PEORIA, Ill., Sept. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- After nearly 20 years with Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), Kim Hauer, vice president with responsibility for the Human Services Division (HSD) and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), has elected to leave the company. Hauer has accepted a position as Senior Vice President Global Human Resources with privately held SC Johnson, a 130-year-old company that generates $10 billion in sales annually, employs 13,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world. In order to ensure a smooth transition, Hauer will remain at Caterpillar until November 1. Caterpillar will immediately launch a global search for Hauer's replacement.

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"Over the last six years as Caterpillar's Chief Human Resources Officer, Kim has transformed Caterpillar's global human resources organization into a highly collaborative, truly professional team that drives innovative human resources solutions for the business and our employees," said Brad Halverson, Caterpillar Chief Financial Officer and group president with responsibility for Corporate Services. "Kim has also been instrumental in driving and enhancing a culture of diversity and inclusion across the company. We thank Kim for her years of service and wish her and her family success as she moves into this next phase of her professional career."

Hauer started as an intern in assembly planning at the Lafayette, Indiana, engine manufacturing plant during her third year at Purdue University. She joined Caterpillar full time in 1997 as part of the company's Human Resources (HR) Professional Development Program. She advanced through numerous positions with increasing responsibilities in the areas of human resources, labor relations and succession planning, including a role as a compensation and benefits manager for Caterpillar's Logistics Division based in Belgium. Hauer also held the position of group and regional HR director for Caterpillar based in Geneva, Switzerland. In December 2010, the Caterpillar Board of Directors named Hauer CHRO and vice president with responsibility for HSD. She has a bachelor's degree in management, with emphasis in HR, from Purdue University. In 2016, Hauer was honored by HRO Today Magazine as CHRO of the Year in the lifetime achievement category.

About Caterpillar
For 91 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent. Customers turn to Caterpillar to help them develop infrastructure, energy and natural resource assets. With 2015 sales and revenues of $47.011 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. The company principally operates through its three product segments - Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation - and also provides financing and related services through its Financial Products segment. For more information, visit caterpillar.com. To connect with us on social media, visit caterpillar.com/social-media.

Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release relate to future events and expectations and are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance, and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.

Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global and regional economic conditions and economic conditions in the industries we serve; (ii) government monetary or fiscal policies and infrastructure spending; (iii) commodity price changes, component price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products or significant shortages of component products; (iv) disruptions or volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers; (v) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (vi) failure to maintain our credit ratings and potential resulting increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on our cost of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital markets; (vii) our Financial Products segment's risks associated with the financial services industry; (viii) changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions; (ix) an increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's customers; (x) new regulations or changes in financial services regulations; (xi) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; (xii) international trade policies and their impact on demand for our products and our competitive position; (xiii) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers' needs; (xiv) the impact of the highly competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and pricing; (xv) failure to realize all of the anticipated benefits from initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash flow and to reduce costs; (xvi) additional restructuring costs or a failure to realize anticipated savings or benefits from past or future cost reduction actions; (xvii) inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers; (xviii) compliance with environmental laws and regulations; (xix) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xx) additional tax expense or exposure; (xxi) currency fluctuations; (xxii) our or Cat Financial's compliance with financial covenants; (xxiii) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxiv) union disputes or other employee relations issues; (xxv) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxvi) changes in accounting standards; (xxvii) failure or breach of IT security; (xxviii) adverse effects of unexpected events including natural disasters; and (xxix) other factors described in more detail under "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 16, 2016, for the year ended December 31, 2015.

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SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.