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V&M Star names plant manager
By GRACE WYLER
youngstown
V&M Star has appointed a plant manager for its new pipe mill here, as the company begins to move forward on its $650 million expansion.
Ken Johnson, manager of the existing plant, has been named the general manager of the new fine-quality pipe mill, V&M Star announced Monday.
Johnson will be responsible for the mill expansion at V&M Star’s Youngstown site. He will act as project manager throughout the construction phase of the expansion, and will take on the role of plant manager when the new mill opens.
“We are putting the pieces in place,” Jean Gaetano, spokeswoman for V&M Star, said. “Ken will be the plant manager when the mill is up and running. and he will be responsible for the construction stages before the plant opens.”
The expansion, which was announced in February, is projected to be finished by the end of 2011. The new plant is expected to employ 350 workers.
Eric Shuster will take Johnson’s place as general manager of V&M’s existing operations in Youngstown. Shuster, who has been at the mill for 22 years, has been promoted from his previous position as pipe- mill manager.
Philippe Guenal, a performance analyst for V&M Star parent company Vallourec, has been appointed pipe-mill manager. Guenal served as pipe-mill manager at various Vallourec sites in France and transferred to the Youngstown plant in 2009.