On March 17, the board of directors of Holcim (US) Inc. elected Patrick Dolberg as President and CEO of the company, effective immediately. Dolberg replaces Paul Yhouse, who has been integral in shaping the development of Holcim (US) over the last 12 years, initially as Chief Financial Officer and for the last 10 years as CEO. Yhouse was asked to remain associated with Holcim Ltd. in an advisory capacity.

Yhouse announced his resignation from the company suddenly, along with several other key Holcim (US) executives, including Senior VP of Manufacturing Gary Sauer, and Senior VP, Treasurer, and CFO Ken Jensen. No official reason was given for the departure of Yhouse and the other top executives. Replacements for these positions were also announced on March 17:

• Bill Townsend was named Deputy CEO and Senior VP of Sustainable Development. Townsend joined Holcim (US) in January 2002 as Senior VP, Business Development, and has more than 25 years of industry leadership experience. Townsend replaces former Senior VP of Sustainable Development David Feldman, who left the company at the end of 2002.

• Badreddine Filali Babe was elected Senior VP of Manufacturing. He joined the Holcim Group in 1980 and worked for the Holcim (Morocco) until 1999, the last four years as Chief Operating Officer. He was promoted in 2000 to VP of Cement Manufacturing and Engineering of St. Lawrence Cement.

• Thomas Aebischer was elected Senior VP, Treasurer and CFO. He joined Holcim Group in 1996 as Head of Corporate Reporting. In 1998, he became Head of Corporate Controlling. Since 2002, he has been CFO of Apasco, Holcim's Mexican company.

Dolberg joined the Holcim Group in 1991 after a career in the petrochemical industry. Shortly thereafter Dolberg was appointed General Manager of Scoribel in Belgium, and led the development of this alternate fuel joint venture operated by Holcim Ltd In 1996, Dolberg became General Manager of a division of Queensland Cement, Holcim Ltd's Australian Group company. In 1998, he was elected President and CEO of St. Lawrence Cement, Holcim's Canadian company.

Because of Dolberg's move, St. Lawrence Cement's board of directors appointed Philippe Arto to replace him as President and CEO. Arto is presently CEO of Queensland Cement in Australia. He joined the Holcim Group in 1992 as General Manager of the Aggregate Division of the French affiliate Origny. From 1998 to 2001, he served as General Manager at Holcim (France Benelux).