| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
NEWS RELEASE |
Media Contacts:
ASW Global
André Thornton
Chairman & CEO
330.733.2400
Hitchcock Fleming & Associates Inc.
Pat Kunklier, Director/PR
330.376.2111, Ext. 3380
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT COMPANY ADDS SENIOR TEAM
FOR GLOBAL GROWTH AND LEADERSHIP
Strategists With Backgrounds at Ford, GE Capital, Other International Brands
to Help Lead ASW Global
AKRON, Ohio (December 6, 2007) – ASW Global, a leading supply chain management company, announces a new senior management team under the leadership of Chairman and CEO André Thornton. The company’s three new executives have decades of experience helping grow leading global brands.
Joining ASW Global are Robert Glenn Sims, who will serve as senior vice president/COO, Carolyn Pizzuto, who will serve as senior vice president corporate planning and George Hand, who will serve as senior vice president strategic acquisitions and market alignment.
“ASW Global is launching a new growth strategy with expanded services and client base to grow revenue stream. The company is strengthening the management team, systems, operational enhancements and contract reviews,” Thornton said. “Over the next five years, ASW Global desires to be a leader in the supply chain industry with an ongoing strategy of industry diversification, market positioning and strategic alliances.”
Robert Glenn Sims will be responsible for operational excellence and supply chain solutions throughout ASW Global. Sims excels in third-party logistics management, transportation procurement, warehouse/distribution management and fleet management.
Previously, he was senior director, vehicle operations supplier development team for the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Mich., working with suppliers such as Lear Corporation and Johnson Controls Inc. At Ford for eight years, his senior positions also included global director, material planning, strategy and logistics engineering.
Carolyn Pizzuto, who will join ASW Global on January 7, 2008, will be responsible for strategic planning and organizational infrastructure support. She was vice president at Kent State University from 2002 to 2007, and served on the president’s cabinet and led the human resources division. From 1991 to 2002, Pizzuto was the CEO of the award-winning Cleveland-based company, CDA Management Consulting Inc., which she founded. Prior to this, at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P., she led national and international expansion.
George Hand will be responsible for strategic acquisitions and market alignment at ASW Global. Since 1993 he has worked in capital markets providing corporate finance to small businesses and investor groups, specializing in making recommendations regarding debt and equity solutions for corporate expansion.
From 1989 to1993 he was the managing partner of HK International, an Atlanta-based privately funded firm he established, which engaged in corporate finance activities related to acquisitions, divestitures and private equity investing. His accomplishments include generating a rate of return to investors of 64 percent, and in 1990 structured and arranged financing for the largest leveraged buyout ($150 million) in Georgia.
“Robert Sims, Carolyn Pizzuto and George Hand are great additions and will complete our senior management team. They will be instrumental in successfully implementing our growth strategy,” Thornton said.
"Our goal is to offer clients unprecedented levels of value. We will continue to add the right people to create and deliver our value proposition to our clients," Thornton said.
* * * * *
ADDITIONAL BIO INFORMATION ON SIMS, PIZZUTO AND HAND
Robert Glenn Sims
Previous to his Ford experience, Sims served at General Motors Corp. and Delphi Corp. for 20 years, rising to director production control and logistics, power train. His areas of responsibility included product and process change management for global new model programs that included China and Mexico.
Sims earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Mansfield State University and a master’s degree in international logistics from Georgia Institute of Technology. He also participated in executive development programs at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
He has earned numerous honors, including the Leadership Award from the Council for Logistics Management; Six Sigma Certification; the Ford Motor Company (Inuksuk) Leadership Award in 2004 and 2005; and the General Motors Corp. Award “Best of the Best” in 1997 and 1998.
Carolyn Pizzuto
Crain’s Cleveland Business recognized Pizzuto as a Woman of Note, and CDA Management Consulting won the prestigious Weatherhead 100 award. Her community leadership includes board memberships for Goodwill Industries of Akron and The Cleveland POPS Orchestra. She has also served as a board member for the Council for Smaller Enterprises (COSE).
Pizzuto holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire, where she graduated magna cum laude. She also earned Phi Beta Kappa honors. She received her master’s in business administration from Baldwin-Wallace College.
George Hand
Hand has also been executive vice president, division general manager for Heller Financial Inc. (Leveraged Funding Group) in Atlanta, where he directed all managerial, lending and investment portfolio management activities of the division. Previous to this, at General Electric Capital Corporation, he was manager investment analysis and control. He began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co. as a staff accountant-audit division.
Hand graduated from North Carolina A&T State University with a bachelor’s in accounting and a minor in financial management. He was a member of the Alpha Kappa Mu and Delta Mu Delta honor societies and earned his CPA certificate. He also completed substantive legal coursework at the Woodrow Wilson School of Law in Atlanta.
His many accomplishments include serving at the board level of public, private and non-profit companies, membership in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and Georgia Society of CPAs, a director of the Society of International Business Fellows, a director of the Atlanta Business League, a Distinguished Alumni Award from North Carolina A&T State University and Presidential Citation from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.
* * * * *
HIGH-RES (300 DPI) VISUALS
To view and download high-res visuals (300 dpi) of Robert Glenn Sims, Carolyn Pizzuto, George Hand and the ASW Global logo, please go to http://www.aswservices.com/SimsPizzutoHand/300dpi/.
* * * * *
About ASW Global
Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, ASW Global is a supply chain management company that services logistical and warehousing needs worldwide. Focused on providing exceptional customer service and logistical capabilities, ASW Global serves such clients as Wal-Mart®, Honda and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Led by Chairman and CEO André Thornton, a successful, award-winning, African-American businessman and former Major League Baseball star, ASW Global is one of the leading diversity suppliers in Ohio.
The company operates in Foreign Trade Zone #181, which provides tax and duty benefits for its clients, giving them a competitive advantage. With strategic locations in Ohio and Michigan, ASW Global has direct one-day access to more than 50 percent of the population throughout America and Canada and boasts more than one million square feet of storage space. ASW Global can be contacted at www.aswservices.com or 888.363.8492.