The Board of Directors of MSA Safety Inc. has elected Steve Blanco Chief Executive Officer, to be effective May 10, 2024, which follows the company's annual meeting of shareholders. Mr. Blanco, 57, currently serves as MSA's President and Chief Operating Officer. His election is part of a planned management succession and coincides with a decision by MSA Chairman and CEO Nish Vartanian to inform the Board of Directors that he intends to retire as CEO in May of this year.

Mr. Vartanian announced his retirement and Steve's election this afternoon at a planned meeting of the company's global leadership team. Mr. Blanco joined MSA in 2012 as Vice President of Global Operational Excellence. In 2017, he was named President of MSA Americas, responsible for the company's business in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America.

Under Mr. Blanco's leadership, from 2018 through 2022, revenue in the company's Americas segment grew by more than 40%. During his tenure with the company, Mr. Blanco also helped oversee the acquisitions and integrations of Globe Manufacturing, Sierra Monitor and Bacharach. Most recently, he has served as the architect behind the MSA Business System, which is designed to make the company a best-in-class organization by driving a culture of continuous improvement across MSA ?

to innovate, improve and transform the company. On his retirement plans, Mr. Vartanian, 64, a 39-year veteran of MSA, said he intends to continue his service on the MSA Board. He also was recently named a director of Koppers Inc. Mr. Vartanian joined MSA in 1985 as a Sales Intern.

Over the years, he worked in a broad range of sales leadership positions, including Regional Sales Manager, National Sales Manager, and Director of North American Sales. In 2010, Mr. Vartanian led MSA's integration of General Monitors, an acquisition that established MSA as the global leader in fixed systems for gas and flame detection. In 2013, Mr. Vartanian was elected President of MSA's business in North America.

He was later promoted to President of the company's Americas business segment. In 2017, Mr. Vartanian was elected a director and assumed the role of CEO in 2018. He was subsequently elected Chairman in 2020.

Prior to joining MSA, Mr. Blanco worked for Eaton Corporation, a global and diversified power management company. Prior to that, he worked for Ford Motor Company and Visteon, serving in a variety of engineering, plant management and operations roles. An engineer by trade, Mr. Blanco holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering technology from Purdue University, and he earned an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University.

In addition to his MSA responsibilities, Mr. Blanco serves on the board of National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), and Catholic Charities of Pittsburgh.