Foamex Announces Management Changes
LINWOOD, Pa.--Oct. 31, 2002--Foamex International Inc. , the world's leading manufacturer of flexible polyurethane and advanced polymer foam products, today announced that Thomas E. Chorman, Chief Executive Officer, will assume additional responsibilities as President of Foamex, effective immediately.In addition, the Company announced that it has implemented a new and streamlined senior management team and that George Karpinski, Senior Vice President and Treasurer, has been named Interim Chief Financial Officer.
As part of the new management structure, the following additional changes have been made to Foamex's executive management team, effective immediately:
| - | Paul Haslanger, formerly Senior Vice President of Automotive Manufacturing, has been named Executive Vice President of Manufacturing, replacing Pete Wallace, who has left the Company; |
| - | Steven Drap, formerly Executive Vice President of Strategic Planning and Development, has been named Executive Vice President of Carpet Cushion, replacing Terry Kall, who has announced his retirement effective November 8, 2002; |
| - | Gregory Christian, formerly Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, has been named Executive Vice President and General Counsel and will be responsible for both the Legal Department and Human Resources. James Van Horn, formerly Executive Vice President, Human Resources, has left the Company; |
| - | Michael Carlini, formerly Senior Vice President and Chief Purchasing & Logistics Officer, has been named Chief Administrative Officer in charge of Purchasing, Logistics and Information Technology; and |
| - | Andrew Thompson, formerly Vice President, Research & Development has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Research & Development. |
Additionally, the following members of the senior management team will retain their current responsibilities:
- Donald Crawford, Executive Vice President, Foam Products -
East;
- Darrell Nance, Executive Vice President, Foam Products - West;
- Arthur Vartanian, Executive Vice President, Automotive
Products;
- Virginia Kamsky, Chairman & CEO of Symphonex; and
- Steve Scibelli, President of Symphonex.
Commenting on the new executive management team, Mr. Chorman said: "I'm very proud of the strong new executive team we've put in place. We are unified in our focus and will work together to creatively drive productivity and efficiency in all our businesses. I have great confidence in the new management team's ability to work closely with one another to energize Foamex, deliver fully on the promise of this Company and create greater value for our shareholders."
Mr. Chorman continued: "I would like to thank Pete, Terry and Jim for their contributions to Foamex over the years and I wish them the best of luck in their next endeavors."
Commenting on the appointment of George Karpinski as Interim CFO, Mr. Chorman said: "We are pleased to have George in this critical position while Foamex continues its search for a permanent CFO. Already a valuable member of Foamex's senior management team, George has an impressive financial background and he will be a great asset in this role as we take steps to increase efficiency and create greater value for shareholders."
Biographies of Executive Management Team:
Gregory J. Christian - Executive Vice President & General Counsel
Gregory J. Christian was most recently Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Foamex since February 2002 and was Director of Labor Relations and Corporate Counsel from October 1996 to February 2002. Prior to joining Foamex, Mr. Christian held various management positions of increasing responsibility with Trans Freight Systems, Inc. most recently as Vice President and Corporate Counsel. Mr. Christian received a B.S. in Management from Fairfield University, a Masters in Business Administration from Widener University and a Juris Doctorate from Widener University.
Michael Carlini - Chief Administrative Officer
Michael Carlini has been with Foamex since June 2001, and was most recently as Senior Vice President and Chief Purchasing & Logistics Officer. Prior to that, Mr. Carlini served as Senior Vice President of Finance & Chief Accounting Officer. Before joining Foamex he spent eight years with Berg Electronics, holding various positions such as VP of North American Operations, Global Vice President & Controller, and Vice President of Finance. Mr. Carlini also worked for General Defense Corporation as Vice President & General Manager, and spent four years with Price Waterhouse & Company in New York and Philadelphia. Mr. Carlini holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Susquehanna University and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Drexel University; he is also a CPA.
Steven Drap - Executive Vice President, Carpet Cushion
Steven Drap was most recently Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning and Development of Foamex since August 2002 and was the Company's Executive Vice President, Technical Products from March 1998 until August 2002. Mr. Drap served as Vice President, Manufacturing and Customer Service, Technical Products of Foamex from July 1997 until March 1998. Prior to that, Mr. Drap held various management positions since joining Foamex in 1980. He received a B.S. in Chemistry from Lehman College.
Paul Haslanger - Executive Vice President, Manufacturing
Paul Haslanger was most recently Senior Vice President of Automotive Manufacturing and has held various manufacturing positions throughout all business units of Foamex. In 1993 he was promoted to Senior Vice President of Manufacturing for Foamex. In 1984 he was Vice President of Manufacturing with a predecessor company to Foamex and prior to that he held various plant level jobs including Technical Manager for the Eddystone plant. Mr. Haslanger began his career in 1969 as a process engineer at the Eddystone Plant. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.
George Karpinski - Interim Chief Financial Officer
George Karpinski was most recently Senior Vice President and Treasurer of Foamex and has held various positions throughout Foamex. Prior to this position, Mr. Karpinski was Vice President and Treasurer of Foamex from May 1993 until August 1997, Treasurer of Foamex from March 1989 until May 1993 and Assistant Treasurer of Foamex from November 1985 until March 1989. Mr. Karpinski began his career with a predecessor to Foamex in 1969. He is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a B.S. in Business Administration.
Andrew Thompson - Senior Vice President, Research & Development
Andrew Thompson has been with the Foamex since January of 2000 and was most recently Vice President, Research & Development in charge of managing the R&D organization, intellectual property strategy, and product stewardship. Prior to joining Foamex, Mr. Thompson spent 10 years at Lyondell/ARCO Chemical where he held various positions in polyurethane-related areas. Mr. Thompson holds 12 U.S. patents in polyurethane technologies. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts.
About Foamex International Inc.
Foamex, headquartered in Linwood, PA, is the world's leading producer of comfort cushioning for bedding, furniture, carpet cushion and automotive markets. The Company also manufactures high-performance polymers for diverse applications in the industrial, aerospace, defense, electronics and computer industries as well as filtration and acoustical applications for the home. For more information visit the Foamex web site at http://www.foamex.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains, and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company may contain, forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, those relating to completion of the operational restructuring as currently contemplated and the currently anticipated benefits of the restructuring, including those relating to the work force reductions, cost savings and restructuring charges from Project Transformation, the expected benefits of expanding the use of VPF technology, the Company's ability to introduce new products, enhance sales growth and margins and the outlook for the Company's financial performance. These forward-looking statements are affected by risks, uncertainties and assumptions that the Company makes about, among other things, its ability to implement customer selling price increases in response to higher raw material costs, raw material price increases, general economic conditions, conditions in the capital markets, the interest rate environment, the level of automotive production, carpet production, furniture and bedding production and housing starts, the completion of various restructuring/consolidation plans, the achievement of management's business plans, its capital and debt structure (including various financial covenants), litigation and changes in environmental legislation and environmental conditions and other factors mentioned in the documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While the Company believes that its assumptions regarding the foregoing matters are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore there can be no assurance that the Company's forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Additional information that could cause actual results to vary materially from the results anticipated may be found in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers should be aware that any forward-looking statement made in this press release or elsewhere by the Company speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and the Company disclaims any obligation or intent to update any of the factors listed above or forward-looking statements.