PEORIA, Ill., Oct. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Following long
and distinguished careers with the company, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:
CAT) announced today that Group Presidents Stu Levenick, 61, and Steve Wunning, 63, have elected to retire.
Levenick is a Caterpillar group president with responsibility for
Customer & Dealer Support. Wunning is group president with
responsibility for Resource Industries. Both retirements will be
effective in early 2015. Caterpillar also announced that its Board
of Directors has appointed current Group President Ed Rapp, 57, as Wunning's replacement.
Tom Pellette, 51, currently a
Caterpillar vice president and president of Solar Turbines Inc.,
has been promoted and will replace Rapp as group president with
responsibility for Construction Industries, and will be relocating
from San Diego, California, to
Peoria, Illinois. Rob Charter, 51, currently vice president with
responsibility for the Excavation Division, has been promoted and
will replace Levenick as group president with responsibility for
Customer & Dealer Support, relocating from Singapore to Peoria,
Illinois.
"For the last 10 years, Stu and Steve have both provided
critical leadership as part of Caterpillar's Executive Office (EO),
capping Caterpillar careers that together total nearly 80 years of
service," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman. "We will all miss their
outstanding leadership, and both leave unique and lasting legacies
within Caterpillar, as the company has transformed itself and
dramatically expanded to serve new markets and industries over the
course of their distinguished careers. In the coming years, I look
forward to working with Rob, Tom and the rest of Caterpillar's
leadership team as we continue our drive toward improving
performance, growing the company, focusing on the customer and
delivering our strategic goals over the next several years,"
Oberhelman added.
Stu Levenick Retirement
"Caterpillar's independent
dealer network is one of the company's key competitive advantages,
and I can't think of anyone who has done more to strengthen and
deepen the relationship between Caterpillar and its global dealer
network than Stu," Oberhelman said. "Most recently, as the
architect of our Across the Table dealer transformation, his
strategic leadership has been instrumental in ensuring that the
alignment between Caterpillar and its dealers will only grow
stronger. In addition, Stu was the key executive that drove our
acquisition and integration of Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi, the
former joint venture in Japan,
that is now a fully integrated part of Caterpillar," Oberhelman
said.
Levenick joined Caterpillar as a sales and marketing development
representative in 1977. After serving in various management
positions in marketing, commercial management and product source
planning, he became a division manager in 1989, regional manager
for Cat Asia Pte. Ltd. based in Singapore in 1995 and general manager for
company operations in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
based in Moscow in 1998.
Prior to becoming a group president, he was based in
Tokyo and served as vice president
with responsibility for Caterpillar's Asia Pacific Division and
chairman of Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi Ltd. (SCM), formerly a
Tokyo, Japan-based joint venture
between Caterpillar and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., now
Caterpillar Japan Ltd.
Levenick graduated from the University of
Illinois with a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry and
is a Sloan Fellow with a Master of Science degree in management
from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
He is a member of the board of directors of Entergy Corporation,
New Orleans, Louisiana;
W. W. Grainger, Inc., Lake Forest, Illinois; executive board member
of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and 2012 chairman of the
Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Washington, D.C. He is also affiliated with
the University of Illinois
Foundation.
Steve Wunning Retirement
"In a Caterpillar career
spanning 41 years of outstanding service, Steve played a crucial
role in the development and success of Cat Logistics and our
product support business," said Oberhelman. "In addition, Steve's
executive leadership and long-term vision was critical to
Caterpillar's largest ever acquisition in 2011, the purchase of
Bucyrus International. That acquisition positions Caterpillar with
an unmatched industry-leading range of surface and underground
mining products and solutions for global mining customers. It's no
secret the mining industry has gone through a tough period the last
couple years. In the face of that challenging environment, Steve
has provided outstanding leadership and guidance for our global
mining employees, dealers and customers, and his acute focus on
cost management will have us ready for the mining upturn,"
Oberhelman added.
Since joining Caterpillar in 1973, Wunning has had assignments
of increasing responsibility in manufacturing, quality, product
support and logistics. As one of the first employees and leaders of
Cat Logistics in 1987, Steve capitalized on Caterpillar's expertise
in logistics to provide services to other companies around the
world. Steve was named vice president of Cat Logistics in 1990 and
president in 1994, ushering in a period of unprecedented growth for
the business. In 1998, Wunning was named corporate vice president
with responsibility for the Logistics and Product Services
Division. In 2000, he became vice president with responsibility for
Cat Logistics, which combined all of the internal Caterpillar and
external client logistics operations into a single unit. In 2004,
the Caterpillar Board of Directors named Wunning a group
president.
Wunning has a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri Rolla - now Missouri University of Science and Technology - and
an Executive MBA from the University of
Illinois. Wunning serves on the following boards:
Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI, Black & Veatch Holding Company,
Kennametal Inc., American Red Cross, National Mining Association
and Missouri University of Science and
Technology.
Ed Rapp Becomes Group President with responsibility for
Resource Industries
Caterpillar's Board of Directors has
approved changes in responsibility for Group President Ed Rapp, who currently oversees Construction
Industries. Rapp will replace Wunning as group president with
responsibility for Resource Industries, effective January 1, 2015. He will relocate from
Singapore to Peoria.
"Ed has led the reinvigoration around the world of our
construction business, which has resulted in improved profitability
and performance in recent years," said Oberhelman. "He's also
provided outstanding leadership in developing a strong core of
local leaders across the Asia
Pacific region, setting the stage for our future growth and
success in that part of the world."
Rapp has been a member of Caterpillar's executive office since
2007, and he served as group president and CFO from mid-2010 until
2013 when he assumed his current role as group president with
responsibility for Construction Industries. He was named a
Caterpillar vice president in 2000, serving as the head of the EAME
Marketing Division until 2004 when he was named vice president with
responsibility for the Building Construction Products Division.
Rapp joined Caterpillar as a pricing analyst in 1979. Over the
next several years, he held positions with increasing
responsibility related to pricing, production scheduling,
marketing, dealer development, manufacturing and product
development. In the 1990s, he held positions as a district manager
in San Francisco, the area manager
in Johannesburg, South Africa, and
then held several senior positions in Geneva, Switzerland, before being named vice
president with responsibility for EAME Marketing in 2000.
Rapp has a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Missouri-Columbia and is a graduate
of the University of Illinois Executive
Development program.
He is a member of the board of directors of Abbvie, FMGlobal and
Junior Achievement USA. Rapp is
also a member of the University of
Missouri College of Business Strategic Development
Board.
Rob Charter Appointed as Group President
Caterpillar's Board of Directors has elected Rob Charter, currently a Caterpillar vice
president with responsibility for the Excavation Division, as group
president with responsibility for Customer & Dealer Support,
replacing Levenick. The move will be effective January 1, 2015.
"Rob brings deep knowledge and experience working with our
dealer network and is known within the company for his intense
focus on helping Caterpillar customers be more successful with our
products and services than they can be with any competitive
offering," Oberhelman said. "This focus on customer satisfaction,
combined with Rob's extensive global experience – much of that in
leadership positions – over the last 25 years makes him ideally
suited for this new role."
Charter, a native of Adelaide,
Australia, joined Caterpillar in 1989 as a development
engineer in Melbourne. He has vast
experience working closely with Caterpillar dealers, including
those in Australia, Asia and Latin
America. His diverse experience also includes product
management, most notably his role as product manager in
Tokyo, as well as service
training, machine sales and service, mining product support,
manufacturing, construction, quarry and forestry. In 2005, he was
appointed southern region manager in Caterpillar's Latin America
Division, a position he held until 2008. In 2008, the Caterpillar
Board of Directors named Charter to vice president with
responsibility for the Asia Pacific Distribution Services Division.
He held this position until January
2013 when he was appointed as vice president with
responsibility for the Excavation Division.
Charter holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from
Ballarat University in Victoria,
Australia, and has completed the Stanford University Executive Program.
Tom Pellette Appointed as Group
President
Caterpillar's Board of Directors has elected
Tom Pellette, currently a
Caterpillar vice president and the president of Solar Turbines
Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., as group
president with responsibility for Construction Industries,
replacing Rapp. His move will be effective January 1, 2015.
"During his more than two decades with Solar, Tom has held
senior leadership positions in Asia, Europe
and North America, with half of
his Caterpillar career spent outside of the United States. His demonstrated global
perspective, drive for accountability and uncompromising product
quality standards, combined with a strong customer focus will
position him well to serve our construction business," Oberhelman
said.
Since joining Solar in 1993, Pellette has held a range of sales,
engineering and product support positions with increasing
responsibility, including significant experience in leadership
positions in Europe, Asia and the U.S. Prior to joining Solar,
Pellette worked for Tennessee Gas and Leybold Technologies.
In 2012, the Caterpillar Board of Directors named Pellette a
Caterpillar vice president and the president of Solar Turbines.
Pellette, a native of Los Alamos,
N.M., graduated in 1985 from Rice
University with a bachelor's degree in mechanical
engineering.
Pellette will join the other members of the EO based in the
company's headquarters in Peoria,
Illinois.
"Over the last several years, Caterpillar based an EO member in
Asia to intensify our focus on the
region. We have three vice presidents in-region and a very strong
senior local leadership team across Asia Pacific," said Oberhelman. "They will
continue to build on the great progress we have made in building
out our business model in China,
fully integrating Cat Japan and building on our market position in
the region," Oberhelman said.
About Caterpillar:
For nearly 90 years, Caterpillar
Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving
positive change on every continent. Customers turn to Caterpillar
to help them develop infrastructure, energy and natural resource
assets. With 2013 sales and revenues of $55.656 billion, Caterpillar is the world's
leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel
and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and
diesel-electric locomotives. The company principally operates
through its three product segments - Resource Industries,
Construction Industries and Energy & Transportation - and also
provides financing and related services through its Financial
Products segment. For more information, visit caterpillar.com. To
connect with us on social media, visit
caterpillar.com/social-media.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this
release relate to future events and expectations and are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe,"
"estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate,"
"plan," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar
words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All
statements other than statements of historical fact are
forward-looking statements, including, without limitation,
statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend
descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance,
and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking
statements.
Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those
described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a
number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global
economic conditions and economic conditions in the industries we
serve; (ii) government monetary or fiscal policies and
infrastructure spending; (iii) commodity price changes, component
price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products or
significant shortages of component products; (iv) disruptions or
volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of
liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers;
(v) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events
beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (vi)
failure to maintain our credit ratings and potential resulting
increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on our cost
of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital
markets; (vii) our Financial Products segment's risks associated
with the financial services industry; (viii) changes in interest
rates or market liquidity conditions; (ix) an increase in
delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's
customers; (x) new regulations or changes in financial services
regulations; (xi) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing,
all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures
or divestitures; (xii) international trade policies and their
impact on demand for our products and our competitive position;
(xiii) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products
that meet our customers' needs; (xiv) the impact of the highly
competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and
pricing; (xv) failure to realize all of the anticipated benefits
from initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash
flow and to reduce costs; (xvi) additional restructuring costs or a
failure to realize anticipated savings or benefits from past or
future cost reduction actions; (xvii) inventory management
decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM
customers; (xviii) compliance with environmental laws and
regulation; (xix) alleged or actual violations of trade or
anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xx) additional tax expense
or exposure; (xxi) currency fluctuations; (xxii) our or Cat
Financial's compliance with financial covenants; (xxiii) increased
pension plan funding obligations; (xxiv) union disputes or other
employee relations issues; (xxv) significant legal proceedings,
claims, lawsuits or investigations; (xxvi) compliance requirements
imposed if additional carbon emissions legislation and/or
regulations are adopted; (xxvii) changes in accounting standards;
(xxviii) failure or breach of IT security; (xxix) adverse effects
of unexpected events including natural disasters; and (xxx) other
factors described in more detail under "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in
our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February
18, 2014, for the year ended December
31, 2013, and in our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on
August 1, 2014, for the quarter ended
June 30, 2014.
SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.