Omar Monajjed was promoted to corporate social responsibility (CSR) manager at Nexans. He joined the company in Lebanon in 2013 as a quality first line manager, then was promoted to quality manager in 2019. He became an industrial performance leader in 2020 in France, where he became group environment manager in 2021. Last year he led sustainability operations for the group while implementing a pilot in Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0 for Sweden and France with Schneider Electric. Prior to Nexans, he had worked for five years for Jeddah Cables Company as a senior projects engineer. He holds degrees from the American University of Beirut where he was an electrical and computer student. Nexans is a global leader in wire and cable production.

Service Wire reported two recent hires. Rich McCathren was named national sales engineer. Previous employers included Irby Co., a distributor of electrical supplies and services, and Prysmian/General Cable, where he was sales director/southwest for eight years. He has more than 30 years of experience in commercial, industrial and utility markets. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial distribution from the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. Cortney Wesneski was named a regional sales manager. She has more than a decade of industry experience, including sales management at Siemens and Graybar. She will be responsible for accounts in northeast Texas, Kansas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, northern Louisiana, and western Tennessee. She holds a B.S. degree from Sam Houston State University. Based in Culloden, West Virginia, Service Wire is a family-owned wire and cable manufacturer.

Lincoln Electric reported a number of personnel items, two related to a leadership transition. Christopher L. Mapes, chairman, president and CEO, who has served as president and CEO since 2012, will retire from those roles at year’s end. He will continue after that as executive chairman of the board, effective January 1, 2024. Under his leadership, Lincoln Electric has extended its global base, including more than 20 acquisitions, strong financial results and received multiple awards, including as one of the “World’s Best Employers” by Forbes. Steven B. Hedlund, who has been with the company for 15 years and serves as COO, will be president, CEO, and a member of the Board as of Jan. 1, 2024. He joined the company in 2008 as vice president, strategy and business development, and in 2015, he was promoted to senior vice president, president of global automation. In 2020, he was named executive vice president, president of Americas and international welding, and in 2022 was promoted to COO. He holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Dartmouth College. Jan Deruytter has joined Lincoln Electric as director, manufacturing productivity improvement. His 28-year industry career started at Bekaert where he was in operations and engineering for 12 years, followed by two years as plant manager at Fenix, LLC, eight years as general manager of Solon Specialty Wire Co. & ShapedWire; three years as director, tech services for ASW-Pengg LLC; one year at Heico; and most recently, director, global commodities, for WireCo WorldGroup. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, Lincoln Electric supplies technology and solutions for welding, including wire.

Obituary
John D. Nichols Jr., the former CEO of both Illinois Tool Works and the Marmon Group, died June 14, 2023, at age 92. In 1980, he joined Illinois Tool Works as an executive vice president, was promoted to president and COO in 1981, then CEO and then chairman. During his nearly 14 years as CEO, annual sales grew from $400 million to $4.1 billion. He retired in 1995 and in 2002 he succeeded Marmon co-founder Bob Pritzker as CEO. He played an essential role in Marmon’s development into the company it is today. He formalized Marmon’s operating structure into groups of related businesses, introduced 80/20 business practices that are still applied across Marmon, and prepared Marmon for its acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in 2008. He is survived by his wife, son and daughter.