Shaped Up, Shipped Out

As the '90s wound down, J&L's sales fell, operating expenses rose and its stock plummeted. Kennametal brought in four presidents over the course of four years. The parent firm tried to sell J&L, but couldn't get good value for it. So it brought the cataloger private at the end of 2000. Over the next couple of years, the firm hired Moyer; Michael Wessner as president; Nick Darin as vice president of finance, technology and supply chain; Chad Spawr as vice president of human resources; and Joe Scime as vice president of sales. They set out to reinvent and reinvigorate the company.