PALM DESERT, Calif., Jan. 23, 2001 — United States Filter Corporation announced today that it has reorganized its water and wastewater business into fully integrated service and capital equipment groups and named Frank Firsching and Mike Stark as the group presidents.
Firsching will now serve as president of USFilter's Water and Wastewater Systems Group. Stark will serve as president of USFilter's Services Group.
"USFilter has driven the evolution of the water industry in the past decade by constantly re-inventing itself. If we are to remain the market leader, we must stay ahead of the industry's thinking. It's in that spirit that these changes were made to refine and improve our operational and sales intensity," said Andy Seidel, president and chief operating officer of Vivendi Water North America.
USFilter's capital equipment product lines have been consolidated into a single group under Firsching in order to facilitate integrated technology, equipment and controls solutions to municipal and industrial customers. Firsching has been a member of the USFilter executive team since 1992. In his latest position, Firsching was executive vice president of the process water group. As the president of USFilter's Water and Wastewater Systems Group, Firsching will be responsible for managing the $800 million industrial and municipal capital equipment product lines.
USFilter's services businesses have also been merged into a single group. Led by Stark, USFilter's Services Group will provide comprehensive water and wastewater services to municipal and industrial customers including engineering, construction, operations and waste recovery services.
As executive vice president and general manager of USFilter Operating Services since 1997, Stark has led the momentum behind the industry's fastest growing water outsourcing and privatization business. He will now be responsible for managing the largest and fastest growing team in the water services business with annual revenues totaling over $800 million.
"USFilter performed strongly in 2000 with over 17% profit growth, which is striking when you examine the overall poor performance of the water industry in general. We are convinced the formation of these two groups will position us to continue our strong growth into the future. USFilter's size, combination of service and capital, and teamwork differentiates us from the rest of the industry. I have complete confidence that these two leaders and their excellent teams will continue to grow USFilter in a responsible and profitable manner," said Seidel.
Other appointments within the group include two newly created positions of chief operating officer (COO): Dean Smith, COO of the Water and Wastewater Systems Group and Don Duffy, COO of the Services Group. Smith and Duffy will be responsible for integrating the groups' operational aspects including information technology, purchasing, human resources and administration.
Seidel will continue to manage the various major groups of the $4.6 billion North American business: Distribution, Consumer and Commercial, Services, Water and Wastewater Systems, Surface Preparation, and Filtration and Separation.
USFilter, a Vivendi Water company, is the leading global provider of commercial, industrial, municipal and residential water and wastewater treatment systems, products and services, with operations in more than 100 countries. For more information, visit its web site at http://www.usfilter.com.
