Gypsum industry news

US: Saint-Gobain has appointed Mark Rayfield as the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of its subsidiary CertainTeed. He will also serve as the Region CEO of Saint-Gobain Construction Products for North America.

Rayfield has worked as the CEO of Saint-Gobain Building Distribution United Kingdom and Ireland since 2013. He started his career with Saint-Gobain in 1999 in a sales role within Abrasives North America, before assuming the role of Vice President of Saint-Gobain Abrasives North America from 2007 to 2011. Prior to moving to the UK, Rayfield was President of the CertainTeed Siding business from 2011 - 2013.

He succeeds Benoit Bazin, who has served as president and CEO of CertainTeed since January 2017. Bazin will continue to serve as president and CEO, Saint-Gobain’s Construction Products Sector and Senior Vice President, Saint-Gobain Corporation.

Switzerland: Ivo Schädler has been appointed as Sika's regional manager for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region and will join Group Management. He succeeds Paul Schuler, who was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) in May. Both commence their new roles on 1 July 2017.

Schädler, aged 51 years, began his career at Sika in 1997. He held various management positions at the Swiss national subsidiary before becoming General Manager for the UK and Ireland in 2012. In this role he completed the acquisition and integration of Everbuild Building Products, a UK manufacturer of sealants and adhesives. In 2015 he was appointed Area Manager Europe South and Head EMEA Target Market Refurbishment.

Schädler is a qualified materials science engineer from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) and also holds an MBA. He is a Swiss national and is married with two children.

France: Saint-Gobain has adjusted the representation of Wendel on its board of directors after a sale of the investment company's shares in the construction materials producer. Following the sale of 5.3% of Saint-Gobain's shares Wendell retains one sole director, Frédéric Lemoine, and a 6.4% stake. However, Saint-Gobain has decided to retain Wendel's other representative, Gilles Schnepp, as an independent director due to his experience of the group.

France: Julie Bonamy has been appointed as the Vice-President, Corporate Strategy and Planning at Saint-Gobain with effect from 1 June 2017. She will replace Delphine Geny-Stephann, who has been appointed as the Vice President and General Manager Silicon Carbide & Quartz within the Innovative Materials sector. Bonamy will report to Guillaume Texier and she is a member of the Senior Management Committee.

Bonamy is a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (IEP de Paris) and the National School of Public Administration (Ecole Nationale d'Administration). She started her career as a civil servant (inspectrice des finances) for the French government in 2011, before joining the Office of the French Minister for the Economy, Industry and the Digital Sector in October 2014. She was appointed advisor for the budget and digital sector in July 2015.

Switzerland: Sika has appointed Paul Schuler, currently Regional Manager Europe Middle East Africa (EMEA), as its chief executive officer (CEO) with effect from 1 July 2017. He succeeds Jan Jenisch who has accepted to become the new CEO of LafargeHolcim. Schuler has worked at Sika for 29 years and has been a member of the group management since 2007. He served as Regional Manager North America from 2007 to 2012 and as Regional Manager EMEA from 2013 until the present.

US: Valerie Gervais has been appointed as the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Saint-Gobain Corporation, the group's holding company in North America. She will take a position on the group's North American Executive Committee and will report directly to Tom Kinisky, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Saint-Gobain Corporation.

Gervais will be relocating to Saint-Gobain's North American headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania from Paris, France where she was responsible for human resources for Saint-Gobain Glass US and human resources for Saint-Gobain ADFORS and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics within the Innovative Materials Sector globally. In addition to her new position in North America, she will continue to support the global Performance Plastics business, reporting to James Thomson, Vice President of Human Resources for Saint-Gobain's Innovative Materials Sector.

Gervais started working for Saint-Gobain in 2010 as Vice President of Development and Recruitment for Saint-Gobain in North America. Prior to that, Gervais held the positions of Director of Global Talent Management and Director of Leadership & Organizational Development for GlaxoSmithKline. She holds a master's degree in business from the Institute of Management in Rennes, France.

US: Guillermo Gutierrez has been appointed the Vice President of Investor Relations at International Paper with effect from 1 July 2017. He will report to Glenn Landau, the senior vice president and chief financial officer. He succeeds Jay Royalty, who has been named vice president and general manager, Foodservice.

Gutierrez, aged 45 years, joined International Paper in 1994 and has held roles of increasing responsibility in finance, sales, marketing, supply chain and general management. He currently serves as Regional Managing Director, EMEA Packaging. Gutierrez earned a Bachelors degree in finance from Tulane University in 1994 and an MBA from the University of Miami in 2001. Guillermo and his family will relocate from Madrid, Spain to Memphis, US.

US: Thomas Kinisky has been appointed as the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Saint-Gobain Corporation, Saint-Gobain's holding company in North America. He has also been appointed as the Senior Vice President for Saint-Gobain and is a member of the company's Global Management Committee. Kinisky assumed the position earlier in 2017 when he succeeded John Crowe. Crowe was also the president and CEO of Saint-Gobain's subsidiary CertainTeed. He has been succeeded in these roles by Benoit Bazin, who will also continue to serve as the global President of the Construction Products Sector and Senior Vice President for Saint-Gobain.

Kinisky joined Norton Company in 1989 before its acquisition by Saint-Gobain in 1990. He spent over a decade working in research and development in various roles, including Vice President of Technology and New Business Development for the company's Abrasives Division, before assuming the role as president for Saint-Gobain Crystals in 2002 and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics in 2008.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Pace University and a Master of Science in materials science from New York University (Polytechnic University). He has authored technical publications and holds five US patents.

US: The Gypsum Association has elected Timothy Power as the chair of its board of directors. Power is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Continental Building Products. Other appointments that have been elected include Georgia Pacific's Charles R Harrison as the vice-chair of the board, USG's Albert R Zucco as the treasurer and the Gypsum Association's Stephen H Meima as the secretary. American Gypsum Company's Peter Bauser is the past chair of the board. Officers were elected at the recent meeting of the Association's board of directors in Albuquerque, New Mexico. All terms are for one year and are effective from 1 May 2017.

Switzerland: The Board of Directors of Sika has made a series of management changes that will take effect from 1 April 2017.

Thomas Hasler, the Chief Technology Officer, has been appointed as the Head of Industry. The Target Market Industry serves the markets automobile and commercial vehicle industry, automotive aftermarket, renewable energies, and facade engineering. The new position will also include responsibility for the two global business units Automotive and Tooling & Composites.

Yumi Kan, the Head Building Systems & Industry, has been appointed as the Head of Construction which will include markets in concrete, waterproofing, refurbishment, sealing and bonding, flooring and roofing. Combining these markets is intended to enable Sika to strengthen its services for global customers and key accounts as well as for large construction projects with cross-selling potential.

Ernesto Schuemperli, the Head of Concrete & Waterproofing, has been appointed as the Head of Infrastructure & Mining, directly reporting to the chief executive officer. He will also support the change to the new organisation of the target markets.

Frank Hoefflin, currently the Technology Head of Thermoplastic Systems, has been appointed as the Chief Technology Officer and member of group management. Hoefflin joined Sika in the USA and has worked in both the USA and Switzerland in various research and development functions. He holds a PhD from the University of Freiburg in Germany and is a US and German citizen.

Heinz Gisel, currently the Regional Manager for Asia/Pacific, has decided to step down from his position in order to take a sabbatical. Gisel will return in the second half of 2017 and assume a new position within Sika.

Mike Campion, currently Head of Area Greater China, has been appointed as the Regional Manager of Asia/Pacific and member of the group management. Campion joined Sika in the USA and has held several management positions in the USA and China. He holds a degree in Science from Villanova University, Pennsylvania, and is a US citizen.