New ASiMI manager embraces challenge

Montana native Scott Brown, 41, has taken over the duties of plant manager at Advanced Silicon Materials, Inc.,
from Dave Keck, who has been named the company’s director of business development.

By Leslie McCartney of The Montana Standard

Brown assumed his new position recently after working in Moses Lake, Wash., for the company. The plant is
located southwest of Butte.

He said he is excited by the challenges ahead and the prospect of moving his family, which includes wife
Suzanne and three children, back to his home state after 18 years of being away.
“ This is a fantastic environ ment,” Brown said of ASiMI and its approximately 180 employees at the Butte plant,
which is now the company’s primary silicon manu facturing plant. The company also plans to site its corporate head quarters in Butte from its
previous home at Moses Lake. Keck will remain based in Butte as well.

“ Scott has got great leadership qualities ’85 we are very fortunate to have attracted him,” said Mike Kerschen, president of the compa ny. He also
drew parallels between Brown and his predecessor Keck, who are both Montana natives and graduates of the Montana State University in Bozeman
with chemi cal engineering degrees.

“ Dave is a hard act to follow; he’s done a wonderful job for a number of years but he’s moving on to another challenge,” Kerschen said.
Brown is a native of Richey and has a wealth of business experi ence. He did a stint in the Navy as an officer in the nuclear power program and
spent many years with the Frito Lay company in a variety of roles in several states. He selected the company primarily for the opportunity to learn
differ ent jobs and its well-known man agement development program.

While at Frito Lay, he worked in engineering, as a department man ager, in finance, distribution and human resources before joining ASiMI in
2001. While at Frito Lay, the constant moves took a toll on his family, and he was looking to settle with a small regional company, and ASiMI
proved a perfect fit, he said.

While noting that he is still learning the silicon business, he is encouraged by trends that indicate that the silicon market is coming out of a funk,
caused by a listless economy and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“ It’s coming back strong,” Brown said, adding that the plant is running well and that the company has called back 13 of the approxi mately 20
employees laid off last year. The company also expects to hire five more employees, and prospects have brightened for bringing another
manufacturing unit, known as Phase 2B, online.

“ I want to see the whole place running,” he said.

More people will be hired when those expansion plans are complet ed. He added that by getting the plant fully operational, its fiscal health
improves, making it more profitable. The company’s parent is Komatsu America Corp.
One of Brown’s main business philosophies is an emphasis on teamwork and the importance of every employee and getting them involved in
problem-solving.

“ No leader’s successful without an army behind him,” he said with a smile.
He also believes in celebrating successes of employees and recog nition of work.
“ I love it when people succeed.”

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