WCA March 2024

People

Freudenberg names new CEO and CFO New appointments to the management board of Freudenberg Performance Materials came into effect on 1 January 2024: Dr Andreas Raps succeeded Dr Frank Heislitz as chief executive officer (CEO), and Marco Altherr took over from Thomas Herr as chief financial officer (CFO). John McNabb, who has been CTO since 2018, remains on the management board.

wealth of expertise and have made outstanding contributions to the development of the Freudenberg Group. Together with John McNabb, they form a strong leadership team.” Dr Raps has been a member of the Freudenberg SE executive council since 2020, and CEO of EagleBurgmann, a joint venture between the Japanese EKK Group and the Freudenberg Group, since 2016. He previously held several executive management positions at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies, most recently as CEO of the global special sealing division. Before joining the Freudenberg Group, he worked for various management consulting companies in the USA, Germany and Switzerland. He holds an MBA from the University of Passau (Germany). Mr Altherr has been CFO of Vibracoustic SE, a Freudenberg Group company, since 2020. He held various senior manag- ement positions at Freudenberg & Co KG, the technology group’s holding company, from 2015 to 2020, most recently as head of corporate controlling and accounting. Prior to joining Freudenberg, he served in several management roles at Manroland AG, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, Boehringer Ingelheim and Arthur Andersen. He holds a degree in business administration specialising in controlling and financing from Lahr University (Germany).

Dr Heislitz and Mr Herr became members of the Freudenberg Group board of management on the same date. Dr Mohsen Sohi, CEO of the Freudenberg Group, commented, “With Dr Andreas Raps and Marco Altherr, two internationally experienced managers are joining the Freudenberg Performance Materials board of management. Both have a

Freudenberg Performance Materials Holding GmbH www.freudenberg-pm.com

Dr Andreas Raps © Freudenberg Performance Materials

© Freudenberg Performance Materials

Marco Altherr

Daniel Blais to lead WAI in 2024 The Wire Association International (WAI) has announced the appointment of Daniel Blais as the 71 st president of the association for a one-year term that commenced on 1 January. Mr Blais will chair the board of directors of the 94-year-old association, which is headquartered in Madison, Connecticut, USA. Mr Blais is North America engineering and Canada manufacturing utilities vice president for Prysmian Group, where he has worked since 1987. He is based at the company’s headquarters in Highland Heights, Kentucky, USA, and is responsible for the engineering across the North America manufacturing sites as well as leading the activities of the four Canadian manufacturing facilities. New VP of sales and marketing at Bergandi

Having been a WAI member since 2011, Mr Blais joined the board of directors in 2018 and the executive committee in 2019. He was the co-chair of the 2022 conference programming committee, and was previously a member of the Interwire Industry 4.0 task force and the finance committee. He holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Sherbrooke University, Quebec, Canada. Commenting on his appointment, Mr Blais said, “The WAI continues to be the place where members and industry professionals come to find the latest information and educational material related to wire and cable. I look forward Daniel Blais

to leading the association on a journey to continuously improve its offerings to better support the needs of our members and industry professionals.” The Wire Association International is governed by a network of volunteers from around the world. Joining Mr Blais for the 2024 term are members of the association’s 2024 executive committee: first vice president Eric Bieberich (Fort Wayne Wire Die); second vice president David Fisher (James Monroe Wire & Cable Corp); Rebecca Cranford (Southwire Co); and immediate past president Kurt F Breischaft (SDI La Farga Copperworks). The Wire Association International, Inc www.wirenet.org

Bergandi Machinery has appointed Joe Penrod as VP of sales and marketing. Mr Penrod has 20 years’ experience in the building products industry, starting in rebar and agricultural metals at Georgia Pacific and most recently leading product management and marketing at Alta Forest Products, the world’s largest producer of western red cedar fencing. Bergandi Machinery www.bergandi.com

Joe Penrod

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March 2024