INDUSTRY NEWS Barnhart Joins Norris Cylinder as Regional Sales Manager
Tom Barnhart
Tom Barnhart has joined Norris Cylinder as the Southeastern regional sales manager. Barnhart comes to Norris with 18 years of experience in the sales of cylinders, valves and gas plant supplies. He most recently worked in a similar sales position.
Smith Joins Leadership of Women of Gases and Welding
Linda Smith
Linda Smith, president of Chemweld, Inc., has joined GAWDA’s Women of Gases and Welding Committee Leadership Team. Smith has worked as the WGW Committee’s communication chair for the past two years and will be succeeding Jenny McCall in her new capacity.
Wilkinson Named Managing Director at Phoenix International
Phoenix International, a division of The Phoenix Company, has named Dick Wilkinson its new managing director. Wilkinson will oversee all operations Dick Wilkinson and sales activity for the Milwaukee, Wisc.-based company. Prior to this appointment, Wilkinson spent more than 25 years working for OKI Bering/ORS Nasco. During his tenure, he held several positions, including vice president of marketing, director of merchandising, customer service manager and roles in purchasing. He has been heavily involved with industry associations, including four years on the WEMCO committee of welding equipment manufacturers and decades of involvement with GAWDA and Fabtech. As part of OKI Bering and ORS Nasco, Wilkinson has been working with Phoenix International for many years. He is originally from Peoria, Ill., where he attended Illinois Central College and studied business management and international marketing. He resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he’s lived for nearly 15 years with his wife and two children. 124 • Spring 2017
Chart Announces Management Changes
Chart Industries, Inc. has announced a series of management changes as part of its succession plan and the move of its corporate headquarters to its existing Canton, Ga., facility from Garfield Heights, Ohio. Samuel F. Thomas, current chairman and CEO, will move to the position of executive chairman May 25 and retire from the company in May 2018. William “Bill” C. Johnson, the company’s current president and COO, will become the company’s CEO and president at that time. Johnson joined Chart in 2016 having previously held multiple executive positions at Dover Refrigeration & Food Equipment, Inc. a subsidiary of Dover Corporation, most recently as president and CEO. Kenneth J. Webster, Chart’s former vice president and CFO, will not relocate to the Canton, Ga., facility and stepped down as CFO March 1. He plans to leave the company in May to pursue other interests. Jillian C. Evanko was appointed CFO effective March 1. She joined the company in February after most recently serving as the vice president and CFO of Truck-Lite Co., LLC. Prior to her role with Truck-Lite, she held multiple executive positions at Dover Corporation and its subsidiaries, including the role of vice president and CFO of Dover Fluids. “Now is the right time for the leadership change to execute an effective transition,” Thomas says. “As we are coming through a downturn and preparing the company for a significant lift in business, there is enormous benefit to be able to respond quickly and ramp up our capacity with a lift in orders. We wanted to have a new team in place to accomplish that effectively.”
Samuel F. Thomas
William Johnson
Jillian Evanko
Final Beam Tops Lincoln Electric’s New Welding Tech Center Crews placed the final beam on Lincoln Electric’s new $30 million welding technology center in Cleveland, Ohio in February.