Rail-car maker FreightCar America, Inc. (RAIL) announced Sunday the appointment of Edward Whalen as president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Whalen succeeds Christian Ragot, who served at the positions since April 30, 2007, and has left the company by mutual consent. The company also elected Whalen to the Board of Directors.
In a statement, chairman of the Board, Thomas Fitzpatrick said, "Ed brings enormous experience and creativity to all aspects of the railcar business. We are pleased he is re-joining the Company at a time when his skills, industry knowledge and long-standing customer relationships are of special value."
Whalen, with about 40 years of experience in the railcar industry, joined the company in 1991 through the acquisition of the predecessor company. Whalen was one of a group of investors who acquired the company from Bethlehem Steel in 1991, under its former name of Johnstown America Corp. Whalen then retired from the company in December 2004.
"I am pleased to rejoin FreightCar America in this new role. My top priorities are twofold. First and foremost, given the anticipated continued weakness in railcar orders, we need to optimize the Company's performance in 2010, with a continued view to preserving our strong balance sheet. At the same time, we will look for prudent ways to leverage the Company's existing strengths and capabilities to broaden its business focus to address the entire railcar lifecycle," Whalen stated.
Prior to joining the Chicago, Illinois-based company FreightCar in 1991, Whalen was serving as president of Pullman Leasing Co. after serving in various finance positions for 19 years, including vice president of finance and treasurer Whalen originally joined Pullman, Inc., the parent of Pullman Leasing Co., in 1972.
Ragot joined the Company from Terex Corp., where he spent seven years serving in various senior executive leadership positions, including president of Terex Utilities and Roadbuilding for the most recent three years and, previously, president of Terex Utilities, president of American Crane, senior vice-president of sales and aftermarket services, and various other senior-level positions at American Crane.
Prior to joining Terex Corp. in 1999, Ragot was vice president and general manager of the Air Compressor Group, Europe of Ingersoll-Rand Co.(IR), and held various other managerial and senior-level positions during his fifteen years at Ingersoll-Rand.
"The Board of Directors thanks Chris for his contributions, and we wish him well in his future endeavors. He particularly played an instrumental role in controlling the Company's costs during a difficult time in the railcar industry," Fitzpatrick added.
RAIL closed Friday's regular trading session at $19.96, up $0.13 or 0.66% on a volume of 0.13 million shares, lower than the three-month average volume of 0.26 million shares.
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