Manufacturers

As the newly appointed head of Propex’s Engineering Services department, Rusty Winters will provide technical guidance and assistance to support the company’s

As the newly appointed head of Propex’s Engineering Services department, Rusty Winters will provide technical guidance and assistance to support the company’s sales organization. A certified concrete technician with 25-plus years’ experience in concrete technology, he will assist as well in product development, technical society participation, and training. Prior to joining Propex, Winters served over a decade in several capacities at W.R. Grace and, most recently, was director of Marketing for Sika Admixtures. His concrete industry participation also includes involvement in the American Concrete Institute, chairing one committee and serving on others, plus American Society for Testing of Materials membership.

Design Pro, a manufacturer of concrete block forms, was cited on the first Inc. 5,000 list of fastest-growing private U.S. companies. An extension of the magazine’s annual Inc. 500 list, the Inc. 5,000 captures many businesses too large to grow at the pace required to make the Inc. 500, the compilers note, as well as a host of smaller firms. The 2007 Inc. 5,000 list measures revenue growth from 2003 through 2006. To qualify, the privately held companies had to be U.S.-based and independent (not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies) as of December 31, 2006, reporting at least $200,000 in revenue in 2003 and $2 million in 2006.

Geographically, the Midwest region leads the list with 1,046 of the nation’s fastest-growing companies, followed by the West with 884 companies. The hottest industries include Construction, the largest category with 561 of the fastest-growing businesses, followed by Manufacturing with 515 companies. Industries reporting the highest total revenue in 2006 are Construction and Manufacturing. Complete information on this year’s Inc. 5000 can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.

Matthew Price was recently named president of W. R. Meadows, Inc., a promotion from his previous position of executive vice president. After tours of duty in the company’s Arizona and Texas branch offices, he transferred in 2002 to the Hampshire, Ill., corporate headquarters, where he served in an administrative capacity.

Eight-year company veteran Doug Sanford has been named vice president and general manager of the newly formed Hendrickson Truck Systems Group that oversees the former Hendrickson Truck Suspension Systems and Hendrickson Spring. Hendrickson Auxiliary Axle Systems and Hendrickson Bumper and Trim continue to operate under their business unit structures as semi-autonomous organizations in the new truck systems group. Consolidating former truck and spring divisions expands opportunities for integrated suspension and spring designs for global truck platforms, company officials note, and improves coordination of engineering, marketing and administrative functions.

The Admixture Systems Business of BASF Construction Chemicals recently promoted Bob Beres and Gerald Lapier within the precast/prestressed and manufactured concrete products (MCP) sales team. Beres will serve as Precast and MCP Segment manager for the Central Division; Lapier will lead the Eastern Division as the Precast and MCP Segment manager. Accordingly, Beres will lead local segment specialists in the central U.S., introducing new technology and providing service and support to new and existing customers. Lapier will oversee the eastern U.S. team of precast and masonry sales specialists, promoting the latest admixture technologies to optimize plant output.