Insulation industry news from Global Insulation

US: Johns Manville (JM) has appointed Bob Wamboldt as its president and chief executive officer (CEO) with effect from 1 September 2020. He succeeds Mary Rhinehart, the company’s current chairman, president and CEO, who will retain the role of chairman.

Wamboldt joined Johns Manville in 2003 and became president of JM’s Insulation Systems business in 2017. He earlier led the Engineered Products North America and Roofing Systems businesses at JM. Wamboldt is also chairman of the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association and previously served as president of the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association. Before joining Johns Manville, Wamboldt worked for 16 years at PPG Industries, where he held a variety of positions in the company’s Fiber Glass and Coatings divisions. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Lehigh University.

Greg Clarke will become president of JM’s Insulation Systems business with effect from 1 September 2020. He became JM’s Senior Vice President and chief financial officer (CFO) when he rejoined the company in 2013. In this role, he led JM’s finance organisation, global procurement and logistics operations, and corporate development activities. He previously worked for Johns Manville from 1997 to 2002 and was Vice President and General Manager of the company’s Building Insulation and Commercial & Industrial Insulation divisions.

Before returning to Johns Manville, Clarke was CFO and a director at AeroGrow International, an early-stage consumer products company, and president and CEO at Ankmar, a building products company. Earlier in his career, he held finance leadership and strategic planning roles at PepsiCo and The Coleman Company. Clarke earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Amherst College and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He serves on the AeroGrow board of directors and is a member of the board of Alumni and Friends of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado.

UK: SIG has appointed Ian Ashton as permanent group financial officer with effect from July 2020. He succeeds Kath Kearney‐Croft, who assumed the role of Interim chief financial officer (CFO) in late February 2020.

Ashton joins SIG from Low & Bonar, where he has served as group financial officer. Prior to that, he was CFO of Labviva, a US‐based technology company. He worked for 20 years at Smith & Nephew until late 2017, undertaking various financial roles of increasing seniority in the UK, the US and Asia. His last role was CFO, Global Operations, and prior to that Ashton served as CFO of their Advanced Surgical Devices Division. He is a qualified chartered accountant and began his career at Ernst & Young.

The building materials supplier has announced the appointment of Simon King as a non‐executive director. Recently King served on the Travis Perkins executive board and held the position of chief operating officer of Wickes. Prior to that he held various operational roles at Walmart, Savola Group and Tesco.

Denmark: Rockwool International has appointed Jessica Jonasson as Senior Vice President for Group Human Resources and a member of group management. She succeeds Camilla Grönholm, who after eight years with Rockwool, has decided to return to Finland, spend more time with family and to pursue non-executive work.

Jonasson, a Swedish national, currently holding the position of Vice President for Human Resources at ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems, based in Sweden. She is expected to start her new position at Rockwool in August 2020 after a transitional period following Grönholm’s departure at the end of May 2020.

UK: The Insulation Manufacturers Association (IMA) has appointed Simon Blackham as its new Technical Committee Chair. He will take up the role in mid-March 2020. Blackham works as Recticel Insulation’s technical manager. He started working for the company in 2019. He holds over 15 years’ experience in the construction industry, with a focus on the insulation sector. IMA is a representative body for the rigid polyisocyanurate (PIR) and polyurethane (PUR) insulation industry in the UK.

US: Huntsman has reorganised its spray polyurethanes foam (SPF) insulation business, combining subsidiaries Demilec and Icyene-Lapolla under a new leadership team. The company has named as divisional presidents Simon Baker, who will oversee operations in Canada and fast-growing global markets, and Doug Kramer, who will be responsible for the United States. Huntsman polyurethanes president Tony Hankins said, “To bring the two businesses together as one enables Huntsman to provide an unmatched offering of open- and closed-cell insulation products and accelerates the globalisation of our SPF platform.”

Sweden: Expandable polystyrene producer BEWiSynbra has appointed Jonas Siljeskär its CEO. Siljeskär has held the role of deputy CEO of BEWiSynbra since 17 June 2019. Prior to this he was BEWiSynbra RAW’s chief operating officer and managing director. He has worked for BEWi Group since completing his engineering degree at the University of Dalarna in 2010. “I am honoured to be given the opportunity to lead BEWiSynbra with 1300 competent employees,” said Siljeskär.

US: The board of directors of Owens Corning has elected Brian Chambers as its new chairman. He succeeds Mike Thaman, who has decided to retire in April 2020. Chambers became chief executive officer (CEO) and was elected to the board in April 2019. He has been with the company for over 15 years, and throughout his career, has held a number of senior operating roles across a range of businesses and locations.

Sweden: BEWiSynbra Group has appointed Jonas Siljeskär as its new chief executive officer (CEO) with effect from the start of 2020. He succeeds Rik Dobbelaere, who has been the CEO of BEWiSynbra since mid-2018, following BEWi’s acquisition of Synbra in May 2018. Dobbelaere will remain as an advisor to the company and the intention is to propose to the general meeting to elect him as a new member of the board in BEWiSynbra.

Siljeskär has been deputy CEO of BEWiSynbra since mid-2019, with full responsibility of all operational aspects of the company, and prior to this he was the chief operating officer (COO) and managing director of BEWiSynbra RAW.

Sweden’s BEWiSynbra Group is a vertically-integrated producer of expandable polystyrene (EPS) products, including packaging, components and insulation.

US: Owens Corning has appointed Prith Gandhi its chief financial officer (CFO). He will take over from Michael McMurray on 23 October 2019, and serve until an external search produces a permanent successor. Gandhi, current vice president of corporate strategy, has 25 years’ financial services experience. The company announces its third quarter results for 2019 on 23 October 2019.

US: Owens Corning has appointed the former Cabot Corporation executive vice president, chief financial officer and president of the Americas region Eddie Cordeiro to its board of directors. He will be tasked with bringing his 25 years’ financial and operational experience to the operations of the global insulation, roofing and fibreglass composite materials leader.