Compass Minerals recently announced the appointment of Gordon Dunn as the company’s new Chief Operations Officer (COO). He will have executive management responsibility over all global operations within the company’s Salt and Plant Nutrition businesses, building upon his tenure leading the company’s UK operations since January 2012.
Dunn succeeds George J. Schuller Jr. who had served as the company’s COO since September 2019. As part of this transition, Schuller has left Compass.
“In addition to Gordon’s extensive experience leading safe and responsible operations, his technical expertise will serve us well as we focus on operational efficiencies and cost reduction initiatives across our operating footprint,” said Compass President and CEO Edward C. Dowling Jr. “His deep familiarity with our salt mining assets will be particularly important. I’m confident his steady leadership will further bolster the strong performance culture we are building, which we expect will ultimately translate to improved returns for shareholders.”
The company said Dunn brings more than 40 years of combined experience in mining. Prior to joining Compass in October 2007, he held positions of increasing responsibility at Air Liquide UK Ltd., Linde Gas, and UK Coal. Dunn earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Hull and a Bachelor of Science in mining and mining engineering from Nottingham Trent University.
Compass also announced that it has promoted Gary Sinclair to Managing Director, UK operations. He will be responsible for leading all of the company’s operations in the UK, specifically Winsford salt mine and DeepStore records management.
Sinclair joined Compass in 2009 and has held positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as Operations Director for Compass’s UK operations. Prior to joining the company, he was Head of Engineering at Building Adhesives Ltd. Compass said he brings more than four decades of engineering and operations management experience to his new role.
Sinclair received a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Staffordshire University and a Master of Business Administration from Keele University, both in Staffordshire, England.
Compass on March 7 announced the election of Vance O. Holtzman to the company’s Board of Directors at its fiscal 2024 annual meeting of shareholders. Holtzman was nominated for appointment by Koch Industries Inc. (Koch), pursuant to the terms of the strategic equity investment in Compass in 2022 by Koch Minerals and Trading LLC (KM&T), a Koch subsidiary (GM Sept. 16, 2022).
Holtzman has served as the Senior Vice President of Investments at KM&T since 2018. Prior to that, he served in a number of other roles of increasing responsibility at Koch Minerals (KM&T’s predecessor), including as CFO. Before joining Koch, Holtzman was a Relationship Manager at Cullen Frost Bank. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of KOMSA, PQ Corp., and Hybar LLC.
Holtzman earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Kansas and a Master of Business Administration in energy finance from the University of Texas.
Former Compass board members Jon Chisholm and Jill Gardiner did not stand for re-election at the annual meeting. With these changes, the Board of Directors is now eight members.