Personnel Notes

MPI Names Wolf Western Region Sales Manager
Magnetic Products Inc. (MPI), a manufacturer of material handling devices based in Highland, Mich., has added Bob Wolf as western region sales manager. Wolf brings more than 20 years of industrial sales experience and will cover the western U.S. and Canada.

MPI Sales and Marketing Sirector Jack Smylie says, “Bob’s proven ability to quickly grasp the complexity of our customers’ issues, whether an industrial or magnetic separation application, will help MPI to provide the best solution.”

A&A Midwest Adds Leonard O’Connell as COO
Leonard “Len” O’Connell, a veteran automotive aftermarket leader, has joined A&A Midwest of Chicago as chief operating officer (COO). This is a new position within the privately held company.

All company managers now report to O’Connell, who has taken over the day-to-day administrative operations for A&A Midwest, which offers cores, recycling and auto wrecking services. The company also sells engine and transmission hard parts through its EngineQuest and TransmissionQuest divisions. In addition to Chicago, the company operates from a location in Las Vegas and also owns an auto recycling facility in Blue Island, Ill.

O’Connell reports directly to co-presidents Scott Stolberg, who is based in Las Vegas, and William “Billy” Stolberg, who is in Chicago.

“We are pleased to welcome Len to the team,” says Scott. “As our company has grown, we’ve been looking for an individual who could roll up his sleeves to lead the operational side of our business. Len’s unique background in the aftermarket with a major corporation and hands-on approach to problem solving was a perfect fit.”

O’Connell comes to A&A Midwest after a 30-year career at SK Hand Tool Corp., a manufacturer of professional hand tools.

Liebherr Appoints GM of Brand Strategy
Timothy Doucette has been promoted to the newly created position of general manager, brand strategy, for Liebherr Construction Equipment Co. with U.S. headquarters in Newport News, Va.

In this new role, Doucette will work closely with Liebherr president, Duane Wilder to ensure all aspects involving the brand are coordinated to increase Liebherr’s market presence in the U.S. as a manufacturer of heavy duty construction equipment.

The marketing and public relations departments, sales administration and the earthmoving product group will report to Doucette. He also will retain his current role as part of the dealer selection committee.

“Tim has played a key role in our growth over the past several years,” observes Wilder, “and this newly created position provides the opportunity for him to assume an increased leadership role as we continue to grow the Liebherr brand in the USA.”

DJJ Announces Organizational Changes
The David J. Joseph Co. (DJJ), the Cincinnati-based scrap broker, recycler and logistics provider, has announced several organizational changes.

Mark Schaefer, president of U-Pull-&-Pay (UPAP), has been promoted to vice president of DJJ’s Recycling Group. Schaefer, a 27-year veteran of DJJ, will focus on business development in a newly created role. He began his career as a brokerage representative and has held various roles in brokerage services. Schaefer has been president of UPAP since 2007.

Tre Whitmore, vice president of ferrous trading for DJJ’s brokerage group, has been promoted to president of UPAP. Whitmore joined DJJ in 1993 as a brokerage representative. He was later promoted to district manager and has been a ferrous trading vice president since 2006.

Chris Stout, district manager of DJJ’s Birmingham, Ala., trading office, has been promoted to vice president, ferrous trading, succeeding Whitmore. Stout joined the company in 1995 as a buyer and has been district manager since 2001.

Waste Management Restructures Operations
Waste Management Inc. (WM), headquartered in Houston, has announced plans to reorganize its operations. WM says the goal of the restructuring is to flatten the company’s management structure, which will allow it to sharpen its focus on yield management, efficiency in operations and meeting customers’ needs. Corporate staff will be reduced, groups will be consolidated and about 700 employees will be eliminated.

Additionally, the company has announced the following appointments:

• James Trevathan Jr., previously executive vice president of growth, innovation and field support, has been appointed executive vice president and COO.
• Jeff Harris and John Morris have been appointed senior vice presidents of field operations. Harris was most recently senior vice president – Midwest Group, and Morris was most recently chief strategy officer. In their new roles, they will oversee the 17 operating areas.

David Steiner, president and CEO of WM, says, “The steps we are taking to restructure our organization are expected to provide two very important results for us. First, the restructuring is expected to reduce our cost structure by about 100 basis points in 2013. This is a good step toward our longer-term goal to reduce costs by 200 to 400 basis points. Second, we believe that eliminating a layer of management and restructuring our support staff around our three major initiatives will intensify our focus on achieving those initiatives.”

Steiner adds, “Jim Trevathan has been in a role where he had all of the operations staff that supports the field reporting to him. In order to improve the connection between that staff and field operations, it makes sense to have the persons responsible for field operations also reporting to Jim. In addition, we have two excellent executives to fill those field operations roles in Jeff Harris and John Morris. The 17 area vice presidents will report directly to one of these two senior vice presidents.”

James Fish Jr., who was recently named CFO, states, “We will continue to focus on taking costs out of the business through procurement programs and other business improvement initiatives. Reducing our administrative overhead is the next logical step, which we are now taking.”