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Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (Cleveland, OH) (Nasdaq: LECO) has announced the election of Steven B. Hedlund as Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, and Earl L. Ward as Vice President, Mergers, Acquisitions and Investor Relations.
In the newly created position of Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, Mr. Hedlund will be responsible for strategic planning, strategic analysis and long-term project management for the Company. He joins Lincoln after spending the past five years with operating units of Fortune Brands, Inc., most recently as Vice President of Growth and Innovation for Master Lock Company. Prior to that assignment, he was Vice President, Strategic Planning and New Business Development for the Home and Hardware Group. Before joining Fortune Brands, Mr. Hedlund was a principal with the management consulting firm Booz Allen & Hamilton in Cleveland. Mr. Hedlund earned bachelor of arts and MBA degrees from Dartmouth College.
Also in a newly created position, Mr. Ward will be responsible for Lincoln's mergers and acquisitions program and investor relations. In addition, the risk management and corporate relations departments will report to him. He joins the Company from the former Washington Group International (WGI), which was acquired in 2007 and is now known as the Washington Division of URS Corp. At WGI, he was Treasurer and Vice President of Investor Relations. Prior to that position, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for WGI's Energy & Environment and Defense business units.
Before joining WGI, Mr. Ward had a 20-year career at Honeywell. He held several managerial positions of increasing responsibility. His last position was Group Controller for the Space Systems Division. Previous assignments included Controller/Director of Information Technology for the Honeywell Technology Center, and Director of Treasury Operations. Mr. Ward holds a bachelor of science degree in finance from the University of Colorado and an MBA from the University of Southern California.