Osterchrist is New President of Ellicott; Other Changes Announced

Martin Barnes at the celebration of his 50 years with Ellicott.

Craig Murdoch new Ellicott COO.

Heiko Osterchrist new president of Ellicott. 

Heiko Osterchrist has been appointed president of Ellicott Dredge Enterprises (EDE) Marty Barnes has moved to the position of senior vice president in charge of IT and customer service projects and Craig Murdoch takes Barnes’s place as chief operating officer (COO). Fulco Vrooland has joined the company as managing director of the ROHR-IDRE-CO Dredge Systems European division. 

Rohr-IDRECO is a fully-owned subsidiary of EDE.

Peter Bowe president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the company will continue as CEO and remain on the board of directors focusing on business development and strategic opportunities and on supporting corporate relationships.

Regarding the management changes Bowe said “Heiko has been with the company well over a decade and knows the product organization and customers. Marty has been with us for over 50 years will continue to offer us and our clients his unparalleled experience.”

Osterchrist was previously managing director of Rohr International Holdings and Rohr/Idreco operations in the U.S.A. Germany France and Holland. He was on the board of directors of Ellicott from 2002 to 2009 and joined Ellicott full time as vice president in 2011. He managed the acquisition of EDE’s three European ventures: Rohr GMBH in Mannheim Germany; Rohr France Srl in Bet-ting France (maker of bucket ladder and clam-shell dredgers for sand mining); and IDRECO BV in Doetinchem The Netherlands. Idreco developed technology for deep digging dredges in sand mining mine tailings and hydroelectric dam de-siltation.

Bowe praised Craig Murdoch’s experience in manufacturing He was hired by Ellicott as Q.A. Manager in 2010 moved to director of Corporate Process Improvement in 2013 for Ellicott Dredges of Baltimore and Ellicott Dredge Technologies of New Richmond Wisconsin and promoted to General Manager of Ellicott in 2014. As COO he is responsible for manufacturing engineering and materials while continuing oversight of process improvements for both of EDE’s U.S. locations. 

Fulco Vrooland came to Ellicott from Royal IHC where he served as the commercial director of the Dredging Division and was a member of its executive committee. Prior to that he was chief commercial officer of a Japanese manufacturer of specialized marine cargo handling equipment and deputy head of Ship Sales for a Japanese shipyard. 

BOWE COMMERCE DEPARTMENT APPOINTMENT

In October U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker appointed Bowe to the U.S. Commerce Department’s new Trade Finance Advisory Council (TFAC) which will advise the Secretary on private sector trade financing for U.S. exporters concentrating on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their foreign buyer clients. 

Bowe is one of 20 business people chosen for the council. Its inaugural meeting was held on November 18 at the Department of Commerce library in Washington D.C. where the members were sworn in to the committee.

The TFAC will give the Department of Commerce input on strategies for export promotion and trade finance education for exporters. 

Myrna LaBarre accepting her Executive Management Award from CEO Magazine.

MYRNA LABARRE HONORED

In April CEO Magazine selected Ellicott’s Corporate Secretary Myrna LaBarre for its Executive Management Award recognizing her leadership and accomplishments. An independent committee of business leaders selected LaBarre for this award based on criteria of finding those who uphold the highest ethics lead collaboratively and creatively and enhance and support the organization’s mission.

She was honored at a gala reception on March 24 2016. CEO Magazine noted that after more than 50 years with Ellicott LaBarre still has what it takes to help newer management members understand how Ellicott works and how it has stayed in business for over 130 years. 

She defined her recipe for success: “To be honest be helpful accept your mistakes and improve upon them.”