BLL Ball Corp

Ball Names John R. Friedery Chief Operating Officer, North American Packaging; Leon A. Midgett to Retire in 2004 BROOMFIELD, Colo., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Corporation today named John R. Friedery chief operating officer, North American packaging. Friedery, who has been president of Ball's North American metal beverage container operations since 2000, will also become a senior vice president of the corporation and will have responsibility for the its packaging operations in Brazil and China. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031117/LAM094 ) Friedery succeeds Leon A. Midgett at the beginning of 2004. Midgett, who joined Ball in 1972 and has held a number of key positions within Ball's packaging operations, including executive vice president and chief operating officer, plans to retire early next year. "John and Leon have been integral to the improved performance of our metal beverage container operations, and the growth of our packaging segment as a whole, during the past eight years," said R. David Hoover, Ball's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We expect a smooth transition, and I am pleased Ball is able to call on John and his considerable industry experience to lead our North American packaging operations." Friedery joined Ball in 1988 as production supervisor in the company's Tampa metal beverage container plant. He held positions of increasing importance in Ball's Tampa and Saratoga Springs, N.Y., plants -- including plant manager at Saratoga Springs -- and the company's Packaging Office Center in Westminster, Colo. In May 2003, Friedery completed Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program. A complete biography is available at http://www.ball.com/ in the investor relations section under "executive biographies." Ball Corporation is one of the world's leading suppliers of metal and plastic packaging to the beverage and food industries. The company also owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. With the addition of Ball Packaging Europe at the end of 2002, Ball expects 2003 sales of approximately $4.9 billion, with approximately $4.4 billion from its two packaging segments and approximately $500 million from its aerospace and technologies segment. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031117/LAM094 http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Ball Corporation CONTACT: investors, Ann Scott, +1-303-460-3537, , or media, Scott McCarty, +1-303-460-2103, , both of Ball Corporation Web site: http://www.ball.com/

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