Press Release: IAMC, Site Selection Magazine Recognize Whirlpool Executive

PHILADELPHIA, September 13, 2011: Donald J. Vitek of Whirlpool Corporation was the recipient of the first Mac Conway Excellence in Corporate Real Estate Award, it was announced September 13th at the Industrial Asset Management Council’s (IAMC) Fall 2011 Professional Forum in Philadelphia. Vitek is director, global real estate program management, at Whirlpool where he reports to Lee R. Utke, MCR, senior director, global corporate real estate.

The award, named in honor of the late Mac Conway, founder of IAMC and Site Selection magazine, is a joint initiative of the two entities that recognizes excellence in one or more of these arenas: overall project return, innovation or process improvement, alignment of the real estate function with corporate strategy, managerial leadership or sustainability. A committee of past IAMC chairmen and Site Selection’s editor in chief, Mark Arend, conducted due diligence and reviewed materials submitted by service providers, peers and colleagues of individuals nominated for the award.

“The Mac Conway Excellence in Corporate Real Estate Award recognizes the IAMC active member who has taken the corporate real estate practice to a new level and is willing to share information about his or her work so that we can all benefit,” said former IAMC Chair Charles McSwain, who co-presented the award with Mark Arend.

“We are confident that IAMC members and Site Selection readers will benefit enormously from learning about the work accomplished by this year’s winner and by future winners,” added Arend. “Donald Vitek brought strategic and managerial excellence to several projects at Whirlpool in recent years, including Project Zenith, a re-tooling of the company’s supply chain and distribution center network across North America; a new manufacturing plant in Cleveland, Tennessee; and Project Everest, Whirlpool’s new North American operations campus in Benton Harbor, Michigan.”

“It is with great honor and humility that I accept this award, which is especially meaningful because it comes from peers in our profession,” said Vitek. “I have been fortunate in my career at Whirlpool to have been surrounded by smart, talented, unselfish and supportive people, including key service providers like Jones Lang LaSalle, who work as a team in every sense of the word. Without these great relationships, none of our collective successes would have been possible.” The award is presented annually at IAMC Fall Professional Forums.

About the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC)
Founded in June 2002, the Industrial Asset Management Council (IAMC) is the leading association of industrial asset management and corporate real estate executives, their suppliers, service providers and economic developers. IAMC is a member-focused association providing strategic insights, highest quality educational resources and exclusive networking opportunities for the leaders of the manufacturing and industrial asset management industry. As of Sept. 7, 2011, the membership of IAMC totaled 542 across the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom. For more information, call (770) 325-3461 or visit www.iamc.org.

About Site Selection magazine
Site Selection magazine, published by Conway Data Inc., delivers expansion planning information to 44,000 executives of fast-growing firms. The senior publication in the development field, Site Selection is also available via Site Selection Online. The SiteNet Dispatch, a weekly e-mail newsletter, is delivered to approximately 44,000 industry professionals. The publication also publishes the “Site Selection Energy Report” and “Site Selection Life Sciences Report” monthly e-newsletters. Conway Data is an international publishing and association management company headquartered in Atlanta. The firm manages the Industrial Asset Management Council, the Development Hall of Fame and the World Development Federation (WDF), offers consulting services and awards the Conway Safe Skies Award.