David Pascual, appointed new General Manager of Fagor Arrasate S. Coop.

David Pascual holds an industrial engineering degree from the Polytechnic University for Industrial Engineering and Telecommunications of Bilbao, and a Master’s degree in Production Management from the Mondragon University, and joined Fagor Arrasate S. Coop in January 1996, where he held several managerial positions in his more than 20 years of working for the cooperative. In June 2009, he became the Director of the Automotive Division, where up till now he led a multidisciplinary team in the areas of operations and sales, focusing on continuous improvement in all processes, international alliances, investments and a Technological Innovation Plan, thus contributing to consolidate the position of Fagor Arrasate S. Coop. as a world leader.

His appointment as the new Manager was adopted during an extraordinary session of the Governing Board, which has agreed to establish a period until April 1 during which Jose Mari Balzategi will gradually be relieved from his duties as the General Manager by David Pascual. Jose Mari Balzategi will then take up his new position as Purchasing and Operations Manager of the Capital Equipment Project of the MONDRAGON Corporation.

On behalf of Fagor Arrasate S. Coop., the Governing Board wishes to express its gratitude to Jose Mari Balzategi for his ten years of service as General Manager. His work during this period has strengthened international exposure and competitiveness of the Fagor Arrasate S. Coop. brand, making it a benchmark in its field of business on the most important markets in the world. In view of the work carried out during this decade, the Governing Board is convinced that in his new position he will make a major contribution to the growth of the MONDRAGON Corporation, a cooperative group of which Fagor Arrasate is part and which comprises almost 300 companies, 15 of which are R&D centers, with a total 75,000 workers.

Likewise, the Governing Board believes that the experience gained by David Pascual throughout the cooperative's value chain will help him to successfully lead the challenges that Fagor Arrasate S. Coop faces in the coming years in the scenario of continuous expansion, growing competitiveness and international exposure of the cooperative.