HEPACO Names Ken Smith as Chief Executive Officer

CHARLOTTE, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–HEPACO, LLC, a leading provider of environmental and emergency response
services across 30 offices in the Eastern United States, announced today
that it has named former Fluor Corporation executive Kenneth L. Smith as
Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mike Szomjassy, who has
served as Interim CEO, will continue to serve on HEPACO’s Board of
Directors.

Mr. Smith has more than 34 years of management, operations, sales,
engineering, and construction experience across industrial and
environmental verticals. Prior to joining HEPACO, Mr. Smith served in
various leadership positions over a 20 year tenure at Fluor Corporation.
He was most recently a Senior Vice President, developing and expanding
integrated service solutions across all Fluor business groups. Prior to
his time at Fluor, Mr. Smith served in a senior leadership role at
Jacobs Engineering Group. At Jacobs he used his general management,
marketing, and innovation skills to improve business performance across
a diverse range of offerings.

Philip V. Petrocelli, Operations Partner of the Business Services Group
at Gryphon and Chairman of the Board of HEPACO, said, “We are pleased to
welcome Ken to HEPACO and believe his leadership skills will be
instrumental in continuing to build this company. We are equally
grateful to Mike Szomjassy for acting as Interim CEO while the company
transitioned to a permanent chief executive. We expect to take full
advantage of his continued active engagement on the Board.”

Mr. Smith added, “I am excited to be working alongside Gryphon and the
HEPACO team to continue to execute on the company’s strategic growth
initiatives. HEPACO is a best-in-class environmental services provider
with strong momentum. I look forward to working with our team to expand
our geographic footprint and service capabilities for the benefit of our
customers.”

Mr. Szomjassy commented, “It’s been an honor to have worked with the
Gryphon team on the leadership transition of HEPACO. I know the company
will continue to expand its market leadership. I look forward to
contributing to their story in my role as a strategic advisor.”

About HEPACO

HEPACO (www.hepaco.com)
is a leading provider of emergency response, environmental remediation,
maritime services, wastewater treatment, and other industrial services
across a diversified group of end markets including rail, oil & gas,
transportation, power & utility, and manufacturing. The company has a
broad geographic footprint across 30 offices in the Mid-Atlantic and
Southeast United States and offers a three-hour or less response time
within its footprint. The Company provides services on both an emergency
response and planned basis and has completed more than 45,000 projects
since inception.

About Gryphon Investors

Based in San Francisco, Gryphon Investors (www.gryphoninvestors.com)
is a leading private equity firm focused on profitably growing and
competitively enhancing middle-market companies in partnership with
experienced management. For 20 consecutive quarters, Gryphon has been
ranked in Preqin’s prestigious quarterly PE report as one of North
America’s top-decile buyout firms based on consistency of strong
investment returns. Managing over $2.6 billion of equity investments and
capital since 1997, the firm has an extensive track record of leading
equity investments of $50 million to $200 million per portfolio company
with sales ranging from approximately $100 million to $500 million.
Gryphon prioritizes investment opportunities where it can form proactive
partnerships with owners and executives to build leading companies,
utilizing Gryphon’s capital, specialized professional resources, and
operational expertise. Gryphon closed its fourth private equity buyout
fund, Gryphon IV, in November 2016 at $1.1 billion, and raised a $100
million captive mezzanine fund, Gryphon Mezzanine Partners, L.P., in
August 2017.

Contacts

Owen Blicksilver Public Relations, Inc.
Caroline Luz, 203-656-2829
[email protected]