Bettcher Manufacturing, LLC Names Jeremiah J. Lynch President.

Business Editors

BROOK PARK, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2001

Jeremiah J. Lynch, Jr., has been named president of Bettcher Manufacturing, LLC, according to Frederick W. Clarke, president and CEO of Brittany Corporation, a Cleveland-based holding company which owns Bettcher.

"We are extremely pleased to benefit from Jerry's global perspective in strategic planning, high volume production, procurement, engineering, quality assurance, and human resources," said Clarke. He added that, "Jerry's diverse industry experience and growth orientation help to address key elements of the Bettcher strategic challenge."

Most recently, Lynch was general manager for one of PolyOne Corporation's divisions, a $50 million QS9000 certified automotive color pellet-manufacturing operation.

Prior to PolyOne, Lynch was vice president of procurement/operations for Royal Appliance Mfg. Co., from 1996-2000, where he had responsibility for the overall supply chain management for component parts of Dirt Devil brand products. As operations vice president he was responsible for all aspects of operations of the $300 million manufacturer of floor care products, which included directing the managers of multiple manufacturing facilities.

From 1991 to 1996 Lynch was employed by The Little Tikes Company, a division of Rubbermaid, Inc. where he held the position of director, quality assurance -- responsible for monitoring standards and maintaining highest level of quality for nine manufacturing facilities, including three international plants and corporate headquarters.

Prior to Little Tykes, Lynch was employed at Silicone Products and Fisher Price Toys in the quality engineering areas responsible for product development, product engineering, tooling development and safety. Lynch began his business career at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft where he designed and procured high pressure compressors for commercial jet engines.

Lynch was graduated from Kent State University with a B.S. in Industrial Technology. Lynch is certified by the American Society for Quality Control as a Quality Engineer and by British Standard Institute as ISO9000 lead assessor.

Bettcher Manufacturing, LLC is a Cleveland area based company with its headquarters in Brook Park, Ohio with two manufacturing facilities in Ohio and one in Mexico. Bettcher manufactures precision stampings and fourslide parts. Overall Bettcher employs approximately 300 employees.