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Thomas J. Bouchard Takes the Helm as General Manager of GE Plastics Automotive

6 February 1998

Thomas J. Bouchard Takes the Helm as General Manager of GE Plastics Automotive

    SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Feb. 6 -- Thomas J. Bouchard, 37, has been
appointed general manager of GE Plastics Automotive, replacing Edwin P. "Kip"
Nickel, who has taken the post of Director, European Commercial Operations at
GE Plastics' European headquarters in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands.
    Prior to his new appointment, Bouchard served as general manager of GE
Plastics Canada, leading both commercial and manufacturing operations.
Bouchard began working for GE Corporate Research & Development in 1982 and
joined GE Plastics in 1983.  He has served in several capacities including
engineering, sourcing, and product and commercial management positions.  In
1996, Bouchard moved to Canada to lead the Cobourg manufacturing site before
he was appointed general manager of GE Plastics Canada.
    Bouchard earned a bachelor's degree in physical chemistry from Williams
College and a master's degree in business management from Purdue University.
    Kip Nickel joined GE Plastics in 1986 as an automotive program specialist
and has held several automotive sales and marketing positions.  He was named
business leader for high-performance products in 1993, and general manager of
customer productivity programs in 1994.  Nickel was promoted to general
manager of GE Plastics Automotive in 1995.
    The GE Plastics Automotive Application Development Center in Southfield,
Mich., supplies the world's leading auto manufacturers with an extensive line
of engineering thermoplastics, advanced processing capabilities and systems
integration expertise.  GE Plastics Automotive generates over $1 billion in
annual sales revenue worldwide.
    GE Plastics, headquartered at Pittsfield, Mass., is a leading global
manufacturer of high performance engineering thermoplastics.  With
manufacturing and marketing locations around the world, GE Plastics supplies a
spectrum of high performance resins, as well as advanced copolymers, alloys,
and composites, for use in major markets such as automotive, computers,
telecommunications, building and construction, lawn and garden, medical,
appliances, and housewares.  For more information on GE Plastics, visit the GE
Plastics Internet web site at http://www.geplastics.com.

SOURCE  GE Plastics Automotive