Personnel Notes

Avis names new president, CEO

The board of directors of Avis Industrial Corp., headquartered in Upland, Indiana, has announced that Greg King is the company’s new president and CEO.

King has spent the last four-and-a-half years as president and general manager of Harris, a wholly owned subsidiary of Avis that is based in Cordele, Georgia, with additional operations in Baxley, Georgia, and sales and engineering offices in Wiltshire, U.K.

The search for a new leader at Harris is underway, but King continues to manage that company in the interim.

Before joining Harris and Avis, King worked at Atlanta-based WestRock, formerly Rock-Tenn Co., from 1989 through 2015 in various senior executive roles.

Leland Boren, former chairman, president and CEO of Avis, died in November 2018. Ron McDaniel, chairman of the Avis board, served as interim CEO and president until King’s appointment.

In addition to Harris, the Avis family of companies includes American Baler and Sellick Equipment Ltd.

Fuchs appoints North American director of sales

Terex brand Fuchs has named Scott Williams to lead its North American business, which is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, as director of sales.

Prior to this appointment, Williams held senior-level positions at Harris and Danieli. He also spent 12 years with Alcoa Inc., where he developed the Alcoa Recycling Co.’s aluminum used beverage can (UBC) recycling network and held manufacturing leadership roles in Alcoa’s Tennessee Operations, having participated in the company’s Line Leadership Development program.

Dominik Vierkotten, managing director of Germany-based Terex Fuchs GmbH, says, “[Williams] brings a wealth of industry knowledge and experience, which will help position Fuchs as the best choice in material handling.”

TERRA hires industry veteran as chief industry advisor

The Electronics Reuse & Recycling Alliance (TERRA), Nashville, Tennessee, has appointed Bob Akers to serve as its chief industry advisor. In this new position, Akers will help to promote and educate on the importance of certification in the electronics recycling industry.

TERRA is a network of certified recyclers in North America that allows only e-Stewards or Responsible Recycling- (R2-) certified electronics recyclers and information technology asset disposition service providers in good standing to join.

Steven Napoli, president and CEO of TERRA, describes Akers as “an industry veteran” who is “well-respected.” Napoli says Akers will be “an integral part of helping TERRA achieve its goals.”

Previously, Akers served as the e-Stewards enterprise director, working with corporations, organizations and the government to create opportunities for certified recyclers.

Prior to joining e-Stewards, he worked in the electronics recycling industry for 16 years. During that time, he served as the executive director for the nonprofit Surplus Exchange, Kansas City, Missouri, helping develop the ConnectHomeKC program, which provided refurbished computers and internet access to public housing residents.

“What is appealing about joining TERRA is the organization’s focus on marketing and creating opportunities for their certified recycler members,” Akers says.

Ely Enterprises welcomes sales manager

Ely Enterprises, Lorain, Ohio, has announced that Craig Parr is the company’s new sales manager for its pneumatic conveying division. Parr will be responsible for sales leadership, with his main objective being field analysis, design and sales of used/reconditioned and new pneumatic conveying systems and material handling solutions that tie into its existing line of balers and compactors.

Parr has more than 40 years of relevant experience. He joins Ely Enterprises after working for multiple material handling system suppliers, where he served as sales manager and was responsible for system audits and determining the best system design approach for an application. He also performed system design calculations and equipment selection, system pricing and cost analysis. He selected and maintained a degreed engineered sales representative network to serve local customers and oversaw application engineers, estimators and project managers to ensure projects were delivered on time.

“The addition of Parr will be an asset and further the goals of the company by providing another capability to our product lines which will enable us to better service our customers,” says President Ken Ely. “He will bring a fresh perspective and approach into this industry segment. We are more than excited to have him a part of the Ely Enterprises team.

“The addition of being able to provide used/reconditioned systems with warranties allows us to meet your project budget with full performance guarantees,” he adds.

Hydro names extruded solutions business EVP

Paul Warton, currently the business unit president at Constellium, has been named executive vice president (EVP) of extruded solutions at Hydro, based in Oslo, Norway.

Warton will report to Hydro President and CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim and will join the company’s corporate management board. He starts his new position Feb. 1, 2021, replacing Egil Hogna, who left Hydro Dec. 1 to become CEO of a Nordic consultancy named Norconsult.

Warton held different leadership positions at the U.S.-based aluminum company Alcoa and in the aluminum extrusions company Sapa, now a part of Hydro. Since 2010 Warton has worked at Paris-based Constellium, where he is currently the global business unit president for automotive structures and industry.