SI Group Continues to Advance with Additions to the Global Executive Team
By Si Group, PRNETuesday, July 19, 2011
SCHENECTADY, New York, July 20, 2011 -
SI Group, Inc., a leading chemical manufacturer, announced the
appointment of Traci Hockstra as Vice President, Global Human
Resources and Milan Knezevic as Executive Director, Global Research
and Development. SI Group continues to build its leadership
team to align with its strategic direction in the advancement of
seven key global market segments and global growth.
Owing to the evolving strategic direction, the company’s goal is
to add diversity of experience and further increase organizational
capabilities. In 2010, the company re-designed several positions,
changed the scope of selected functions to further advance the
company’s strategy and re-positioned its key talent for enhanced
alignment. This resulted in approximately 150 new hires for current
and new positions between 2010 and 2011 at SI Group.
SI Group has been investing significant time and resources to
obtain the right talent and continues to utilize a recruitment
process that entails comprehensive interviews and extensive
testing.
“We base our recruitment effort on finding candidates that are
an overall fit with the culture of our company. We take into
account whether the candidate is a good personality match and could
work well within our culture and make valuable contributions to our
team,” said Stephen J. Large, President and CEO, SI Group. “Our
primary goal is to ensure that we hire people who are aligned with
our core values.”
“The proof that this approach has been successful is the
exceptional talent we have been able to obtain over time. Employees
choose SI Group due to our strong Brand reputation and the essence
of our culture,” continued Stephen J. Large, President and CEO, SI
Group. “SI Group is proud of its long standing employment record.
In 2011, 49 of our global employees have reached the milestone of
being with our organization for 35 years.”
Getting a skilled global HR professional was a critical task as
the company places great emphasis on integrating new team members
into its organizational framework after being hired. One of
Hockstra’s main objectives is the development of a robust
Onboarding and Training program to enable new hires to elevate the
synergy of the entire team. Testament to the importance of
Human Resources at SI Group is that Traci Hockstra will report
directly to the CEO and therefore serves as a vital piece of SI
Group’s decision making process. Prior to joining SI Group,
Hockstra spent 25 years with Dow Chemical where she held various
positions in Engineering and Production Management before joining
the Human Resources Organization in 1999.
Milan Knezevic, who has taken on the role of Executive Director
of Research & Development, will lead the global R&D
efforts. In 2010 SI Group has developed a strategic process
to take all new opportunities from an idea to commercialization,
and Milan’s leadership will serve as the key component to bring
this process to life. To enable the effective utilization of
this process, SI Group invested in a new programming tool that will
allow global uniformity of all business opportunities. Another
significant step made to progress global R&D efforts is the
recent investment in an application testing lab for Rubber and
Industrial Resin compounds in China. The opening of the new
lab is set to move SI Group closer to the goal of attaining first
place in the Asia Pacific region. Knezevic’s keen understanding of
market needs and his ability to relate to SI Group’s customer base
will further advance the company’s R&D initiatives.
Prior to taking on this role at SI Group, Knezevic worked in
Crios Resinas, Brazil, as the R&D Director. After incorporating
Crios into the SI Group family, Knezevic assumed the position of
R&D Director for the South America region.
About SI Group
SI Group is a family-owned company founded in 1906 and
headquartered in Schenectady, New York. A leading global
developer and manufacturer of phenolic resins, alkylphenolic
resins, alkylated phenols and other chemical intermediates, SI
Group operates 20 facilities in 12 countries around the world.
For more information about SI Group, visit
Contact:
Juliana Lam
Manager - Global Brand and Communications
Office: +1-518-347-4110
Cell: +1-518-248-4178
.
Tags: July 20, New York, Schenectady, Si Group
