Business News
Cereplast Names Randy Woelfel President and Chief Operating Officer
Thursday 20. March 2008 - Cereplast, Inc. (OTCBB: CERP), manufacturer of proprietary bio-based, sustainable plastics, bolstered its management team today naming 30-year industry veteran Randy G. Woelfel as president and chief operating officer. In this position, Woelfel will oversee all day-to-day operations, reporting directly to Frederic Scheer who remains chairman and chief executive officer.
Woelfel joins Cereplast after a very successful career in the chemical industry which culminated with the presidency at Basell International and Basell North America. Woelfel began his career at Shell Oil, working in a variety of roles across the oil products and petrochemicals businesses. Woelfel was instrumental in the formation of Montell in 1995, which, through mergers, evolved into present-day LyondellBasell, the worlds leading producer of polyolefin plastics such as polypropylene and polyethylene. Woelfel held a succession of management positions within Shell and Basell during his 29-year tenure, and led Basells dynamic growth internationally into the largest polypropylene manufacturer in the world. Most recently Woelfel served as a managing director for the energy-related practice at the Houston Technology Center, Texas largest business incubator.
“I believe that Randy becoming president of Cereplast is a major milestone for our company,” said Scheer. “His leadership skills and operational expertise, combined with our talented R&D, sales and manufacturing teams, will position Cereplast extremely well to capitalize on the rapidly growing global demand for bio-plastics.”
“I am pleased to have the opportunity to join Cereplast at this exciting and pivotal time for the company,” said Woelfel. “Cereplast embodies the new direction and the future of the chemical industry, and I look forward to helping transform the company into a major powerhouse in bioplastics in the 21st century.”
In the past year, Cereplast has added significant depth to its management team in R&D and production. At the same time, the company added two new board members: Jacques Vincent, vice chairman of Groupe Danone and Petros Kitsos, managing principal of TBL Strategy. Woelfels appointment adds another industry veteran with a track record of leadership and organizational development to Cereplasts roster.
Woelfel holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Rice University and Masters in management from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.