BAYER CORP. 39-year-old American takes helm at chemical division

A Warren native is the new president of Bayer's Pa.-based chemical division.
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
Randall Dearth majored in chemistry at college, but it was his German language minor that probably gave him the edge in landing a summer internship at Mobay, later renamed Bayer Corp.
Now the 39-year-old Warren native is president and chief executive officer of Bayer Chemicals and considers his rise to that post a sign that staid, conservative, Germany-based Bayer may be breaking out of its traditional management style.
"My coming in as president sends a strong message: I'm a U.S. native and I'm young," said Dearth, a father of two who coaches his son's soccer team in Robinson, Pa., when he's not traveling to Bayer Chemicals' eight production sites in North America or to global headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany.
Bayer Chemicals is one of five businesses Bayer spun out as independent operating units during a recent corporatewide restructuring. Bayer Chemicals, as well as Bayer's polymers and corporate-business services, are based at the U.S. headquarters in Robinson. Health care, which makes Bayer's signature aspirin and other consumer goods, is based in Connecticut; and crop sciences is based in North Carolina.
Dearth is the youngest of the five executives, all men, appointed to run the reorganized business units in the United States. And he's one of two Americans. The other is Joseph Akers, chief executive of corporate and business services, which handles human resources, legal, communication, treasury and other headquarters functions.
Rough times
Bayer, with about $10 billion in annual sales in the United States, hopes repositioning its major businesses as stand-alone operations under a single, management holding company will help it rebound from a rough couple of years. Besides the slow economy, which has taken its toll on Bayer's industrial-related businesses such as chemicals, the company has faced major problems in its health care unit, including a wave of lawsuits consumers filed after it pulled its cholesterol drug, Baycol, off the market in 2001. The drug was allegedly linked to several deaths.
Dearth, who called the reorganization "probably the biggest change in Bayer's history," said it will reduce bureaucracy and provide the 650 people who work for the chemicals company in North America "more access to me as a manager."
"To have an American running this company is significant. It will be much easier to set a vision for the company ... to have more autonomy and be more entrepreneurial and more independent of the big, Bayer structure."
Besides the organizational changes, Dearth expects a more diversified work force to populate Bayer as the German company shifts from a "very conservative, disciplined model" to one in which "women and minorities are very welcome."
Chemical sales down
Bayer Chemicals, with about $3 billion in annual sales worldwide, doesn't break out how much revenue is generated by its U.S.-based operations. But the business has taken a severe hit this year -- worldwide chemicals sales plunged by 26 percent in the second quarter -- with the war in Iraq and escalating natural gas prices contributing to uncertainty among its big industrial customers who use chemicals in manufacturing.
"Our industry is very driven by energy," said Dearth. "When prices go up, raw material prices go up and it's very tough to recoup our expenses."
Though in its second-quarter report the company said it didn't expect a recovery in its industrial businesses in the second half, Dearth has noticed some signs of a turnaround and is cautiously optimistic. "Demand is back. I think we've turned the corner."
Background
Dearth grew up in Warren, Ohio, earned his bachelor's in chemistry from Hiram College and a master's in polymer science and engineering from Case Western Reserve University.
He joined Bayer in 1988 right after graduate school as a chemist in the automotive coatings lab in Pittsburgh. Two years later, he moved to Bayer's automotive technical center in Detroit and in 1993, began a four-year stint in Germany trying to develop markets in Europe and Asia.
He returned to Pittsburgh and took on a series of management positions in coatings before being appointed president and chief executive of chemicals in April.
Working on new product strategies "is the best part of my job," said Dearth. "I'm a marketing guy. That's where the fun lies ... where you can make a difference."