Breischaft who has more than 30 years’ experience in the copper industry will chair the Board of Directors of the 93-year-old association, which is headquartered in Madison, Connecticut, USA.

He is president of SDI La Farga Copperworks, a copper rod and wire mill in New Haven, Indiana, a post he has held since November 2013. Prior to that Breischaft held roles of increasing importance including vice president and general manager of Cerro Plumbing, a Marmon Group/Berkshire Hathaway Company; plant manager for Belden Americas - Nogales, Mexico and Belden/Thermax; and positions as process engineer, engineering manager, plant manager, and manufacturing manager at the Essex Group, Inc./Superior Essex.

An active WAI member since 2000, Breischaft received its 2006 Wire Link Scholarship. His valuable contributions through volunteer leadership within the association include serving two terms on WAI’s Board of Directors; participation on WAI’s Executive and Oversight Committees; chair of its Member Relations Committee; and Executive Committee Liaisonship to its Finance, Memorial Awards, and Education Committees. In addition to his new role as 2023 WAI president, Breischaft will serve as Co-Chair of its Conference Programming Committee, Chair of its Oversight Committee, and Executive Committee Liaison to its Education Committee.

Commenting on this new appointment, Breischaft said, “I look forward to advancing the latest WAI education initiative, developing multimedia training modules, and building on WAI’s legacy products such as handbooks. This will be a crucial step for the next generation of industry engineers and operators.”

Breischaft holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana, USA, and an M.B.A. degree from Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, Indiana, USA.

The Wire Association International, Inc. is governed by a network of volunteers from around the globe. The members of the 2023 Association Executive Committee accompanying Kurt F. Breischaft for the 2023 term of office are: First Vice President Daniel Blais, Prysmian Group; Second Vice President Eric Bieberich, Fort Wayne Wire Die; David Fisher, James Monroe Wire+Cable Corp. and immediate Past President James R. York, Insteel Industries, Inc.

SDI La Farga Copperworks is a joint venture between Steel Dynamics, Inc. and the La Farga Group. The company is driven by a team of just over 120 employees and utilizes a patented advanced refining process that melts environmentally friendly material as well as established shaft furnace technology. Both processes yield a high purity cast and rolled 8 mm copper rod product. Steel Dynamics Inc., headquartered in Fort Wayne, IN, is a member of the S&P 500 and is one of the largest metals recyclers and metals producers in North America. La Farga Group, headquartered in Barcelona, Spain has been providing copper recycling solutions since 1808.

WAI, founded in 1930, is a not-for-profit association with more than 2000 individual members in 50 countries. The association serves the educational needs of the wire and cable manufacturing industry through a variety of products and services. WAI manages the Interwire Trade Exhibition and the WAI Operations Summit+Wire Expo.

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