Personnel notes

Wilbur L. Ross Jr. sworn in as secretary of commerce

Vice President Mike Pence swore in Wilbur L. Ross Jr. as the 39th secretary of commerce Feb. 28, 2017. Ross will be the principal voice of business in the Trump administration, ensuring U.S. entrepreneurs and businesses have the tools they need to create jobs and economic opportunity, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“President Trump used to say on the campaign trail that he had a three-part agenda for the American economy: jobs, jobs and jobs,” Vice President Pence says. “With Wilbur Ross as our new secretary of commerce, the president and I are confident that the Department of Commerce is going to take its right and leading role in fostering the growth that will create good-paying jobs for every American.”

Ross will work with businesses, universities, communities and the nation’s workers to promote job creation, economic growth, sustainable development and improved standards of living.

He succeeds Secretary Penny Pritzker, who served under President Obama.

“I’m very gratified at the confidence that the president and the vice president has shown in me and in the department, and I promise I will live up to every word of my oath,” Ross says. “I was also very gratified by [Feb. 27’s] vote being 72 to 27 because that suggests that perhaps finally building America up again may become a bipartisan thing rather than contentious.”

Ross is the former chairman and chief strategy officer of WL Ross & Co. LLC and has more than 55 years of investment banking and private equity experience. He has restructured more than $400 billion of assets in the airline, apparel, auto parts, banking, beverage, chemical, credit card, electric utility, food service, furniture, gypsum, homebuilding, insurance, marine transport, mortgage origination and servicing, oil and gas, rail car manufacturing and leasing, real estate, restaurants, shipyard, steel, textiles and trucking industries. He has been chairman or lead director of more than 100 companies operating in more than 20 countries.

Ross established International Steel Group (ISG). ISG was acquired by Mittal Steel in 2005, which later acquired Arcelor Steel to become ArcelorMittal.

Metso adds to staff

Metso Metal Recycling, headquartered in Helsinki with U.S. offices in San Antonio, has added to the staff of its American region operations with the appointments of Jim Jagou as account manager for Mexico and Central America and Mark Haire as director of contract and project management.

Jagou will focus on developing business opportunities and improving customer relationships in Mexico and Latin America and will be based in Atlanta, Metso says.

“Jim’s years of sales experience in the recycling industry, and his strong relationships throughout the region, will be an asset as we continue to re-establish and grow our business interests in Mexico,” says Jim Stepanek, Metso Recycling general manager of sales for North America.

Haire has more than 10 years of experience in the metal recycling industry. He previously worked at Harris in several roles, including director of engineering and vice president of recycling solutions. In his new role, Haire will manage all capital equipment projects for the Texas Shredder product line and will oversee execution of these installations in North America.

“We are very excited to bring Mark aboard,” says Keith Carroll, vice president, Metal Recycling Americas. “Mark brings a keen insight into the manufacture and installation of shredders from his previous experience. His industry knowledge, work ethic and attention to detail are ideally suited to helping drive our business forward as the industry continues to grow and evolve.”

Metso Metal Recycling offers a wide range of solutions for the fragmentation, compaction and separation of metal scrap. The company’s customers range from large multinational scrap yards and leading players in the automotive industry to steelworks and local family-run scrap yards. Metso Metal Recycling has engineering, service and sales offices throughout Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, the United States and Russia.