N E W S R E L E A S E
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September 28, 2004
Furmanite America’s New Executives Focus on Enhanced Safety and Increased Profits
Houston, Texas (September 28, 2004) – Furmanite, the world’s first and largest industrial specialty maintenance service company, announced today the following three new executives have joined the organization: Mark Cormier as Safety, Health and Environmental Director; Michael Sanders as Louisiana Gulf Coast Operations Manager; and Bill LeRoux as Southwestern Regional Operations Manager.
“These three executives bring a wealth of experience to Furmanite’s management team,” said Gary Gardner, President of Furmanite America. “Bringing people like these three individuals into our company, people who are focused on safe and innovative approaches for our customers’ problems, will allow Furmanite to accelerate the capture of market share that has already begun this year.”
As the new Safety, Health and Environmental Director, Mark Cormier oversees all national programs related to the health, safety and environment. Cormier plans to work with Furmanite’s management team to advance the “safety culture” within Furmanite, which includes assessing current safety-related programs and developing and implementing more consistent employee training programs. His goal is to create safety programs that establish Furmanite as the premier safety-focused organization in the industry.
“Furmanite already has an outstanding safety program. I will be looking at enhancing our programs, including creating a value added component of our overall program where customers not only choose Furmanite for our quality services, but for the safe manner in which those services are delivered,” said Cormier.
Prior to joining Furmanite, Cormier oversaw health, safety and environmental programs for the Ark-LA-TX (Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas) division of Key Energy Services, a provider of maintenance and workover services to major and independent oil and gas companies. Cormier also served as Corporate Safety Manager for Q Services, Inc. prior to the company merging with Key Energy Services.
Although Michael Sanders is new to his position as the Louisiana Gulf Coast (LGC) Operations Manager, he is not new to Furmanite. For seven years, Sanders served as a technician and supervisor for the Company in Louisiana before taking a position as an operational manager for Flowserve’s Baton Rouge Division. In his role as LGC Operations Manager, Sanders is responsible for day-to-day customer and financial operations within the region for customers including Shell Chemical and ExxonMobil. His goal is to build the size of Furmanite’s workforce and the customer base. “Furmanite is already established in the refinery and nuclear industries,” said Sanders. “My goal is to capitalize on the strong Furmanite name and educate these customers about ALL the services we can provide to help keep their assets up and running.”
As the Southwestern Regional Operations Manager, Bill LeRoux is responsible for all operations including profit and loss responsibilities for the entire Southwestern Region (Los Angeles to San Diego). In his role, he oversees all employees and personally manages that region’s largest clients including Southern California Edison and ExxonMobil. Currently the majority of customers in this region are power and utilities; refineries and petrochemical companies; LeRoux hopes to expand Furmanite’s services and break into the hot tapping and line stopping market in these industries. “My goal is to see a 50 percent increase in revenue over the next year,” said LeRoux.
Prior to joining Furmanite, he served as a plant manager for Flowserve. During his ten year tenure there, LeRoux managed plant operations in Arizona, California and Hawaii.
About Furmanite
2004 represents 75 years of Furmanite serving as ‘the’ worldwide expert in the field of on-site and on-line plant and pipeline maintenance for a variety of industries – chemical and petrochemical, oil and gas, power generation, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, and national defense. Their broad array of services and patented technology are critical to the operation and financial success of some of the world’s largest process manufacturers and energy producers and suppliers including Shell, ExxonMobil, Sun Oil, Dominion, Exelon, Cinergy, Entergy and Reliant. Furmanite has more than 40 offices on five continents. Its website is www.furmanite.com Furmanite is a wholly owned subsidiary of Xanser Corporation (NYSE: XNR).
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Public Relations
Elizabeth Peichel
Furmanite/Immedia Communications
972-312-8344
Peichel@comcast.net