Austal USA Appoints Senior Management Team
Austal USA has appointed two senior members of Austal Ships to Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. to join Bill Pfister, vice president of Marketing and Administration. In order to manage the production of vessels in the shortly to be completed 360 x 93 x 72-ft. (109.7 x 28.3 x 21.9 m) high fully enclosed construction hall, Simon Thornton has been appointed vice president of Operations. Simon, who has been with the company since 1998, has extensive experience in aluminium shipbuilding and project management spanning 25 years. Chris Pemberton joins the team as vice president of Sales and Marketing. Prior to joining Austal Ships in 1994, Pemberton worked in technical sales and marketing for Saab Aircraft and British Aerospace.
Lerchbacker Leads Austal USA to the Top
When Austal Ltd. of Henderson, Western Australia, started looking last year for a CEO to lead its U.S.-based operations, the job description must have been daunting. They wanted a leader to take the helm of their newly built shipyard in Mobile, Ala., and turn it into a major contractor for both military and commercial vessels in the United States. Austal had recently entered the U.S. market for the first time, intent on competing with higher-profile rivals such as Incat/Bollinger, Derecktor Shipyards and Kvaerner. The company settled on Alan Lerchbacker, 50, an energetic former Navy Aquanaut with a business background, who took the position in February 2002. Lerchbacker had never heard of Austal until a headhunter contacted him.
