W.R. Grace & Co. is changing its chain of command.
In an effort to increase its efficiency and improve the configuration of its reportable operating segments, the Columbia-based catalyst supplier is shuffling some responsibilities. Its Darex Packaging producing group will now report to Gregory Poling, president of the Grace Davison division, and its Grace Construction products will be under the guidance of Fred Festa, president and chief executive officer of W.R. Grace.
Poling will take charge to change the focus of the group?s technologies and get its markets in line with those of W.R. Grace. Festa will remain in his position until a formal appointment is made later this year, a release indicated.
Composed of two separate operating segments, W.R. Grace comprises Grace Davison and Grace Performance Chemicals, as well as their subsidiaries.
The restructuring announcement came after W.R. Grace opened a new Grace Construction Products plant in Mount Pleasant, Tenn., earlier this month. The new 100,00-square-foot, 25-acre facility houses major manufacturing equipment that supports the company?s Southern growth and focuses on developing new products.
W.R. Grace also experienced growth in the financial market. During the first quarter that ended March 31, the company reported an increase of 8.7 percent in sales compared with the same period a year prior, to more than $715 million. Grace Davison sales grew 8.8 percent, and Grace Performance Chemicals? sales increased 8.5 percent.
“Our diverse product portfolio, our product innovations and our global reach allowed us to deliver solid sales and earnings growth,” Festa said in a statement. “Grace Davison delivered particularly good profit improvement, benefiting from continued strong demand for refining and specialty catalysts, and from manufacturing productivity.”
W.R. Grace employs more than 6,500 employees worldwide with offices in more than 40 countries and annual sales exceeding $2.8 billion.
W.R. Grace is part of The Examiner Top 10, a portfolio of some of the largest publicly traded companies in the Baltimore region.
