Southwest Water adds executives to financial management team
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 28, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Southwest Water Company has appointed two new executives to its financial management team. Joining Southwest Water are Cheryl Clary, as vice president of finance, and O'Donnell Iselin, as treasurer.
"Cheryl and Don bring extensive and accomplished backgrounds in the areas of finance, business development and strategic planning," said Anton C. Garnier, company chairman and CEO. "These appointments further enhance the depth of our management team, in line with the ambitious growth objectives we have set for our company."
Clary, 49 and a certified public accountant, has significant financial management expertise including oversight of decentralized finance and operations business units. Her experience includes senior level positions with Jefferson Wells International and ARCO. Clary earned her bachelor's degree in accounting from California State University at Northridge.
Iselin, 51, most recently spent 15 years at Hughes Electronics Corp. with assignments in corporate development, financial and strategic planning, and corporate finance. He arranged a large number of debt and equity financing transactions, managed the company's banking activities and worked on several significant acquisitions and divestitures. Iselin earned a MBA from the Amos Tuck School and a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard University.
Southwest Water Co. provides a broad range of services, including water production, treatment and distribution; wastewater collection and treatment; utility billing and collection; utility infrastructure construction management; and public works services. The company owns regulated public utilities and also serves cities, utility districts and private companies under contract. More than two million people in 35 states from coast to coast depend on it for high-quality, reliable service.
Gastelum to retire as Metropolitan Water District president, CEO
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 26, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) Ronald R. Gastelum, president and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, will retire at the end of the year.
Overseeing one of the nation's largest wholesale water agencies since April 1999, Gastelum joined other leaders to bring peace to California's water battles over the Colorado River's bounty and shepherded development of a diverse water management portfolio enabling the region to withstand record drought without shortages.
MWD board Chairman Phillip J. Pace noted the coincidence of Gastelum's retirement plans being announced the day after President George W. Bush signed federal legislation authorizing the long-term CALFED Bay-Delta Program, the state-federal effort aimed at addressing the water quality, supply reliability and environmental issues affecting the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Stewardship of the Bay/Delta, a major drinking water source for 18 million Southern Californians, was a major Metropolitan objective under Gastelum.
Gastelum, 58, rejoined the district as the agency's 11th general manager since its incorporation by the state legislature in 1928, after having served as a member of Metropolitan's board for 10 months in 1998. He was the first former board member and first Latino to be named chief executive officer in the agency's history.
During Gastelum's tenure, Metropolitan offered a fundamental change in the way that the region's primary wholesale water supplier charged for water, bringing significant long-term benefits to the region with improved supply reliability and continued investments in conservation, recycling and other progressive water management programs. After more than three years of debate and public input, Metropolitan's board adopted a new forward-looking rate structure in October 2001, giving incentives for sound water management and the financial framework to support MWD investments in future water supplies.
In addition to the dedication and opening of Diamond Valley Lake, the Southland's largest drinking water reservoir near Hemet in southwest Riverside County, Gastelum oversaw the construction of the Inland Feeder, a 44-mile pipeline/tunnel project, and the introduction of ozone as a water treatment upgrade.
Under Gastelum's guidance, Metropolitan helped facilitate a competitive transfer market in California, including a first-of-its-kind long-term program that would pay farmers in the Palo Verde Valley near Blythe to annually set aside a portion of their land, rotate their crops, and transfer saved water to urban Southern California.
Wes Bannister, who was elected to follow Pace as MWD board chairman Jan. 1, recognized Gastelum's "gracious delay of an earlier intent to retire to see the board through its own leadership transition was well appreciated."
A cooperative of 26 member public agencies, MWDSC provides up to 60% of the water used by 18 million people in six counties. The district's 5,200-square-mile service area covers most of urbanized Southern California. The utility imports water from the Colorado River and northern California to supplement local supplies. With headquarters adjacent to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, it has an annual operating/capital budget of more than $1 billion, about 1,800 employees and more than 30 facilities throughout Southern California.
IDEX Corp.'s Metcalf to retire, Salliotte appointed vice president
NORTHBROOK, IL Oct. 25, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- IDEX Corp. announced that Daniel J. Salliotte has joined the company as vice president - strategy and business development.
Separately, IDEX announced the planned retirement of Dennis L. Metcalf, vice president - corporate development, in spring 2005. "In his 30 years with IDEX and its predecessor company, Houdaille Industries," said Dennis K. Williams, IDEX's chairman, president and CEO, "Dennis Metcalf has made an outstanding contribution to IDEX. Since 1991, he has led our corporate development activities and played a pivotal role in our company's growth, helping us expand our global platform through the completion of more than two dozen strategic acquisitions."
Salliotte joins IDEX from his most recent position as a vice president with Oxford Investment Group, a private equity firm. Prior to the Oxford Investment Group, Salliotte served as a group vice president, business development for the fluid & material-handling group within SPX Corp. Earlier in his career, Salliotte was a management consultant with Deloitte Consulting. He started his career gaining international transaction experience with Corporate Capital Group, a merger and acquisition firm. Salliotte holds a bachelor's degree from The University of Michigan and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
IDEX Corp. is specialist in fluid-handling technologies for positive displacement pumps, dispensing equipment for color formulation, and other highly engineered products including fire suppression equipment, rescue tools, and stainless steel custom banding. Its products are sold in niche markets to a wide range of industries throughout the world.
URS names Wotring as president of its EG&G Division
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 22, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- URS Corp. has named Randall A. Wotring as president of its EG&G Division. Wotring will succeed George Melton effective Nov. 19 and will oversee all operations for a range of operations and maintenance, and systems engineering and technical support services primarily to the federal government market, including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, Energy and Treasury, among others.
Wotring currently serves as vice president and general manager for engineering and technology services at EG&G, where he oversees the day-to-day operations of a business with more than 3,000 employees. He has more than 20 years of experience with EG&G, and also held positions as general manager of EG&G Services, general manager of EG&G Washington Analytical Services Center, and general manager of EG&G Technical Services of West Virginia. He received a bachelor's degree in business administration and an MBA from West Virginia University.
Commenting on the appointment, Martin M. Koffel, URS Chairman and CEO, said: "I want to thank George Melton for his valued service and many contributions to URS. George has served as president of the EG&G Division since URS acquired EG&G in 2002, and had a key part in our successful integration of EG&G during that period."
URS Corp. offers a range of professional planning, design, engineering and technical assistance, management, and operations and maintenance services for surface transportation, air transportation, rail transportation, industrial process, facilities and logistics support, water/wastewater treatment, hazardous waste management and military platforms support. Based in San Francisco, it operates in more than 20 countries with about 27,000 employees providing engineering and technical services to federal, state and local governmental agencies as well as private clients in the chemical, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, forest products, mining, oil and gas, and utilities industries.
###
Pall Corp. appoints president as CFO; names new medical director
EAST HILLS, NY, Oct. 22, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Pall Corp. reported the resignation of John Adamovich, Jr., its group vice president, treasurer and chief financial officer. Adamovich leaves Pall Corp. after six years as CFO to join a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation.
Eric Krasnoff, Pall chairman and CEO, said, "Marcus Wilson, Pall's president, will assume the additional role of chief financial officer. Marc is a Chartered Management Accountant and held the position of financial director for our European businesses for many years. Reporting to Marc is Lisa McDermott, vice president - finance. Lisa has been with Pall since December 1999 and is also the company's chief accounting officer."
In other news, Joseph S. Cervia, M.D., a leading infectious disease expert and pediatrician, joins Pall as medical director. He assumes global responsibility for Pall Corp.'s broad array of products, services and relationships in the medical arena including research, product development, marketing, quality control and regulatory. He'll report to Roberto Perez, president of Pall Life Sciences, which generated $700 million in sales last year.
Dr. Cervia comes from the Long Island Jewish Medical Center where he has held several managerial positions, most recently as director of the Comprehensive HIV Care and Research Center. Before that, he was attending pediatrician, Division of Infectious Diseases at Schneider Children's Hospital and professor of clinical medicine and clinical pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He also served as the chairman of the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute Committee for the Care of Children and Adolescents.
Dr. Cervia was formerly an associate professor at Cornell University Medical College and at the State University of New York, Health Sciences Center at Stony Brook. He is board certified by the American Academy of HIV Medicine, The American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Internal Medicine as well as the Specialty Boards of Adult and Pediatric Infectious Diseases. He has been recognized in America's Registry of Outstanding Professionals and the Guide to America's Top Pediatricians.
He also has been a principal investigator in scores of clinical studies in the areas of AIDS, infectious diseases, immunology and pediatrics. He is a prolific author and a frequent lecturer. Dr. Cervia earned his M.D. degree from New York Medical College in 1984.
As part of Pall Life Science's ongoing commitment to enhance the safety of the world's blood supply, it provides leukocyte reduction filters and enhanced Bacterial Detection Systems to test platelets for contamination. Bacterial contamination of platelets is the leading infectious cause of transfusion-transmitted fatalities.
It's also developing the Leukotrap® Affinity Prion Reduction Filter in response to increasing evidence that vCJD, the human form of Mad Cow diseases, may be transmitted by donor blood. It is anticipated that this unique product will be launched early in 2005.
Pall also provides the Pall-AquasafeTM Water Filter, Ultipor® Breathing System Filters and Posidyne® Intravenous Filter Sets, which are on the front lines of defense against hospital-acquired infections. The prevention of nosocomial infections is a top priority for U.S. and international health care systems.
Based in East Hills, N.Y., and with operations in 40 countries, Pall Corp. is a specialist in the rapidly growing fields of filtration, separations and purification. Its business is organized around two broad markets: Life Sciences and Industrial. The company provides leading-edge products to meet the demanding needs of customers in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, transfusion medicine, semiconductors, municipal drinking water, aerospace and broad industrial markets. Total revenues are $1.77 billion.
WorldWater & Power appoints ex-J&J exec as VP
PENNINGTON, NJ, Oct. 22, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) WorldWater & Power Corp., a maker of solar energy systems, has named Douglas L. Washington as vice president of marketing and international operations.
Quentin T. Kelly, WorldWater chairman and CEO, said Washington's responsibilities will include directing the preparation of new domestic marketing approaches for the sales department and assisting sales in identification and acquisition of new business opportunities. He'll also help develop special projects in the U.S. market to take advantage of WorldWater's proprietary AquaMaxTM motor-drive technology to supply power for supermarkets, office and apartment buildings, industrial power, schools, state activities and commercial business.
Internationally, Washington will help develop business in those countries where WorldWater currently has activities, including the Philippines, as well as new potential markets in Iraq and Africa.
Before joining WorldWater, Washington spent several years at Johnson & Johnson, where he served as worldwide director of new business development in the consumer sector, and director of business development at Advanced Materials Co. He developed business opportunities with a variety of governmental, educational and other research institutions in the United States and in countries in Asia, Africa and elsewhere.
Later, Washington worked as a private consultant, specializing in biotechnology and consumer water programs. He had been working on a consulting basis for WorldWater for several months prior to joining the company full time.
WorldWater & Power Corp. is a full-service, international solar engineering and water management company with unique, high-powered and patented solar technology that provides solutions to a broad spectrum of the world's water supply and energy problems. The Company's recently patented AquaMax solar pumping systems are capable of driving motors up to 600 horsepower.
Cytec elects new director
WEST PATERSON, NJ, Oct. 21, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The board of directors for Cytec Industries Inc. has elected Louis L. Hoynes Jr. as a director.
Hoynes was executive vice president and general counsel of the pharmaceutical company Wyeth (formerly American Home Products) until his retirement in July 2003. Before joining Wyeth in 1990, he was a partner in the law firm of Wilkie Farr & Gallagher. He previously served as director of Cytec for 10 years, elected by a subsidiary of Wyeth. His term ended in September 2004.
Cytec Industries is a specialty chemicals and materials technology company with sales in 2003 of $1.5 billion. Its growth strategies are based on developing technologically advanced customer solutions for global markets, including: aerospace, plastics, industrial coatings, mining, and water treatment.
Celanese restructures its management
KRONBERG, Germany, Oct. 21, 2004 -- As a result of the takeover of Celanese AG by BCP Crystal Acquisition GmbH & Co. KG, various changes are planned for the Celanese Group organization and management structure.
As already announced, the Celanese Group will be controlled by a U.S. management holding company in the future. It's BCP's intent to appoint a management team of the new company that will include David Weidman as CEO, Lyndon Cole as executive vice president, and Andreas Pohlmann as chief administrative officer. A decision on the remaining position of chief financial officer will be made soon.
As announced earlier, the current Celanese AG management board chairman, Claudio Sonder, will retire and current chief financial officer, Perry Premdas, will leave the company as planned on Oct. 31.
Taking this new group structure into account, the Celanese AG supervisory board named a new management board. It appointed Dr. Andreas Pohlmann, currently chief administrative officer and director of personnel, as the new chairman of the Celanese AG board of management and director of personnel. The board also named Dr. Lyndon Cole, board member of Celanese AG and president of Ticona, to also serve as vice chairman of the management board and current vice president treasurer Peter Jakobsmeier as the company's new chief financial officer. The appointments are to go into effect Nov. 1. David Weidman will leave the management board of Celanese AG effective Oct. 31. It's intended to have him appointed by the court as a member of Celanese AG supervisory board.
Celanese AG supervisory board chairman Dr. Bernd Thiemann thanked Sonder and Premdas: "Claudio Sonder and Perry Premdas have been the main architects of an extraordinarily positive development of Celanese AG in the last five years. They stand for rigorous strategic thinking and acting, as well as financial discipline and transparency, values which have earned the company great respect in the industry and on the financial markets. Sonder and Premdas have thus laid the foundation for a successful future for Celanese."
Celanese AG is a company of the Celanese Group, which is controlled by investment funds advised by The Blackstone Group, which along with Apollo Management bought Nalco from Suez last fall. As a chemicals company, Celanese holds worldwide leading positions in its key products and world class process technology. The Celanese Group portfolio consists of four main businesses: Chemical Products, Acetate Products, Technical Polymers Ticona and Performance Products. In 2003, Celanese generated sales of around 4.1 billion euros [1 euro =US$1.28] with about 9,500 employees. The Celanese Group has 24 production plants and six research centers in 10 countries mainly in North America, Europe and Asia.
Strategic Diagnostics reorganizes, expands U.S. and European sales teams
NEWARK, DE, Oct. 19, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Strategic Diagnostics Inc., a provider of antibody products and analytical test kits for the food safety and water quality markets, issued an update on its efforts to reorganize and expand its U.S. and European sales and marketing teams.
The SDI sales organization now consists of four teams, each focused on a specific customer segment of the biotechnology industrial diagnostic market. Since April of this year -- when Richard Foster, SDI vice president of sales, joined the company -- seven outside sales professionals have been hired, trained and assigned sales territories serving the food processing market, municipal water/environmental testing market, agricultural biotech market, and the antibody services market. Five of the new direct sales team are replacements and two are additions.
In addition, Foster announced Richard Simmonds joined SDI on Oct. 4 as director of international distribution and market development. Simmonds comes to SDI after a successful career in international market development for Orthofix Ltd., a UK-based medical equipment company. In the coming months, he'll be reviewing SDI's distribution outside of the Americas, identifying new distribution partners, and actively supporting the company's current distributors in the expansion of their sales efforts.
To improve overall efficiencies and the level of customer satisfaction, a new Customer Service Center also was instituted in September.
"Customers are responding very positively about the changes, and we expect this trend to continue as our customer service reps develop stronger relationships with their customers. Kathy Miklas was promoted to supervisor of the Customer Service Center. Miklas is a long term SDI employee and an expert in SDI products and services. She has advanced through a series of technical and customer service positions of increasing responsibility and is highly qualified to lead the customer service team," Foster said.
SDI is a leading provider of biotechnology-based diagnostic tests for a broad range of agricultural, industrial, and water treatment applications. Through its antibody business, Strategic BioSolutions, Strategic Diagnostics also provides antibody and immunoreagent research and development services. SDI's test kits are produced in a variety of formats suitable for field and laboratory use, offering advantages of accuracy, cost-effectiveness, portability, and rapid response.
Orphan named to head WEF; third female president in its 75-year history
ALEXANDRIA, VA, Oct. 18, 2004 -- A member of the Nevada Water Environment Association (NWEA), Lynn Orphan was elected Oct. 5 as the 2004-2005 president of the Water Environment Federation (WEF), a technical, scientific, and educational water quality organization based near the nation's capital. Orphan is the third woman to serve as WEF President in the organization's over 75 year history.
Based in Reno, Nevada, Orphan is senior engineer and regional manager of business development at Kennedy/Jenks Consultants, a firm with 18 offices in the western United States. She works on a broad range of water projects including wastewater treatment, solids handling, potable and recycled water supply, water resource planning, groundwater recharge, wetlands, flood control and stormwater quality management. A Federation member for 22 years, she served on the Executive Committee from 1997 to 1999 and has been an ongoing member of the Water Reuse Committee since 1994. Orphan presented a paper on South Lake Tahoe water recycling at the WEF/American Water Works Association 2002 Water Sources Conference held in January.
Orphan has served the Nevada Water Environment Association (NWEA) as treasurer (1984-88), vice-president, president, and past president (1991-94), and director (1994-97) and Government Affairs Committee chair. She was recognized with the Federation's Arthur Sydney Bedell Award (1996) for extraordinary personal service to her Member Association. She is also a member of the California Water Environment Association.
In addition to WEF, Orphan is a member of AWWA, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Nevada Water Resources Association. She has also been active in the National Society of Professional Engineers and the Society of Women Engineers. She received both a B.S. (1978) and M.S. (1979) in civil engineering from the University of Nevada-Reno.
In her spare time, Orphan is a Girl Scout leader. She and her husband Paul (an engineering manager at Washoe County Department of Water Resources and also a member of NWEA) have two daughters, Katie and Lizzie.
Founded in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with members from varied disciplines who work toward the WEF vision of preservation and enhancement of the global water environment. The WEF network includes water quality professionals from 79 Member Associations in over 30 countries.
New secretary general for European Water Association appointed
HENNEF, Germany, Oct. 16, 2004 -- By decision of European Water Association's (EWA) Management Committee, Johannes Lohaus, acting managing director of ATV-DVWK -- the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (soon to become DWA) -- has been appointed from Oct. 1 as general secretary of EWA for an interim period till the committee meets again in April 2005.
Johannes Lohaus replaces Sigurd van Riesen, who served since 1989 has as EWA's secretary general. van Riesen's work as managing director of ATV-DVWK ceased as of Aug. 20. The position as general secretary of EWA has been linked to the position as managing director of ATV-DVWK. Johannes Lohaus is a civil engineer specializing in water resources management. Since 1988, he has worked at ATV-DVWK as head of the Department for Wastewater and Water Pollution Control, as deputy managing director. He became acting managing director on Aug. 20.
The European Water Association (www.ewaonline.com) is one of the major professional associations in Europe in the water sector. With its 25 National Member Associations and a growing number of Commercial Members the EWA consists of most European countries. The EWA provides a forum for its members to discuss key technical and policy issues affecting the growing European region. This is done through conferences, workshops, meetings and special working groups of experts all organised on an international basis together with regular publications. Through its National Member Associations EWA represents about 55,000 professional individuals working in the broad field of water management.
National Waterworks promotes Keipp to CFO
WACO, TX, Oct. 15, 2004 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- National Waterworks Inc., a leading distributor of water and wastewater transmission products in the United States, today announced that Mechelle Slaughter, currently chief financial officer, has announced her decision to retire after 24 years with National Waterworks or its predecessors. Slaughter will stay on until January 2005 to ensure an orderly transition. Phil Keipp, currently vice president and controller, will succeed her as CFO.
Company CEO Harry Hornish said, "The promotion of Phil, an eight-year veteran of National Waterworks or its predecessors, is a testament to the Company's succession management program and we anticipate significant contributions to National Waterworks in his new role."
Regarding Slaughter's departure, Hornish said, "Mechelle brought a combination of skill and professionalism to our Company and has been an invaluable contributor to the success of National Waterworks. She has overseen the company through times of enormous change and her contribution is truly appreciated. While we are sorry to see her leave, we respect her decision and wish her the best."
Commenting on her decision to leave, Slaughter said, "I have enjoyed a great career at National Waterworks and will treasure the friendships that I have made during the past several years. While I am looking forward to pursuing my personal endeavors, I am pleased with the current direction of the organization and I firmly believe that National Waterworks will continue to provide an unmatched level of service to its customers."
National Waterworks Inc. distributes a full line of products including pipe, fittings, valves, meters, service and repair products, fire hydrants and other components that are used to transport clean water and wastewater between reservoirs and treatment plants and residential and commercial locations. With a network of 134 branches in 36 states, the company sells directly to municipalities and to contractors who serve municipalities and also perform residential, commercial and industrial waterworks projects.
###
