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Career Tracks: CSafe, Hangar A, Fontaine and Momentum

Patrick Schafer promoted to chief executive officer; Ron Richards hired as chief technology officer; Jamil Young tapped as division president; and Jim Bertuola named vice president.

Bill Mitchell, left, chairman of PCI Pharma Services and a CSafe Global board member, congratulates new CEO Patrick Schafer. (Photo: CSafe)

CSafe Global’s board of directors has named Patrick Schafer as the company’s new chief executive officer. Schafer, previously CSafe’s chief financial officer, steps into the role after serving as interim CEO since September.

CSafe Global provides temperature-controlled container solutions for the transport of pharmaceuticals and the cell and gene market.

Bill Mitchell, chairman of PCI Pharma Services and a CSafe Global board member, made the announcement last week to CSafe Global employees at the company’s headquarters in Dayton, Ohio, and via videoconference to its more than 200 employees worldwide.

Mitchell said Schafer’s “unmatched knowledge and understanding of the industry and the CSafe organization, along with the exceptional rapport he’s built with the team during his eight-year tenure, will help him lead CSafe to new levels of success.”


Schafer, who joined CSafe as CFO in 2012, has broad international experience, the company said.

Hangar A

Digital air logistics provider Hangar A has named Ron Richards the chief technology officer to manage the product management team and oversee all product initiatives from design to execution.

Richards previously served more than 14 years as CTO for AMI Entertainment and oversaw the development of the second-largest digital jukebox network in the world. He previously served as VP of product development for Lattice Inc., for which he led the development of the first commercially deployed version of MediCopia, a nursing workflow application.

Based in Chicago, Hangar A provides shippers with an end-to-end software-as-a-service platform for moving domestic air cargo throughout the U.S.


Fontaine Modification has named Jamil Young president of its new division. (Photo: Fontaine)

Fontaine Modification

Fontaine Modification has combined its vocational and fleet services business units into a single division, Medium and Heavy Truck Operations, and named Jamil Young as president of the new division.

As part of the business redesign, all Fontaine production facilities nationwide will offer both vocational truck modifications and on-highway truck fleet services. Fontaine medium and heavy modification centers are located near truck plants in Charlotte and Statesville, North Carolina; Chillicothe, Ohio; Garland and Laredo, Texas; and Dublin, Virginia.

The reorganization divides the day-to-day operations of Fontaine’s business between Young and Pat Griffin, recently appointed president of the Light Duty Truck and EV Solutions Division.

Young had served as president of Fontaine Modification Fleet Services since 2014. He joined the company in 2009 and previously was vice president and general manager of operations in the Southern U.S. He also served as senior operations manager and general manager of Fontaine’s Garland modification center.

The Fontaine Modification Medium and Heavy Truck Operations Division will be based in Statesville.

Momentum Logistics

Momentum Logistics has hired Jim Bertuola as vice president and head of the company’s new operation at the Port of Wilmington in Delaware. Momentum Logistics is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Gulftainer Group.

Momentum Logistics provides inland transportation, freight forwarding, warehousing, logistics and container services throughout the Middle East and South Asia and now in the United States.


Bertuola had been with Burris Logistics of New Castle, Delaware, since 2006, serving as vice president and general manager, with responsibility for two facilities with $375 million in sales and 202 union employees.

Previous roles included serving as a transportation manager for OfficeMax and director of operations at Maine Paper & Food Service.

The Port of Wilmington ranks as North America’s top banana port and the nation’s leading gateway for imports of fresh fruit and juice concentrates. GT USA Wilmington LLC operates the port.

GT USA Wilmington announced last week that it had been certified for the Safe Quality Food Safety (SQF) code for storage and distribution by SCS Global Services.

The certification illustrates the port’s “dedication to constant improvement and meeting our customers’ current and emerging needs,” said GT USA Wilmington CEO Eric Casey. “This represents our continued commitment to our partnership with consumers and growers, ensuring quality throughout the entire supply chain.”

Kim Link Wills

Senior Editor Kim Link-Wills has written about everything from agriculture as a reporter for Illinois Agri-News to zoology as editor of the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine. Her work has garnered awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Magazine Association of the Southeast. Prior to serving as managing editor of American Shipper, Kim spent more than four years with XPO Logistics.