Caterpillar announced that Lou Balmer-Millar will assume responsibility for the chief sustainability officer role in addition to her current responsibility as senior vice president of the Large Power Systems Division within the Energy and Transportation segment. Balmer-Millar succeeds Julie Lagacy, who was Caterpillar's first chief sustainability and strategy officer and is retiring Feb. 1, 2023, after nearly 35 years of service. In her capacity as chief sustainability officer, Balmer-Millar will report directly to chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby.
“Sustainability is an important focus area of our long-term strategy for profitable growth," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby. "Building on her role in Caterpillar's Energy and Transportation segment, this move further enhances the advancement of product solutions to support our customers during the energy transition and help them achieve their climate-related objectives by geography, by application and by specific customer need. We remain committed to helping our customers build a better, more sustainable world."
Balmer-Millar has held several technical and business leadership positions of increased scope and responsibility over her 20-year career with Caterpillar. Prior to joining the company, she led materials and chemical engineering research efforts at the Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Balmer-Millar earned a doctorate degree in materials science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a bachelor of science degree in engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
Balmer-Millar will work with Lagacy to transition to the role in the first quarter of 2023.
Terex Utilities announced that Nick Cammisa has been promoted to senior director of services and will now lead the Terex Services team.
“Nick brings well-rounded experience to his role as senior director of services from branch management, sales, and strategic account management, and is positioned to lead this department in continued growth,” said Simon Croker, interim vice president and general manager. Cammisa has 33 years of experience in the utilities and construction equipment industry and nearly 20 years with Terex Utilities.
Jon-Don has welcomed Jay Davisson as the new CEO and Steve Porter as chief sales officer.
Davisson brings senior-level executive and private equity experience. Most recently, he was CEO at AMES Taping Tools and previously held several progressive leadership roles at Sherwin-Williams.
“I am very excited to join the team and continue to build upon Jon-Don’s solid foundation of providing world class service to thousands of specialty contractors nationwide,” said Davisson.
Porter brings nearly 30 years of sales experience. He most recently served as chief operating officer of Ruprecht/Kilcoy Global Foods, and prior to that spent nearly 25 years at Grainger leading the largest sales team in the U.S. in his final role.
S. Gabriel Carrero.CarbonCure
CarbonCure Announces New SVP of Sales, Marketing
CarbonCure Technologies announced the hiring of S. Gabriel Carrero as its new senior vice president of sales and marketing. Carrero joined the carbon removal technology company at the start of the year after two decades in business management roles leading commercial operations, business development and strategic marketing for the heavy construction materials, speciality construction chemicals and specialty building materials industries. Carrero most recently served as the chief commercial officer at Sysdyne Technologies, accelerating the global growth of its batching, dispatch and truck management software and ensuring customer success for ready mix concrete producers. His prior experience also included executive leadership, commercial operations and business development roles at NITROcrete,GCP Applied Technologies and W.R. Grace and Co.
“What drew me to CarbonCure was the unique opportunity to strategically support a world class, global organization in its mission to substantially reduce the impact of carbon to our planet and future generations while remaining committed to the effort of driving high value and game changing technologies throughout our beloved heavy construction materials industry,” Carrero said. “I’m excited to lead this talented team, expand into new markets and connect concrete producers around the world with this suite of technologies. By adopting CarbonCure amid surging demand for sustainable concrete, I’ve seen how producers can unlock new revenue opportunities, win more bids through market differentiation and grow their businesses.”
A category leader in low carbon concrete and carbon removal tech, CarbonCure reduces the production cost and carbon footprint of concrete. CarbonCure offers the global concrete industry an integrated and easy-to-adopt decarbonization platform, featuring a suite of CO2 mineralization equipment, software and services including carbon credits and environmental product declarations.
“After a global search, I'm absolutely delighted to welcome S. Gabriel Carrero as our SVP of Sales and Marketing, adding a valuable voice on our Leadership Team,” said CarbonCure chair and CEO Robert Niven. “Gabriel offers keen insights from his experience managing strategic marketing, sales and commercial operations for multinational organizations. Best of all, with his expertise in concrete admixtures, software and methods for gaining efficiencies in ready mix production, Gabriel’s strong concrete industry background matches up perfectly with our global growth strategy and mission.”
Carrero earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Universidad Tecnológica del Centro (UNITEC) and completed MBA coursework for Marketing Management at Universidad de Carabobo in Valencia, Venezuela. Carrero is based in Orlando, Fla. with his wife and four children
Futtura Names Houghton to Sales Team
GeoShack announced that Troy Houghton has been promoted to lead GeoShack’s new Futtura sales team. Houghton will continue to be based at its Fort Worth, Texas area office and will be responsible for all the sales and marketing efforts for GeoShack’s Futtura sales team, North America wide. Houghton was a natural choice for the position having started with GeoShack over 25-years ago. He has shown consistent leadership, achieving significant sales growth over the years in his previous roles. He will have responsibility for all of GeoShack’s Futtura business.
Mr. Houghton stated, “This is a great opportunity and GeoShack is a great company. I am happy to be part of such a fine organization.” Mr. David Owen, Senior Vice President said, “We are pleased to have Troy take the reins of this very important and emerging market segment for us. With his wealth of knowledge and experience, he will have an immediate impact on our Futtura business and increase our market share.”
Andy Davis.Allen Engineering
Waupaca Foundry Appoints Pagel to VP of Operations
Waupaca Foundry named Todd Pagel vice president of operations. Pagel is a 30-year veteran of Waupaca Foundry serving in positions as diverse as molding supervisor, plant manager, and most recently as director of operations. He started in 1993 as an operator in the molding department at Plant 2/3 in located in Waupaca, Wis. In 2021, while working as plant manager at Plant 2/3, he was also responsible for melt and molding operations at Plant 6 located in Etowah, Tenn.
Steve Friess.American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA)
ACPA Announces New Board of Directors Chair, Vice Chair
The American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA) announced Steve Friess of Milestone Contractors as the chairman of the board of directors in 2023. Ernie Peterson of Ash Grove Cement will be the board’s vice chair and will serve as chairman in 2024. Both men are leaders in the concrete pavement industry, as well as their respective companies.
Steve Friess is the vice president of concrete operations at Milestone Contractors. A veteran of the industry for more than 35 years, he began his career at Anthony Allega Cement Contractor in Cleveland, Ohio. Moving to the McCarthy Improvement Company in the mid-2000s, Friess served as operations manager and southeast division manager before taking a position with Milestone Contractors in 2013.
Ernie Peterson is the vice president of sales – Midwest for Ash Grove Cement. He has worked for Ash Grove for 25 years in various capacities. He joined Ash Grove in 1992 as a sales representative in western Iowa. In 1998 he went to work for Fibermesh, then became the executive director of the Nebraska Concrete and Aggregates Association. In 2002 he re-joined Ash Grove as a district sales manager, moving up to regional sales manager and holding that role for 15 years before becoming vice president in 2012. He was on the board of directors for the National Concrete Pavement Technology Center (CP Tech Center) for two terms and is a past-President of the Nebraska Concrete Paving Association.
ACPA also recently elected a new slate of board members. New members are: John Leckie, Indiana Chapter of ACPA; Bryan Beck, GOMACO; Jay Van Hove, Koss Construction Co.; Jake Steinberg, American Highway – a Simplex Co.; Greg Pelkey, Shafer Contracting Co.; Tim Nash, Wirtgen America; David Loomes, Continental Cement and Joe Finnegan, GCC America.
Dean Frank.ACI
Frank Named Executive Director of Concrete Center
NEU: An ACI Center of Excellence for Carbon Neutral Concrete announced the appointment of Dean A. Frank to serve as executive director of NEU. Frank previously worked as director of validation of NEU and as a program developer of the American Concrete Association (ACI). He brings extensive experience in sustainability, International Standards Organization (ISO) standards and certification development of personnel, products and manufacturing plants. Prior to joining ACI, Frank gained a comprehensive working knowledge of resilience and sustainability as an employee at Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc., the National Precast Concrete Association,Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute and through his consulting company. He also has experience in working as an assessor with ISO standards governing the operations of conformity assessment bodies and is a licensed P.E. in Indiana and Colorado.
“NEU has been growing quickly and I’m excited about our opportunities to make a difference in reducing the carbon emission of concrete,” said Frank. “I have enjoyed the work I’ve been doing with NEU so far in setting up the validation program, which we believe will have a big impact on the industry.” said Frank.
Felling Trailers recently appointed Dan Klimek to the role of quality assurance manager over both production facilities in Sauk Centre and Litchfield, Minn. Along with quality management, he will oversee weld production for the Litchfield manufacturing facility as the production manager. As the quality assurance manager, Klimek will continue developing, directing, controlling, and managing the installation and maintenance of the company's quality assurance programs. Felling Trailers originally obtained its ISO 9001 Certification for Quality Management in 2017 and continues to maintain certification. In the role of Litchfield production manager, he will work with the production team to implement new processes and technologies to reduce lead time and increase team productivity.
Klimek brings more than 30 years of manufacturing, quality control systems and processes to his position. Before accepting the quality assurance and production manager positions with Felling Trailers, Klimek held a similar collection of roles with Polar Tank Trailers in Ople, Minn. for over a decade. Most recently, he was the general manager for Polar Tank Trailers’ Minnesota Trailer Operations (production manager and quality manager) for the past six years.
Gavin Hale.PERC
Propane Council Hires New Head of Business Development
Gavin Hale joined the Propane Education and Research Council as vice president in charge of business development, PERC President and CEO Tucker Perkins announced. In this role, Hale will help grow awareness of propane’s technological versatility in the material handling industry.
“Gavin is a proven leader with a wealth of experience in new product development, a robust understanding of engine markets, and expertise in complete powertrain integration,” Perkins said. “We are excited to have him on board to help seize the opportunities ahead for our industry.”
Hale arrives at PERC from Deutz Corp., where he served as director of new power system business development and market and technology development. In this dual role he developed and executed a five-year, $400 million business growth strategy and led an international team in developing Deutz’s first compact propane spark ignited engine. Prior to his time at Deutz, Hale worked for Power Solutions International (PSI) as their vice president of sales. Before PSI, he had a career serving as manager for new business development at Caterpillar Machine Engines.
A native of the United Kingdom, Hale has a degree in automotive engineering from Accrington and Rossendale College, Nelson and Colne Technical College, located in Nelson, Lancashire, England. At PERC, Hale will bring his knowledge and experience to bear leading business development efforts and directing the development of renewable fuel strategies for applications such as propane port tractors and forklifts. Hale will start his career at PERC working from his home in Monroe, Ga.
Brett Bertz.Command Alkon
John Pumpelly.Command Alkon
Steve Cox.Command Alkon
Command Alkon Appoints New Leaders
Command Alkon announced three new leadership appointments.
John Pumpelly has been added to the executive leadership team as chief financial officer.
“John is a proven CFO with a superior track record of delivering results and creating value,” said Martin Willoughby, CEO at Command Alkon. “He is an experienced and extremely well-rounded leader in global finance who brings a compelling blend of strategic and capital allocation discipline.”
Pumpelly brings more than 30 years of financial, strategic and operational leadership experience with technology and business services companies. He began his career with KPMG serving U.S. and European markets and has operated in both private and public companies. Pumpelly has extensive experience in corporate transactions and a broad range of business activities. Prior to joining Command Alkon, Pumpelly served as chief financial officer of Updater Inc., a property and marketplace technology company whose solutions facilitate household moves. Pumpelly holds a BBA in accounting from Texas AandM University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a certified public accountant.
Command Alkon has also appointed Steve Cox as the vice president of customer success, in which he will lead the customer success team in ensuring customers are realizing maximum business value from Command Alkon solutions.
“Steve is well-respected in the industry and at Command Alkon, having served in many leadership roles ranging from sales and marketing, business transformation, and client services over the past seven years,” Willoughby said. “With Steve serving in this capacity, we are able to further develop our value-driven customer success strategy, ensuring our clients get the most out of their investments with Command Alkon.”
Cox has been in the construction materials industry for over 25 years and has held many market-facing roles in his career, all focused within the heavy building materials supply chain.
Cox earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Auburn University and has sat on several industry advisory boards, including: the RMC Research and Education Foundation Board, the Concrete Industry Management National Steering Committee Board and the Carbon Cure Industry Advisory Board.
The company has also announced the addition of Brett Bertz to the senior leadership team as senior vice president of global professional services. Bertz will be responsible for designing and executing strategies that ensure services are efficiently meeting and exceeding customer needs during implementation.
“Brett’s experience with building world-class professional services on a global basis is extensive, and his passion for people is evident,” Willoughby said. “Brett has a fervent desire to determine how to better serve our customers, and his hands-on approach to understanding their needs will help us to provide transformative solutions and services to move their business forward. I am thrilled to experience all the positive things he will bring to the organization.”
Brett has 20+ years of leadership in professional services, ranging from complex technology deployments to packaged SaaS/cloud software implementations.
Prior to joining Command Alkon, Bertz served as the chief customer officer at PowerPlan, bringing together team members to focus on delivering customer financial, operational, and compliance outcomes.
Wells, a prefabricated building solutions providers, has promoted two veteran team members to positions that will enhance its product offerings: Doug McCarthy as vice president of product development and Chris Dewanz as director of technology integration.
A member of the Wells team for over 30 years, McCarthy previously ran all operations for the company’s Mountain states region. He joined the product development team in 2020.
Prior to his promotion, Dewanz started his career at Wells as a design engineer and later transitioned to BIM Manager. As director of technology integration, he is overseeing Wells’ newly established technology integration team, working closely with Wells’ construction and engineering leads to ensure seamless operations and a consistent client experience across Wells’ divisions and regions.
Wells also promoted Steve Kloos to president/COO-Mountain states. A 27-year veteran of Wells, Kloos has impacted many different aspects of the business and brings years of expertise in operational leadership. He started his career in the former Ready Mix division, ascended to general manager, and most recently served as senior vice president of quality. In this role, Kloos became heavily integrated in all of Wells’ manufacturing operations, leading efforts related to quality control, with an emphasis on continuous improvement and the client experience.
Kloos will be responsible for preconstruction, sales, engineering, operations and field and installation services throughout the mountain states.
In addition to appointments, Wells also announced a retirement. Spencer Kubat, vice president of sales for Wells Midwest has retired. Kubat started his career in 1980 with Wells. When Kubat started at Wells, things were done a little differently – all estimates were done on paper, calls from the road were made by pay phone, there was no internet or email, and the company had a printed catalogue for its products. Starting in the 1980s, Wells entered the architectural building solutions market and continued to expand its product and services offerings. In recent years, Wells has seen significant growth and expansion in geographic regions, employees and revenue, with acquisitions of Rocky Mountain Prestress in 2019 and Spancrete in 2020, growing the organization to almost 1,300 employees across the central United States. Following the acquisitions, Kubat’s role transitioned from day-to-day client support to strategic endeavors.
Kevin McGuinness.CMA/Double Coin
Valentino Faraone.CMA/Double Coin
CMA, Double Coin Announce Appointments
CMA and Double Coin announced the appointment of South Atlantic Regional Sales Manager Kevin McGuinness. In this role, McGuinness will have responsibility for sales in the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. McGuinness has 10 years’ experience in sales, business development and account management, having worked for companies such as Best-One Tire – Great Lakes and Best Drive Tire.
CMA/Double Coin also announced the promotion of Valentino Faraone to vice president, sales. Faraone is responsible for sales and management objectives in the East and Midwest. Faraone has over 10 years’ experience with CMA, first as a regional sales manager in the Northeast and subsequently leading new product development as manager, working with Double Coin’s global engineering group. Faraone was then promoted to senior regional sales manager, where he was instrumental in growing sales in the Northeast region by 400%. Faraone’s tire manufacturing industry career began as territory manager at Michelin after serving six years in the United States Marines.
Lou Balmer-Millar.Caterpillar
Nick Cammisa.Terex Utilities
Jay Davisson.Jon-Don
Steve Porter.Jon-Don
S. Gabriel Carrero.CarbonCure
Andy Davis.Allen Engineering
Steve Friess.American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA)
Dean Frank.ACI
Dan Klimek.Felling Trailers
Gavin Hale.PERC
Brett Bertz.Command Alkon
John Pumpelly.Command Alkon
John Pumpelly.Command Alkon
Steve Cox.Command Alkon
Kevin McGuinness.CMA/Double Coin
Valentino Faraone.CMA/Double Coin
