LECO Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc

Lincoln Electric Announces Executive Management Appointments CLEVELAND, June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lincoln Electric International Holding Company, a subsidiary of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO), today announced that David M. LeBlanc has been appointed President of Lincoln Electric Europe, succeeding Ralph C. Fernandez. Mr. Fernandez will become President, Lincoln Electric Latin America, succeeding Mr. LeBlanc. Both appointments are effective September 1, 2005. John M. Stropki, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "These two key changes to our global management are a result of our highly successful succession planning and executive management development programs. We are building a cadre of managers with global experience and perspective that will contribute to Lincoln's growth." Mr. Stropki added, "Both Ralph Fernandez and Dave LeBlanc have established winning teams and achieved significant successes in their regions. Ralph has served Lincoln with distinction in Europe, strengthening our management, operations and business structure in the region. He will be returning to a position he previously held in our Latin American region and will continue to develop our strong team there. Dave and his team have achieved outstanding operational, commercial and financial results in the competitive Latin American market. Now, his strong leadership capabilities will be key to continuing to drive our successful organization in Europe." Mr. Fernandez joined Lincoln Electric in 1995 in the Automation Division and was later assigned to the Company's International Group. In 1996, he was named President of Lincoln Latin America and was appointed President of Lincoln Electric Europe in 2001. He started his business and engineering career as a Project Engineer with the E.I. DuPont Company in Houston and later held engineering and executive management positions at Northern Telecom Corp. and Westinghouse Electric. Mr. Fernandez earned bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering from the University of Florida. Mr. LeBlanc began his career with Lincoln as a Sales Trainee in 1986. He later spent three-and-a-half years with General Electric and subsequently received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1994. He returned to Lincoln after completing the Harvard program, initially on a project assignment, and then was appointed General Manager of Lincoln Mexicana. He was named President of Lincoln Electric Latin America in 2002. Lincoln Electric is the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc-welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Lincoln has operations, manufacturing alliances and joint ventures in 18 countries and a worldwide network of distributors and sales offices covering more than 160 countries. For more information about Lincoln Electric, its products and services, visit the Company's Web site at http://www.lincolnelectric.com/. DATASOURCE: Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. CONTACT: Roy L. Morrow of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc., +1-216-383-4893, or Web site: http://www.lincolnelectric.com/

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