Movers and Shakers: Motion Industries names new president; ROSS names new executive VP

Jan. 8, 2019

New hires, appointments and awards from around the process industries 

Appointments and retirements

Motion Industries names president

Motion Industries Inc., a distributor of maintenance, repair and operation replacement parts, promoted Randall "Randy" P. Breaux to president.

Breaux was most recently executive vice president of marketing, distribution and purchasing for Motion Industries, and he has nearly four decades of experience in the industrial manufacturing and distribution markets. He joined Motion Industries in May 2011 following 21 years with ABB/Baldor Electric Company. 

In other company news, Motion Industries promoted Joe Limbaugh to senior vice president of supply chain, operations support and marketing. He will report directly to the President of Motion Industries.

Limbaugh began his career in 1983 in Illinois, in an entry level position with Berry Bearing Company, which was later acquired by Motion Industries.

Ross picks executive vice president

ROSS promoted Joseph Martorana, vice president of corporate operations, to executive vice president. Martorana has more than 26 years of leadership experience in the process equipment manufacturing industry.

MFG Chemical promotes EHS director to VP of operations

MFG Chemical, a specialty and custom chemical manufacturer, promoted Barry Lassiter to vice president of operations, responsible for MFG’s three plants in the Dalton, Georgia, area and the recently acquired plant in Pasadena, Texas.

Barry came to MFG in 2014 following nearly 40 years with Dupont and Invista to serve as director of environmental, health, safety and security.

Taking Lassiter’s previous role is Joe Welch, who joined MFG early in 2018 with 22 years of experience in leading environmental, health and safety excellence initiatives in both the public and private sectors.

Badger Meter CFO to retire

Badger Meter’s vice president of finance, Richard E. Johnson, 64, will retire effective early April 2019. Johnson has been succeeded by Robert A. Wrocklage.

Johnson will stay on as senior vice president of administration, continuing to assist in the transition before retiring.

Badger Meter’s vice president-controller, Beverly L.P. Smiley, 68, will also retire effective in late March 2019. Smiley has 46 years of service to Badger Meter, the past 22 of which included controllership and principal accounting officer responsibilities.

 Bureau Veritas names new senior VP, HR head

Bureau Veritas, which provides testing, inspection and certification TIC services, named

TJ Johansen as senior vice president and chief operating officer for the oil and gas market segment. Based in the Houston office, Johansen will be responsible for leading the company’s oil and gas commodities and industries group.

With more than 20 years of leadership experience, Johansen joins Bureau Veritas from Kemira Oyj, where he served as president of the oil and mining division.

Bureau Veritas also named Maggie Laureano as vice president and human resources head for North America. She has more than 20 years of human resources leadership experience across multiple industries. 

Rockwell Automation hires human resources VP 

Rockwell Automation hired Karen Keegans as senior vice president, human resources, reporting to chairman and CEO Blake Moret. Most recently, Keegans was chief human resources officer at Pentair and previously held several senior leadership roles at Praxair and Monsanto. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Western Ontario.

SL Mooney retires from SEPCO

Sherrell "SL" Mooney retired from Sealing Equipment Products Co. Inc. (SEPCO) after 44 years of service to the industry.

Hired on March 31, 1974, Mooney has worked in nearly every department at SEPCO, including most of the areas within the plant and ultimately in customer service. Patrick Cunningham has completed his transition into Mooney’s role.

Awards

tna co-founders honored with Ethnic Business Award

Food processing and packaging equipment manufacturer tna co-founders Alf and Nadia Taylor were awarded with the 2018 Ethnic Business Award in the Medium to Large Business category. Established in 1988, the Ethnic Business Awards are one of Australia’s longest running business awards and were founded to recognize and reward the contribution of migrants to the Australian economy. The award was presented to the Taylors by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the 30th Ethnic Business Awards gala dinner.

Alf Taylor immigrated to Australia from Scotland in 1966 and his wife, Nadia, arrived in Australia in the same year from her native Egypt.

PTDA Foundation recognizes Motion Industries VP

Motion Industries’ Ellen Holladay, senior vice president and chief information officer, was named recipient of the 2018 PTDA Foundation’s Wendy B. McDonald Award.

Each year, the PTDA Foundation recognizes a woman who has established herself as an integral contributor to her company’s success and someone who has brought positive change to the power transmission/motion control industry.

Holladay joined Motion Industries in 1990 as manager of systems planning.

The award is named after Wendy B. McDonald, a former PTDA member who served more than 60 years as a leader in her family-owned international industrial distribution company, BC Bearings Engineers Limited, now a Motion Industries company.

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