Volume 35, Number 11, November 2000

  People
  Johnson Gives Birth to Baby Boy
Erin Johnson, director of advertising at Edgetech, and her husband Larry, gave birth to a baby boy on May 22nd. Upon his birth, Alex Reed weighed 5 pounds 12 ounces and was 19-inches long. Johnson is now back at work full-time.

Gonzalez Joins FEMSA
Ricardo Gonzalez has been appointed to the position of strategic planning director of Fomento Economico Mexicano, S. A. (FEMSA). Gonzalez began at FEMSA in 1977, when he worked in its human resources department. He went on to hold many positions in Grupo Vitro for the next 20 years. Most recently, during the last three years Gonzalez has served as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Vidrio Plano. In his new role, he will report to Federico Reyes, FEMSA’s executive vice president of planning and finance.
Gonzalez holds a degree in industrial and systems engineering from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and an MBA degree from the Instituto de Estudios Superiores in Barcelona, Spain.

Spence Retires, Bopp Promoted
Sandy Spence has retired from her position as executive director for the Society of Glass and Ceramic Decorators (SGCD), a position which she has held since 1992. Spence will continue to work on a part-time basis for SGCD for the rest of the year. Andrew Bopp, who joined SGCD in 1995, has been promoted from the position of associate executive director to executive director.

PPG Senior VP to Retire
Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries senior vice president of human resources and administration, Russell L. Crane, 60, has announced that he will retire at the end of the year. Crane who has been with the company for more than 45 years, began as a labor relations assistant in Crystal City, Mo. Crane has held many positions since, including human resources director of PPG Canada Inc., manager of the company’s glass plant in Creighton, Pa., director of automotive replacement glass sales and vice president of corporate human resources.

Bostik Promotes Hoban
Bostik of Middleton, Mass., has selected Michael F. Hoban to serve as industry manager for the company’s Insulating Glass Sealants Group. Hoban has been with the company since 1997, when he became product manager for the company’s line of insulating glass sealants. His new duties will entail overseeing all sales, marketing and technical support services for his division. Hoban will be responsible for marketing Bostik’s current product lines and new sealant technologies to the flat glass, glass construction, contract glazing and architectural glass industries. In addition, he will manage a sales support program for the company’s network of field representatives.

NFRC Elects New Board Members and Committee Chairpersons
The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) is seeing a few new faces. The council’s board of directors met recently to elect new board members during its annual fall meeting in Indian Wells, Calif. The NFRC’s four newest board members are: John Hogan, City of Seattle, representing the architect/design community; Duane Larson, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., representing energy services companies; Tom Mewbourne, AFG Industries Inc., representing glazing and in-fill manufacturers; and Garrett Stone, Burchette & Ritts P.C., representing the building industry. The four new board members fill two vacancies and replace former board members Jon Livingston of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Ken Nittler of WESTLab.

In addition to selecting new members, the NFRC Board chose its new officers during the annual fall meeting. Jim Krahn of Marvin Windows and Doors will continue his role as the board chairperson. To assist him, the board elected vice chairman William Lingnell of the Sealed Insulated Glass Manufacturers Association and treasurer Tony Rygg of the California Energy Commission.
Continuing as NFRC Board members are Bill Prindle of the Alliance to Save Energy; Steve Selkowitz of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Roland Temple of VELUX-AMERICA INC.; Randy Van Voorst of Quality Testing Inc.; and Carl Wagus of the American Architectural Manufacturers Association.

Presiding over the council’s technical committee will be Jim Larson of Cardinal IG. Likewise, Marvin Stover of Mikron Industries Inc. will serve as chairman of the public relations committee. Both also will serve as ex-officio members of the board, along with Richard Karney of the U.S. Department of Energy and John Mumaw of Integrex Testing Systems.

UCB Gains New Laboratory Supervisor
The Uvecryl Coatings Group of UCB Chemicals Corporation, located in Smyrna, Ga., has a new laboratory supervisor, Jonathan Shaw. As laboratory supervisor, Shaw will oversee the technical development and commercialization of fully-formulated radiation curable materials as glass laminates for the company’s Uvecryl customers. Previously, Shaw worked with Sherwin Williams for 14 years.

Apogee Elects New Board Member, Loses Vice President
Apogee Enterprises Inc. of Minneapolis recently elected Ray C. Richelsen to its board of directors. Previously, Richelsen was 3M’s executive vice president for transportation, graphics and safety markets, but resigned August 1, 2000 to take the new position at Apogee.

“Ray Richelsen is an excellent addition to our board, bringing 37 years experience in a large multi-national company,” said Russell Huffer, Apogee chairman, president, and chief executive officer. “His expertise will be invaluable to Apogee as we move to enhance our business growth.”
Among other changes at Apogee, Robert Barbieri, former vice president and chief financial officer, has left the company to join Lawson Software in St. Paul. Barbieri is Lawson’s new executive vice president and chief financial officer.
“We wish [Barbieri] well as he fulfills his desire to bring his financial expertise to a new economy firm,” Huffer said.

Lazer Joins the Solutia Team
Solutia Inc. of St. Louis, Mo., has added Kenneth M. Lazer Jr. to its Performance Films business as the eastern sales manager for residential glazing systems. Lazer will handle signing and developing target window manufacturers to promote the use of laminated glass in residential and architectural markets, using systems made with KeepSafe glass and KeepSafe Maximum glass.
Lazer has previous experience in the window manufacturing and building products industry and most recently served as the national sales and marketing manager for Napco Building Specialties.

PPG Managers Swap Positions
Pittsburgh’s PPG Industries is seeing a few changes. Recently, PPG’s own J. Richard Alexander and Bernard Ouimette swapped management positions. The switch is part of the company’s effort to broaden the experiences of its managers to strengthen itself. Through the switch, Alexander became general manager of global industrial coatings and Ouimette became general manager of fiber glass reinforcements.

Alexander, 45, has been with PPG for more than 20 years. He began his career with the company as a fiber glass market research analyst in Pittsburgh. Likewise, Ouimette, 52, also joined PPG in 1985 as a management trainee at the company’s Pittsburgh-headquarters.

BRIEFLY
Harmon Inc. of Golden Valley, Minn., has named Dennis Anderson information technologies director … Wausau Window and Wall Systems of Wausau, Wis., has selected Michael Augustine to serve as Central Region sales representative. Augustine will be responsible for serving Ohio and eastern Michigan in his new role … SBR Inc. of Parkersburg, W.Va., has named Shawn Draper president of its newest subsidiary, Metallon Inc. As president, Draper will be responsible for the beginning operations of the company and the development of its marketing and sales departments. Metallon Inc. will be located in Harrisville, W.Va. … Marley Mouldings LLC of Marion, Va., has named Annette Heath as midwest sales representative for the company’s fenestration product lines. Previously, Heath held the role of senior sales coordinator at the company … The American Subcontractors Association recently elected its new officers for the 2000-2001 year. Richard Kohls was elected president, Gerry Martin, vice president, Anne Bigane Wilson, treasurer, and Richard Wanner, secretary. 

A Minute With ...

Jean-Francois Phelizon
Saint-Gobain Corporation

With more than 25 years in the glass industry, Jean-Francois Phelizon, the new chief executive officer and president of Saint-Gobain Corp. has seen a lot of changes. Yet, even after all of these years, Phelizon still looks to the future, hoping to see even more revolution in the industry.

Q. What is most challenging about your job?

In this country, Saint-Gobain has grown a lot in the past months and years. I think one of the biggest challenges is to properly integrate our new acquisitions, such as that of ceramics and plastics, and improve the return on the investments on these products.

Q. What was your reaction when you found out you had been elected the new chief executive officer and president?

It’s a very different job than I’ve ever had, so it will be an interesting challenge—my challenge is to integrate the acquisitions we’ve made. But, my other reaction was that I love the United States and I am glad to be here.

Q. What are your plans for the U.S. market?

I’d say we have two challenges. The first is on the technical side—to improve new products both in the United States and in Europe. The second point is marketing-wise—I think we have a lot of things to do yet, particularly with e-business. And, I’m discovering that in the United States, we are more advanced in that area than we are in Europe.

Q. What do you think is interesting about the glass industry?

I think it’s probably a more concentrated industry than most with fewer and larger players. I also think it’s certainly more technical than it used to be 15 years ago. For example, fiber reinforcements are getting more and more sophisticated.

Q. How is Saint-Gobain different from other companies involved in the industry?

The main difference is that we are in flat glass installation, reinforcement and packaging. There are no other glass-makers involved in all four of those areas. It allows us to have some cross-utilization. Another is that we are a very old company, founded in 1665, probably the oldest of the glass companies.

Q. What kind of advice would you offer someone just starting out in this industry?

Very clearly, what I would say to a young engineer is to start out in a plant for a minimum of two or three years. If you want to be an engineer and design products you need to see the products you’re working with, you need concrete experience. Sometimes people don’t like to be concrete, but Americans are very often much more concrete than Europeans. In France, for instance, we like theory—but theory does not make money.

USG