Jan. 17, 2006 — Ohio Coatings Co. (OCC) announced the promotion of Phillip E. Withum to the newly created position of Vice President—Commercial, effective January 1, 2006. The new position reflects enhanced responsibilities, including black plate procurement and all sales activities.

Withum had previously held the position of General Manager—Commercial. He has successfully transitioned OCC's distribution function from Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel to OCC over recent months, while also enhancing distributor relationships from outside distributors, including Nippon Steel Trading America and JFE Shoji Trading.

"Phil has demonstrated exemplary leadership in the initial phases of developing Ohio Coatings' direct sales activities through OCC personnel," said Jim Tennant, President of OCC. "As part of his promotion to Vice President, Phil also will be appointed as an officer of the company, which will entail additional duties relative to corporate dealings."

Withum joined OCC in 1997 as General Manager—Commercial. Previously, he was with Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel for 25 years with the position of Manager Corporate Contract Sales. He has a degree in Marketing from the University of Notre Dame.

Ohio Coatings Co. is a premier tin coating facility jointly owned by Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. and TCC Steel of Seoul, South Korea. The tin coated material it produces is used in the container industry, primarily in the United States, for sanitary food cans and general line cans including paint cans and aerosols, along with oil filter parts.