AEC Elects Board of Directors

Richard A. Merluzzi, the president and CEO of Pennex Aluminum, was elected to serve a one-year term as the chairman of the AEC.

The results of the annual election of officers and directors of the Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC; Wauconda, IL) were announced at the 64th Annual Meeting & Leadership Conference on March 14 in Orlando, FL.

Richard A. Merluzzi, the president and CEO of Pennex Aluminum Company (Wellsville, PA), was elected to serve a one-year term as the chairman of the AEC. Duncan Crowdis, the president of Bonnell Aluminum Company (Newnan, GA) was elected as the immediate past chairman.

During the Annual Meeting in Orlando, the ceremonial gavel was officially passed from Duncan Crowdis to Rick Merluzzi. In summing up his tenure as chairman, Merluzzi said of Crowdis, “Duncan kept us together, created a vision. It’s extraordinary what we came through; he’s an extraordinary leader.”

He was referring to the challenges faced by the Council over the past two years, including directing the development and implementation of a revised Council Committee structure, helping AEC weather the “great recession” that hit manufacturers hard and guiding the U.S. aluminum extrusion industry to a successful decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce for redress from alleged unfair trade practices involving aluminum extrusions imported from China.

Martin Bidwell, the president and chief operating officer of Magnode Corporation (Trenton, OH), a former AEC chairman and Distinguished Service Award winner, was elected to a new three-year term as an Extruder Director and to act as an at-large member of the Executive Committee. Rand Baldwin was re-elected to the non-voting position as president of the Council.

One new member of the Board of Directors was added. Matt McMahon, the president of Pries Enterprises, Inc. (Independence, IA), was elected to a three-year term as Independent Extruder Director. The remaining four Extruder Directors hold their positions as their terms continue, including Jeff Henderson of Sapa Extrusions North America Chicago, IL; Herb Schuler, Jr. of General Extrusions, Inc. (Youngstown, OH) and and Scott Kelly of Service Center Metals (Prince George, VA).

In addition, three Supplier/Producer Directors were re-elected. Jim Dickson of Rio Tinto Alcan (Mayfield Heights, OK) was re-elected to a final two-year term as an At-large Director. Neil Chrisman of Spectrum Metal Finishing (Youngstown, OH) and Carl Eppolito of Alcoa Primary Metals (Knoxville, TN) each were re-elected to their final two-year terms as Supplier Director and Producer Director, respectively.

The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) is an international trade association dedicated to advancing the effective use of aluminum extrusion in North America. AEC is committed to bringing comprehensive information about extrusion’s characteristics, applications, environmental benefits, design and technology to users, product designers, engineers and the academic community.

Further, AEC is focused on enhancing the ability of its members to meet the emerging demands of the market through sharing knowledge and best practices. www.aec.org