Textron Appoints Hall President of Data-Signal-Voice Business

    PROVIDENCE, R.I.--March 13, 2001--Consistent with its strategy to leverage long-term growth potential in the data-signal-voice (DSV) market, Textron Inc. today announced that it has appointed J. Scott Hall as president of the Company's DSV business.
    Textron's DSV business, which develops tools and technologies to install, test and measure the performance of copper and fiber-optic networks, has been managed as part of the Greenlee Textron business unit. Greenlee is a leader in electrical wire and cable installation and maintenance products and services for residential, commercial and industrial facilities. With the appointment of Hall, Textron is increasing its focus on the fast-growing DSV market.
    "Our DSV strategy has exceeded our expectations to date. We've leveraged the electrical contractor migration into DSV installation and testing by adding a range of DSV-specific products. We've entered this market through small strategic acquisitions of installation, test and measurement solutions companies," said Sam Licavoli, chairman, president and CEO of Textron Industrial Products. "The formation of a separate DSV unit is the next logical step in our strategy to grow this key piece of our business."
    Hall, who joins the Company on April 1, 2001, will have responsibility for managing and growing the business as well as further developing and executing Textron's DSV strategy. He will also provide leadership direction in identifying new business opportunities through acquisition and by leveraging Textron's core technologies. Hall will report directly to Licavoli.
    Hall joins Textron from General Cable Co. where he held a number of leadership positions during his 17 years with the Company, including his most recent role as senior vice president and general manager of communication cables.
    "Scott's extensive operating, sales and international experience in the copper wire, coaxial cable and fiber optic product industries will be invaluable as we continue to develop our DSV business," continued Licavoli. "We are quite fortunate to find someone of Scott's caliber and strategic understanding of this dynamic market."
    Textron Inc. is a $13 billion, global, multi-industry company with market-leading businesses in Aircraft, Automotive, Industrial Products, Fastening Systems and Finance. Textron has a workforce of over 70,000 employees and major manufacturing facilities in 30 countries. Textron is among Fortune magazine's "Global Most Admired Companies" and Industry Week magazine's "Best Managed Companies." Additional information is available on www.textron.com.