The Board of Directors of RS Technologies Inc., a leading global provider of composite utility poles, today announced that George H. Kirby has been named as Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective November 1. Howard Elliott, who has served as the President and CEO of RS for the last 10 years, and whose leadership gave rise to remarkable innovation and growth at the company, will continue to play an integral role, remaining president and chief operating officer with a focus on operations and technology development. The board wishes to express its deep gratitude to Howard for his dedication and impressive contribution during his tenure establishing RS as the premier composite utility pole manufacturer.
George Kirby, an aerospace engineer by education, studied composite structures and applied this knowledge throughout his career at GE Power, AMSC, SAIC and AECOM. Mr. Kirby, a successful public company CEO, has over 20 years of applicable experience commercializing and deploying disruptive technology.
“George’s long career in the power industry commercializing disruptive technologies, plus his experience with capital markets, makes him the right leader at the right time for this phase of the Company’s growth,” says Don Lowry, Chairman of the Board of RS.
Until June 2021, George was the CEO of Ocean Power Technologies (“OPT”) Inc., a leader in innovative and cost-effective low-carbon marine power data and service solutions. OPT is spearheading the commercialization of power generation through the deployment of technology that harnesses the mechanical energy created by waves to electricity.
George Kirby states, “I believe RS possesses industry-leading pole technology and a growth trajectory that makes this a once in a lifetime opportunity to redefine the standard of sustainable and environmentally-responsible power pole grid infrastructure. RS Technologies’ growth has been impressive with increased production capacity coming online early in 2022 at the new St. George, Utah plant to meet surging demand. Increasingly, leading utility executives are recognizing that RS offers innovative solutions that address the threat of grid instability due to the increasing severity and frequency of climate events like fires and hurricanes. The Company’s products provide an indispensable means to address the impact of climate change by creating the grid of the future that is more sustainable and environmentally friendly.”
George received his Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Syracuse University and his Master of Business Administration from Penn State University.
RS is based in Tilbury, Ontario, Canada and is a fully-owned subsidiary of the Calgary, Alberta-based Werklund group of companies. RS designs and manufactures the world’s highest performing composite utility poles that are safer, more fire and storm resilient than any other competing product. RS poles are longer lasting and more reliable than wood, steel or concrete and on an ESG basis are more environmentally friendly, consistently delivering a lower total life cycle cost than any other pole. For more info, visit RSpoles.com.
