Franklin To Resign As Mead Manager

After 34 years with Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., Mead works manager Tom Franklin will resign at the end of the year.

Franklin, 56, is leaving to pursue personal interests. He will be replaced by Jim Chapman, 48, most recently the plant manager at the company’s Newark, Ohio, extrusion plant.

Franklin started working for Kaiser at the company’s Chalmette, La., plant in 1963. He moved to Spokane in 1986, working at a variety of positions, including process engineering, central maintenance and sales and marketing.

Mead is Chapman’s second post in Spokane. From 1990 to 1994, he worked as finishing superintendent and plant operations manager at Trentwood’s flat-rolled products mill. He has worked at Kaiser for 23 years.

Kaiser Mead, the company’s largest smelter plant, employs 1,200 people.

, DataTimes