News & Updates

East Penn Expands Roles of Top Executives

DeLight Breidegam, Chairman, and Dan Langdon, President, recently announced the expanded roles of Robert Flicker (top picture) to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer: Manufacturing, Engineering and Distribution and Christopher E. Pruitt (bottom picture) to Executive Vice President of Sales, Finance and Administration.

Mr. Flicker joined East Penn as an Engineering Technician in 1972. He has served as Product Engineer, Director of Engineering, Chief Engineer, and Vice President of Engineering. In 1994 he assumed his former position, Executive Vice President of Engineering and Manufacturing.

Mr. Flicker will further expand his involvement in overseeing the company’s daily operations, including logistics, while remaining focused on engineering, product development and manufacturing.

Mr. Flicker is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), Battery Council International (BCI), the International Lead Zinc Research Organization (ILZRO), the Electrochemical Society, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (I.E.E.E.). Currently, he is chairman of the BCI Technical Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for Berks County Red Cross and the Berks County Senior Citizen Council.

Mr. Flicker earned a B.S. in physics from Moravian College in 1971 and a M.S. in physics from Lehigh University in 1974.

Mr. Pruitt joined East Penn in 1994 assuming the position of Controller, and served most recently as Senior Vice President of Finance/CFO.

In his new position, Mr Pruitt will continue to directly oversee the company’s financial operations. He will also expand his involvement in sales, sales operations as well as administrative functions including IT, customer service and order entry.

Mr. Pruitt is a member of both the American and Pennsylvania Institutes of Certified Public Accountants. He is also a current board member of the Reading Area Community College Foundation and the Shippensburg University School of Business Advisory Board. He is the past secretary/treasurer of the United Way of Berks County. He is also the past president of The Children’s Home of Reading; and past board member of YMCA, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and Children Advisory Center.

Mr Pruitt earned a B.S.B.A. degree in accounting from Shippensburg University.

East Penn is a leading manufacturer of high quality lead-acid batteries and accessories for the automotive, industrial, marine, telecommunications, commercial, and stationary markets. The company’s quality systems for its entire 480-acre complex have been certified to ISO 9001:2000 and ISO/TS 16949:2002 requirements. The company’s Wire and Cable division has been certified to ISO 14001 Environmental Management System requirements. The company claims to have the largest, most modern single-site manufacturing facility in the world. For more information contact East Penn Manufacturing Co., Inc., Lyon Station, PA 19536 or visit the company’s web site at www.dekabatteries.com.