Foamex International Names VP Auto Parts
LINWOOD, PA, July 1, 2004 – Foamex International Inc. (NASDAQ: FMXI),
the world's leading manufacturer of flexible polyurethane and advanced polymer
foam products in North America, today announced that Donald W. Phillips has
been named to the position of Executive Vice President, Automotive Products,
succeeding Arthur H. Vartanian, who has left the company to pursue other interests.
Mr. Phillips will report to Thomas E. Chorman, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Foamex, and will be based in Novi, MI. Foamex also announced that
it has created a Detroit-based center for the marketing, sales and development
of engineered, technical foam products for the automotive markets. This new
solutions organization is an arm of the company's Technical Products Group,
and will be headed by Daniel Frich, Vice President - Automotive Solutions. Mr.
Frich will also be based in Novi."It is with great pleasure that I announce
Don's return to the Company in this new role," said Thomas E. Chorman,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Foamex. "With over 15 years of
experience in the industry, six of which were spent with Foamex, Don is an accomplished
executive with excellent relationships in the primary channel for our automotive
products. We are also excited to announce the expansion of our Technical Products
Group into the Detroit market, which will improve our ability to assist our
customers in collaborative development efforts for technical foams and continue
our history of innovation in the automotive industry. In addition, we are pleased
that Dan Frich has accepted the opportunity to lead this new group."
Mr. Phillips commented: "I look forward to working with the rest of the
Foamex management team to improve results and deliver superior service and products
for our customers."
Mr. Phillips, 38, initially joined Foamex in March of 1997 as Senior Account
Manager. In this role he was responsible for running major automotive supplier
accounts representing over 60 percent of Foamex's Automotive Division sales,
as well as business forecasting, market strategy, and managing quality and materials
issues for the Division. Prior to joining Foamex, Mr. Phillips was North American
Automotive Manager of Petoskey Plastics, Inc., a global manufacturer of blown
polyethylene film products. From 1993 through 1995, Mr. Phillips was a Manufacturing
Representative at C. Neumann Associates, Inc., where he managed existing programs
and new business initiatives. Earlier in his career, Mr. Phillips worked for
Chemcentral, Inc. as a sales representative. Mr. Phillips holds an undergraduate
degree in finance and accounting from Lawrence Technological University.
Mr. Frich, 34, brings seven years of R&D experience with Foamex and ARCO
Chemical developing and commercializing new urethane materials for Automotive
and Specialty markets; most recently, he was Plant Manager of Foamex's Santa
Teresa, NM plant. He holds a Ph.D in Material (Polymer) Science from the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an M.B.A. from the Wharton School, University
of Pennsylvania and a B. S. degree in Materials Engineering from Renssalaer
Polytechnic Institute.