PEORIA, Ill., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) today announced Vice President Sid Banwart will retire effective October 1, 2009, after more than 41 years with the company. Banwart has been the vice president of Caterpillar's Human Services Division (HSD) since 2004. The division has global responsibility for corporate human resources, compensation and benefits, diversity, public affairs, Caterpillar University, and safety and sustainability initiatives.
"The people of Caterpillar are the most important asset we have," said Caterpillar Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens. "Sid's leadership has been crucial to the success we have made in improving employee engagement over the last five years. On behalf of all of Team Caterpillar, I want to thank Sid for his contributions to Caterpillar over more than 41 years. We wish him well during his retirement," Owens added.
Banwart, 64, joined Caterpillar in 1968 as a development engineer. He held a variety of engineering and management positions until 1986 when he became the manager of Quality Control and Engineering and manager of Technical Services for the Caterpillar subsidiary in Mexico. He later became the quality control manager at the Aurora, Illinois, facility and took assignments in Decatur, Illinois, as technical services manager and product manager for motor graders. Banwart became general manager of the Large Engine Center in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1995. He was elected a vice president in October 1997 and led the company's Technical Services Division. He assumed responsibility for the Component Products Division in 1998 and was named as Caterpillar's first chief information officer and head of the new Systems + Processes Division in 2000.
Banwart holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Iowa State University and an executive MBA from the University of Illinois. He graduated from Duke University's Advanced Management Program, the Business & Public Policy Program at Brookings Institute and the Aspen Institute Leadership Program.
He is a member of the National Academy of HR, serves on the board of directors for the HR Policy Association in Washington, D.C., and the board of directors for The Weitz Company. In the Peoria area, he has been active in a number of organizations and currently serves on the board of the Fayette Companies and chairs the boards for the Heartland Partnership and the Peoria Symphony Foundation.
New responsibilities for Greg Folley
Greg Folley will replace Banwart as HSD vice president. Folley is currently a vice president with responsibility for the Core Components Division. Folley will assume his new duties effective October 1, 2009.
