Posted May 26, 2011
Airgas realigns into four divisions
Airgas has realigned its 12 regional companies into four new divisions to help the company leverage its new customized SAP information platform.
Each division will be led by a president whose direct reports include a division chief financial officer, vice president of human resources, and regional company presidents.
The company also announced two related leadership appointments for Distribution Operations and Gases Production. All appointments are effective July 1, 2011.
"Now that we have successfully launched our regional company conversions in our phased implementation of SAP, it was critical to establish an operating structure that will enable us to realize the significant benefits of our new platform," said Mike Molinini, Airgas chief operating officer.
The new Airgas divisions and leaders include:
North Division: Shaun Powers, division president
The North Division includes the Airgas Great Lakes, Airgas East, and Airgas North Central Regional Companies and will be led by Shaun Powers, former East Division president. Powers joined Airgas in April 2001 from AGA where he served as senior vice president of Industrial Gases since October 1995.
South Division: Mike Rohde, division president
The South Division, which includes the Airgas South, Airgas National Welders, and Airgas Mid America Regions, will be led by Mike Rohde, formerly senior vice president, Distribution Operations. Rohde joined Airgas in 1999 as president of Airgas Southwest and in 2000 became president of Airgas South, a position he held for five years before being appointed SVP, Distribution Operations.
Central Division: Terry Lodge, division president
Terry Lodge, former Airgas Mid South president since 2007, will assume the leadership post of the Central Division, which includes the Airgas Mid South, Airgas Southwest, and Airgas Intermountain Regions. Lodge joined Airgas with the acquisition of The Jimmie Jones Company in 1994, where he served as chief financial officer of Jimmie Jones/Sooner Airgas, one of the hub companies that formed Airgas Mid South.
West Division: Max Hooper, division president
The new Airgas West Division, which includes the Airgas West, Airgas Northern California and Nevada, and Airgas Nor Pac Regions, will be led by Max Hooper. Hooper was named division president for the West Division, which formerly included seven regional companies in the western U.S., in 2005.
Included in the realignment is the creation of Business Support Centers (BSCs) within each new Airgas Division. According to Molinini, each Division BSC will be a financial and administrative operation staffed with between 130 and 200 associates and will be responsible for the Division's financial statements and administration.
"We will continue to manage all customer-facing sales and operations functions close to the customer, so those responsibilities will remain with the current Airgas Regional Company infrastructure," Molinini added.
In related moves, Airgas named two other key leaders whose roles will support the realignment: Andy Cichocki, Senior Vice President – Distribution Operations and Business Process Improvement; and Tom Thoman, Division President – Gases Production.
