Equipment manufacturer The Manitowoc Co. Inc. on Jan. 6 said it elevated Larry Weyers to president of its cranes unit. He will succeed Eric Etchart, who was in the role for eight years and becomes corporate senior vice president for business development. Weyers, who joined the Wisconsin company in 1998, was global executive vice president for Manitowoc Cranes. The corporation also makes food-service equipment. Manitowoc also elevated Josef Matosevic to senior vice president of global operational excellence. Mark Beffel, vice president of operational excellence, retires on Feb. 2.
The changes follow a Dec. 26 Manitowoc securities filing, noting that activist investor Carl Icahn has acquired a 7.77% ownership stake in Manitowoc and plans to influence a split of its crane and food-services units into two companies. Another investor with an 8.5% stake disclosed last June, had also urged the split.