BUSINESS/ORGANIZATIONAL BRIEFS

MHF Logistical Solutions opens branch offices

MHF Logistical Solutions, Inc. announced that it has opened an office for its parent company, MHF Holdings, in Jacksonville, Florida.

In addition to housing MHF Holdings, this new office will also be the regional branch office for the company’s non-asset-based division, Magellan Transport Logistics.

Magellan Transport staff in Jacksonville includes Melinda Yates, logistics manager, and Janet Haber, logistics sales and operations.

IronPlanet sets manager of governmental sales

IronPlanet appointed Greg Forke to the position of governmental sales manager. Forke will be responsible for IronPlanet’s continued expansion in the governmental/municipal equipment market.

Forke has nearly 30 years of experience in the auction industry. He began his career as part of Forke Brothers, where he held several positions, including vice president of North American auction operations. Most recently, he helped start the heavy construction equipment division for GoIndustry Michael Fox International, an auction company specializing in industrial machinery and equipment.

ReCellular campaign aids American Red Cross

ReCellular announced a new cell-phone recycling campaign to benefit the American Red Cross.

The goal of the initiative is to raise a minimum of $50,000 for the Red Cross, through the collection and recycling of cell phones.

The program will include cell phone donations from Red Cross supporters. Those who would like to participate can download a prepaid shipping label from the Red Cross website at www.redc ross.org/sponsors/howtohelp/recellular.asp.

For every cell phone collected and sold until October 31, 2008, ReCellular will donate $1 to the American Red Cross, with a minimum commitment of $50,000.

Key personnel appointed at Eriez Magnetics

Eriez® Magnetics announced the appointment of Andy Lewis to the newly created position of vice president international. Andy joined Eriez in 1976 and has served as managing director of Eriez-Europe since 1995, during which time the Company experienced significant growth and profitability.

Also, Paul Fears has been appointed to the position of managing director, Eriez-Europe, and now reports to Andy Lewis. Fears joined the company in 1989 as marketing executive. His most recent assignment has been as marketing director of Eriez-Europe. Paul takes the reins of the company’s largest operation apart from the Erie World Headquarters.

Eriez-CPT Canada and Eriez-CPT Brazil, manufacturers of Column Flotation Systems for the minerals processing industry, will continue to report through Mike Mankosa, vice president operations, while Eriez-North America’s export sales group will continue under the direction of Charlie Ingram, vice president of sales and marketing.

Kenyon named Roll-Rite North America VP

Jim Kenyon recently joined Roll-Rite, LLC as vice president of sales and marketing in North America. In his new position, Kenyon will be responsible for developing and implementing Roll-Rite’s domestic sales and marketing initiatives.

Previously Kenyon served as regional sales manager for East Manufacturing, Inc., a manufacturer of aluminum dump, platform and refuse trailers, and as sales manager for Scientific Brake & Equipment, Inc. in Saginaw, Michigan, a premier truck and trailer distributor and Roll-Rite tarp system installer.

CRA acquired by Strategic Materials, Inc.

Strategic Materials, Inc. (SMI), located in Houston, Texas, has acquired the Container Recycling Alliance (CRA), located in Lombard, Illinois.

CRA previously was acquired by WHI Capital Partners in 2006 from Waste Management. CRA consists of eight plants that handle 800,000 tons per year of post-consumer container glass. CRA’s specialty is the processing of three-color mix from curbside collection.

Strategic Materials processes 2.4 million tons of glass per year, specialty is on flat glass and sorted bottle cullet.

Consolidated Scrap acquires Brandywine

Consolidated Scrap Resources, Inc., a large metal shredding and recycling plant located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is acquiring the recycling business assets of Brandywine Recyclers, Inc.

Brandywine Recyclers operates a 12-acre recycling facility in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where it collects and processes ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metals. Brandywine also processes paper and plastics.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

American Chemistry Council names new CEO

Cal Dooley, currently the president and CEO of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), has been selected to lead ACC. The ACC Executive Committee approved Dooley’s selection to take over the position as current ACC president and CEO Jack Gerard leaves to head up the American Petroleum Institute (API) on September 1. Dooley will officially begin at ACC on September 8.

Dooley has led GMA since it merged with the Food Products Association (FPA) in January 2007, and was president and CEO of FPA for two years before the merger. Prior to that, he served seven terms as a member of Congress from the San Joaquin Valley area of California.

In 2005, President George W. Bush appointed Dooley to the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Before his election to Congress, Dooley was a partner in his family-owned Dooley Farms.

Nucor acquires 50% of Duferdofin - Nucor S.r.l.

Nucor Corporation has completed the acquisition of 50% of the stock of Duferdofin - Nucor S.r.l., for a purchase price of approximately US$658 million. The company will continue to operate from its current headquarters in San Zeno (near Brescia) Italy.

Duferdofin - Nucor S.r.l. operates a steel melting and bloom/billet caster in San Zeno, Italy as well as rolling mills in Pallanzeno in the Piedmont region and Giammoro in Sicily. Total production in 2007 was approximately one million tons.

A new merchant bar mill is under construction at the Giammoro plant and is expected to be fully operational in late 2008.

The new mill at the Giammoro plant is expected to produce approximately 450,000 tons. The new company also includes the distribution companies of the former Duferdofin.

Pennsylvania appoints acting DEP secretary

Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell appointed Joseph R. Powers as acting secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Powers has served as executive deputy secretary at DEP since 2003.

Powers’ appointment was effective July 19. He will serve until a permanent successor is named.

Prior to joining the Rendell administration, Powers worked in a number of policy development and committee management positions within the General Assembly. He also was chief of staff to the Lieutenant Governor from 1987 to 1993. He has taught Political Science classes at several universities and holds a bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Scott Nelson named CEO of Doosan Infracore

Scott R. Nelson has been named chief executive officer of Doosan Infracore International (DII), a United States-based subsidiary of Doosan Infracore, a global manufacturer of construction equipment. The appointment was made by Yongmaan Park, chairman of Doosan Infracore.

Nelson will continue as worldwide president of Bobcat Company while serving as DII chief executive officer. His chief executive officer responsibilities include all aspects of the global business for DII. Nelson replaces David Rowles. With over 20 years of experience with Bobcat, Nelson most recently served as president of Bobcat Europe. Prior to that he was president of Bobcat Americas.

Stellar Industries adds regional sales manager

Stellar Industries announced the addition of Ron Alexander as the Southeast regional sales manager for their demountable product lines.

Alexander has over seven years of experience in a sales role covering the southeast region of the United States.

ASA Electronics chooses new business manager

ASA Electronics, an Elkhart, Indiana based manufacturer and supplier of mobile audio and video equipment, announced the recent hiring of Aaron Irions as its new product/business development manager.

In his new position, Irions will be developing and investigating new business opportunities within current distribution as well as outside normal business channels. His job responsibilities also will include researching competition and coordinating with ASA engineering on proposed product design and cost.

Irions has extensive experience in the mobile electronics industry. Irions began his career at ASA Electronics working in various positions before serving his country in the in U.S. Army. Prior to his most recent hiring at ASA, Irions was employed at Gulf Stream Coach as a purchasing agent.

Norcal Waste appoints chief operating officer

Norcal Waste Systems’ board of directors named George P. McGrath, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

McGrath will be responsible for all Norcal facilities and operations with a focus on customer service and sustainability programs associated with the company’s integrated collection, recycling and diversion services to over 60 communities in California.

For the past ten years, McGrath has served as Norcal’s senior vice president and chief information officer, responsible for the company’s information systems. From July 1996 to June 1997, he served as vice president and general manager of Alta Environmental Services, Inc., a wholly-owned Norcal subsidiary that manages and administers landfill and compost operations.

Prior to joining Norcal in October 1995, McGrath served as vice president and area general manager for Chemical Waste Management in the Western Region of the United States.

Vecoplan promotes two new managers

Vecoplan, LLC has promoted Gary Kolbet to the newly created position of vice president of engineering. Prior to his promotion, Kolbet was engineering manager at Vecoplan, during which time he won numerous engineering awards. In his new position Kolbet will oversee all aspects of engineering, new technologies development and complete systems integration.

Vecoplan also named Dale Walker to the position of manager-sales engineering. Walker was formerly a sales engineer at Vecoplan working on project designs with the sales team.

Walker’s responsibilities, as manager-sales engineering, will expand to include the oversight and coordination of interactions between customers, sales staff, and sales engineers as projects develop from initial contact with the customer through design, engineering, and production.

McClean named chairman of Commercial Metals

Stanley A. Rabin, chairman of the board of Commercial Metals Company (CMC) announced that the board of directors has elected Murray R. McClean chairman of the board, in addition to his responsibilities as president and chief executive officer, effective upon Rabin‘s previously announced retirement August 31, 2008. McClean has served as a director since July 2006 and was named chief executive officer in September 2006.

McClean joined Commercial Metals Company in 1985 as managing director of its marketing and distribution office in Sydney, Australia. In 1993, he was appointed president of the International Division of the Marketing and Distribution segment. Following his appointment as president of CMC’s Marketing and Distribution segment in 1999, McClean relocated to the Company’s headquarters in Dallas, Texas, was named executive vice president and chief operating officer in September 2004, president in January 2006 and CEO in September 2006.

German firm ELG Haniel acquires Utica Alloys

Utica Alloys, Inc. headquartered in Utica, New York, has been acquired by ELG Haniel GmbH, headquartered in Duisburg, Germany. With this acquisition, ELG unites their existing activities in the superalloys and titanium market segments with Utica Alloys, strengthening logistics and processing services to particularly aerospace, power generation and chemical industries worldwide.

Utica Alloys will continue to operate under the direction of its founder, Joseph Jiampietro, who remains as managing director. Jiampietro, together with Dimitrij Orlov, ELG’s head of this segment, who will take a seat on the board of Utica Alloys.

TCEQ commissioners name executive director

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) voted unanimously to appoint Mark Vickery as the executive director of the agency, effective June 17, 2008. Vickery has served as the deputy executive director since May 1, 2004. He succeeds Glenn Shankle, who is retiring from state government. Vickery previously served as deputy director for the Office of Permitting, Remediation and Registration, as well as for the Office of Compliance and Enforcement.

Vickery began his career in state government 21 years ago as an enforcement coordinator with the Texas Water Commission, a predecessor agency of the TCEQ. His experience includes work in all areas of the agency, including industrial and hazardous waste enforcement, municipal solid waste compliance and enforcement, waste tires, and as director of field operations which included supervising more than 800 employees in 16 regional offices across Texas.

As the deputy executive director, Vickery served as the agency’s chief operating officer and provided oversight of the day-to-day operations of more than 2,900 employees and an annual operating budget in excess of $564 million.

Alcan Packaging president re-elected

Alcan Packaging, part of Rio Tinto Alcan, announced that Michael Cronin, president, Alcan Packaging Food Europe has been re-elected chairman of the Flexible Packaging Europe (FPE) association for a second consecutive year. One of Cronin’s priorities as chairman will be for the association to take a leading position on sustainability.

EPA Great Lakes regional administrator chosen

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, announced the appointment of Lynn Buhl. Buhl will serve as regional administrator for EPA Region 5, which encompasses Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Bharat Mathur, EPA’s acting regional administrator since May of 2008, will resume his position as deputy regional administrator.

Since September 2006, Buhl has served as deputy assistant administrator in the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at EPA Headquarters, where she advised the administrator on a wide range of environmental enforcement issues.

Previously, Buhl served as acting secretary of Maryland’s Department of the Environment and deputy secretary of Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources. During her years of service in Maryland, she provided policy advice to Governor Robert Ehrlich, Jr. and was instrumental in reforming Maryland’s contaminated site cleanup program.

Prior to her service in Maryland, Buhl worked at Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality, Daimler Chrysler Corporation and in EPA’s Region 5 office as an assistant regional counsel.

New sales manager joins Erie Press Systems

Anders Vesterholm has been named sales manager of Forge and Custom Hydraulic Presses for Erie Press Systems. The announcement was made by Doug Currie, president of the company.

Vesterholm will be responsible for domestic and international sales of application-based forging machinery and custom hydraulic applications. He will manage new equipment orders, and the sales process for equipment rebuilds and replacement parts. He will also determine sales direction, effective sales strategies and marketing support to achieve product line sales objectives.

Vesterholm has over 20 years of metal forming, hydraulic press and automation system experience, in addition to a broad international and domestic background that includes sales, new product development, engineering, service and manufacturing in various industries.

His educational background is from Sweden with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Control System Engineering.

He was most recently employed at AP&T North America as sales account manager for mainly the automotive and appliance markets in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Vesterholm has also held positions with ABB and Emerson Electric Corporation.

Peterson appoints new parts sales representative

Peterson, a Eugene, Oregon-based manufacturer of grinders, chippers and blower trucks, appointed Claudia Moug as a parts sales representative.

Moug has worked in the heavy equipment parts industry for many years. She has most recently worked for Madill, an equipment manufacturer, and several equipment dealers including Triad Machinery, Papé Brothers and Howard Cooper.

Commercial Metals expands rebar fabrication

Commercial Metals Company, Texas, announced the Company has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase substantially all the operating assets of Reinforcing Post-Tensioning Services, Inc. (RPS), Regional Steel Corporation, and RPS Cable Corporation, based in Claremont, California.

RPS is a fabricator and installer of concrete reinforcing steel, post-tensioning cable and related products for commercial and public construction projects, with facilities in Fontana and Tracy, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada, with annual capacity of approximately 150,000 tons.

Completion of the acquisition is contingent upon regulatory approval and satisfaction of other closing conditions which are expected to be finalized within 60 days. At closing, the acquired assets will operate as part of the CMC Americas Fabrication and Distribution segment.

Gerdau Ameristeel appoints Mills to board

Gerdau Ameristeel announced the appointment of Rick J. Mills, former corporate vice president of Cummins, Inc., to its board of directors.

With more than 30 years of experience in global business development within the manufacturing industry, Mills’ broad experience in corporate finance, accounting and global management will provide strategic depth to Gerdau Ameristeel’s board of directors, which now consists of eleven members.

Mills joined Cummins, Inc., a manufacturer of large diesel engines, in 1970. He has served in various senior executive positions, most recently as a corporate vice president for Cummins, Inc. from 1996 until his retirement in May of this year. He also serves on the board of directors at Rohm and Haas Company and Flowserve, Inc.

Doosan Infracore opens headquarters in Charlotte

Doosan Infracore International recently moved into its new global headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Doosan Infracore selected Charlotte after conducting a feasibility study comparing the city with other major metropolitan areas, including Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis and New York.