-- David LeBlanc appointed President, Lincoln Electric International -- George Blankenship named President, Lincoln Electric North America -- Richard Seif to lead continued expansion of Global Automation -- Gretchen Farrell elected Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Compliance CLEVELAND, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:LECO) today announced four new assignments in its executive management team. "We are realigning our structure into two major geographic regions to more efficiently direct our resources and bolster our global market leadership position," said John M. Stropki, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The major assignments announced today reflect the depth, breadth and talent of our executive management team and will help further strengthen Lincoln Electric. David LeBlanc and George Blankenship both have marketing and operations expertise and leadership qualities that will serve the Company well in their new roles of leading our International and North America operations, respectively. Gretchen Farrell adds responsibility for our global compliance program and will bring the same discipline she has applied to building our global human resources programs. Richard Seif will use his exceptional background in marketing and sales to expand our fast-growing automation segment and strengthen Lincoln's position for providing innovative welding solutions around the world." David LeBlanc has been named to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, President of Lincoln Electric International. He will be responsible for all of Lincoln's welding businesses outside North America. This includes Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, South America and Africa. Mr. LeBlanc has been President, Lincoln Electric Europe since 2005. He began his Lincoln career as a sales trainee in 1986, after graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a degree in mechanical engineering. He then spent three-and-a-half years with General Electric and subsequently received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1994. Mr. LeBlanc rejoined Lincoln in 1995 and was named General Manager of Lincoln Mexicana and was later promoted to President, Lincoln Electric Latin America. George Blankenship has been promoted to Senior Vice President and President, Lincoln Electric North America. In this new role, Mr. Blankenship will be responsible for Lincoln Electric's North American welding business, which includes the United States, Canada and Mexico. Prior to his new assignment, he was President, Lincoln Cleveland and Senior Vice President of Global Engineering. Mr. Blankenship joined Lincoln in 1985 as an engineering trainee after earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from The Ohio State University. At Lincoln, he has held engineering product development and operations management positions of increasing responsibility. Richard Seif has been named Senior Vice President, Global Marketing and Automation. In his new role, he will help develop Lincoln's global automation strategy and the coordination of three product lines: flexible automation, hard automation systems and environmental/fume extraction. Mr. Seif joined Lincoln in 1971 as a technical sales representative and has held several sales and executive management positions, including Vice President, Marketing, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lincoln Electric Canada, and Vice President, Sales and Marketing U.S.A. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and an MBA in marketing from Michigan State University. Gretchen Farrell has been named Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Compliance. In her new role, Ms. Farrell will continue to lead the human resources function and will add responsibilities for building and expanding Lincoln's global compliance program. This move furthers the commitment of the organization to compliance as two senior executives, Ms. Farrell and Frederick Stueber, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, will now have compliance responsibilities. Ms. Farrell joined Lincoln in 1997 as Director, Compensation and Benefits. She was elected Vice President, Human Resources in 2003. Ms. Farrell earned a bachelor's degree in political science from The Ohio State University and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. 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 and has a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Lincoln has 39 manufacturing locations, including operations and joint ventures in 19 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 website at http://www.lincolnelectric.com/. The Company's expectations and beliefs concerning the future contained in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements reflect management's current expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from such statements due to a variety of factors that could adversely affect the Company's operating results. The factors include, but are not limited to: general economic and market conditions; the effectiveness of operating initiatives; currency exchange and interest rates; adverse outcome of pending or potential litigation; possible acquisitions; market risks and price fluctuations related to the purchase of commodities and energy; global regulatory complexity; and the possible effects of international terrorism and hostilities on the Company or its customers, suppliers and the economy in general. For additional discussion, see "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K. DATASOURCE: Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. CONTACT: Media, Roy L. Morrow, +1-216-383-4893, , or Investors, Joseph P. Kelley, +1-216-383-8346, , both of Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. Web Site: http://www.lincolnelectric.com/

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