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Wire Journal News

5/4/2022 –

Giovanni Spitale, a polymer processing and broader capital equipment industry veteran, has been named CEO of Davis-Standard. He most recently was vice president of commercial parts within Boeing Global Services. Prior to that, he was president of Customer Service and Support at Milacron. He replaces Jim Murphy who has been elected as vice chairman of the board of directors. The company also reported that it has elected to its board of directors Brian Marston, Bill Barker and John McGrath, each of whom has significant experience within Davis-Standard’s markets. Based in Pawcatuck, Connecticut, and a portfolio company of Gamut Capital Management, Davis-Standard is a global supplier of extrusion technology.

Earlier this year, International Wire Group (IWG) announced multiple personnel promotions. Vince Donaldson was named general manager of Owl Wire & Cable. His industry career began in 1985 at Camden Wire. He worked there for nearly 12 years, and was director of sales and marketing when the company was acquired by IWG. He continued as director of North American sales, and in 2004 became vice president of sales before his new assignment. Lenny Argentine was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing. He joined IWG in 1994 and has held various commercial roles across multiple International Wire divisions. He holds a B.A. degree in philosophy from LeMoyne College and an MBA from State University of New York at Oswego. Yulia Leskovets was named director of sales and marketing. She joined the IWG as a senior business development manager. She had previously worked in sales positions for Freeport-McMoRan and 3M. She holds a Master’s degrees in engineering, and in economics and management from Bauman Moscow State Technical University. Jennifer Fox was named director of marketing analytics. She joined IWG in 1994, and during her tenure has held multiple positions in manufacturing, production control, plant operations management and quality assurance. Kerri Grant was named director of customer service. She joined IWG in 1998, and throughout her career she has held various positions in finance, operations, quality, continuous improvement and manufacturing management. Stacey Ingraham was named vice president of human resources. She joined IWG in 2014, and during her tenure with the company, she spent three years in a manufacturing management role. Based in Camden, New York, the International Wire Group is the largest non-vertically integrated copper and alloy wire products manufacturer in the U.S.

UPCAST OY has named Janne Hosio as managing director. He joined the company in 2001 as a project engineer, specialized in electrics and programming, and over the following 21 years served in various roles where he became an expert in UPCAST® products and technology. He most recently had been sales director, responsible for all the global sales and marketing activities and customer relationships of the company. He will continue to be directly involved in sales. He holds an engineering degree from the Central Ostrobothnia University of Applied Sciences. Based in Pori, Finland, UPCAST OY notes that it is the original developer of the upward upcasting technology for making copper rod and tube.

As part of a management reorganization of Hitachi Cable America (HCA), the Performance Cable Systems and Materials Division (PCSMD) of New Hampshire and the High Performance Medical Solutions Division (HPMSD) of Rhode Island/Connecticut, reported the following personnel news. Paula Butkevich is senior vice president of sales and business development of the HPMSD. Robert Overton has been promoted to senior vice president of engineering & operations, a new position for the HPMSD. Jim Stocking has accepted the role of executive director of operations for the PCSMD. He joined HCA in 2010 as purchasing manager. Michelle Ferero has been promoted to vice president of human resources. John DiSalvo is vice president of finance for the (HPMSD) and the (PCSMD). Steve Schaeffer has been promoted to director of logistics. Sherry Moulton has been promoted to purchasing supervisor of PCSMD. Semko Bukvic will assume the interim process engineering manager role for PCSMD. Headquartered in Purchase, New York, Hitachi Cable America Inc. (HCA) is a subsidiary of Hitachi Metals, Ltd., a global manufacturer of cable products for the computer, automotive and aerospace industries.

Alain Lanjard has joined Champlain Cable as European district sales manager, a new direct position. Residing in Spain, he is tri-lingual, and has a B.T.S. degree in international business from the University of Vigo. He has many years of wire and cable experience in sales, marketing and business development roles with various companies. He most recently worked at BizLink. Based in Colchester, Vermont, Champlain Cable Corporation makes electrical wire and cable products.

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has named Southwire President and CEO Rich Stinson to the company’s board of directors. He joined the company in 2015. Founded in 1895, the NAM notes that is the largest industrial trade association in the USA, with over 14,000 members, from small businesses to global leaders, in every industrial sector. n

All of the country of Mauritania was left without internet access for two days, and nine other African nations were affected when the African Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable was severed on March 30.

Per media reports, the cable broke near the Mauritanian capital of Noukachott. A trawler is believed to have severed the line. Mauritania, which has a population of 4.5 million people, relies entirely on ACE for internet access. The ACE system, 10,500 miles long, stretches from France to South Africa, providing an internet connection to 22 countries, most of Africa’s west coast. A large part of the west of the continent was affected by outages.

A spokesman for  Orange, which heads the consortium that manages ACE, tweeted a picture of the severed cable taken by workers on a maintenance vessel sent to repair it. Jean-Luc Vuillemin said a trawler raising the cable
off the seabed and slicing through it was the “likely cause.”

Southwire announced that the company will reinvest approximately $9 million dollars back into the lives, and pockets, of its employees, joining a growing list of companies that have made similar moves as a result of recent tax reform.

A press release said that in addition to global, one-time employee bonuses, the company is expanding its parental leave policy and taking steps to strengthen its commitment to education, skilled trade development, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs and diversity in the workplace.

Full-time U.S. employees, with the exception of executives and upper management, will each receive a $1,000 bonus, while full-time employees outside the U.S. will get a bonus of $250 or the international equivalent. These investments will impact the majority of Southwire’s nearly 7,500 employees. 

“Building organizational capability is one of the key components of our company’s strategy, and it is vital that we make the right decisions as we continually enhance Southwire’s great culture,” said Southwire President and CEO Rich Stinson. “We’re off to a good start in 2018, and I am pleased to be able to share this benefit, both monetarily and through the extension of new and existing programs and partnerships, with the Southwire family.”

The release said that Southwire will also expand its parental leave policy to assist eligible parents. “At Southwire, our desire is for all employees to focus on ‘The Whole You,’ a concept which goes beyond standard benefits and provides access to resources that touch many aspects of an employee’s life,” said Kathleen Edge, EVP of Human Resources. “In doing so, we must offer programs and total rewards like these that reflect this commitment.”

Southwire will also offer a bridge scholarship program for eligible hourly employees seeking to further their education through a two-year degree, four-year degree or technical certification. There also are plans are in the works “to make strong investments into new and existing industry partnership” The purpose of these investments is to accelerate the attraction of diverse candidates into Southwire’s manufacturing and STEM careers. More information on these new programs will be available soon.

“As we continue to grow, we’re also looking at significant modernization and safety improvement efforts into our manufacturing and distribution facilities,” said Stinson. “Our goal is to be a generationally sustainable business for the next century and beyond, and to get there, we must make considerations and investments like these. It is an exciting time to be part of Southwire!”

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