bodybuilding and powerlifting veteran who’s set numerous state, national, and world records, including the national record in his weight class for dead-lifting 611 pounds.

Learn more about Krowech here.