Kennesaw, Ga.—In the wake of Invista’s (formerly DuPont Textiles & Interiors)
sale to Koch Industries ( FCNews, Nov. 24/Dec. 1), many changes have been made
within the company. Included is a quartet of Invista business leaders—William
Ghitis, David Trerotola, Kenneth Wall and Alan Wolk—who have accepted key
leadership positions within the new Invista organization. Each of the four will
report directly to Jeff Walker, Invista’s new chairman and CEO. Wolk will
continue to lead Invista Interiors. Working from a base in Atlanta, he will be
responsible for Invista’s global flooring business, including residential,
commercial, area rugs and transportation.
In addition, Wolk will manage home furnishings, comprised of sleep products
and furniture segments. Trerotola, who had been head of Invista’s home and
industrial textiles business, has been promoted to lead Invista performance
fibers. In his new role, Trerotola is responsible for managing market segments
including airbags, sewing thread, military products, non-woven/ personal care
products, and technical and industrial products. Wall will continue to lead
Invista intermediates. He will be based in Wichita, Kan., and will oversee the
largest nylon and polyester intermediates production capability in the world,
along with the nylon C12, adi pic, diamine and Tera thane specialities.
Ghitis will continue to lead Invista apparel, with responsibility for Lycra,
Elaspan and T400, and will assume profit and loss responsibility for polyester
and nylon specialty fibers. He will be based in the Delaware, Pennsylvania and
New Jersey tri-state area. Additional leaders who have accepted roles with the
new Invista include Steve Kromer, Kevin Fogarty, Gerold Linzbach, David Duncan
and Gary Biederman. Kromer has become Invista’s senior vice president, strategy,
sourcing and business development. He joined Koch Industries in 1982 and had
most recently been managing director of corporate business development. Kromer
replaces George Gregory, who elected not to join the new Invista organization.
Fogarty has become president, polymers and resins, and is based in Wichita, Kan.
In his role, he will oversee polyester polymers, bottle resins and nylon salts
and polymers. He joined Koch in 1991.
Linzbach has taken over as president, textile fibers. He now oversees
Invista’s staple, tire cord, mechanical rubber goods and polyester textile
filament business from the Charlotte, N.C., area. Duncan, previously a member of
Koch’s corporate business development team, has become an Invista vice president
and will initially focus on restructuring the nylon apparel business. He has
been with Koch since 1997. Biederman has become vice president, specialty
products, for Invista, and is based in Wichita, Kan. This business reports to
Wall. Biederman joined DuPont in 1980. Invista has also announced several
changes to its interiors management team with several executives accepting key
leadership roles. Each of these will report directly to Wolk.
The management team and their roles are: Bobby Berrier, vice president,
commercial/transportation flooring; Steve Griffith, vice president, residential
flooring; Ana Torrence, vice president, home/hospitality interiors; Nelson
Altero, business director, South America; Dilip Kumar, vice president,
interiors, Asia Pacific; Russel Pike, vice president, interiors, Europe, and
Harry Dickerson, global technology director. Finally, former Invista president
Steven McCracken, with DuPont for nearly 30 years, has become president and CEO
of OwensIllinois, a manufacturer of glass containers with offices in North
America, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. For more information
on Invista, call 800/328-7719.