Ex-Upjohn Executive to Head Whiteworth : New Chief Chosen for ATC Subsidiary

In its first major move since acquiring control of Applied Circuit Technology, Locke-Sweatman Investments of Austin, Tex., said it has appointed a new president to head up the company’s generic pharmaceuticals subsidiary, Gardena-based Whiteworth International Inc.

The Texas partnership, which bought 33% of Anaheim-based ACT last month, has named Dale Garlow, 45, a former Upjohn Co. executive, to fill the seat vacated by Walter R. Menetrey. Menetrey, who was ACT’s president and chief operating officer, had also acted as head of the subsidiary. He left ACT in September, a day after the company reported the biggest nine-month loss in its history.

Garlow comes to Whiteworth after 20 years with Upjohn Co., the giant Kalamazoo, Mich., pharmaceutical company. Most recently, he oversaw the company’s North-Central division, which is based in Kalamazoo.

“Mr. Garlow has been a business associate for a number of years and we . . . determined that his experience with Upjohn over the last 20 years would be instrumental in taking Whiteworth to a profitable future,” said Don M. Sweatman, ACT’s chairman and chief executive officer.

Sweatman declined to discuss plans for Whiteworth, explaining that Garlow, who will also serve on ACT’s board of directors, will be in total control of the subsidiary when his position becomes effective Jan. 19.

Once Garlow “gets a handle” on his new responsibilities, Sweatman said, he will be the one to decide what changes, if any, are to be instituted at Whiteworth.

Whiteworth was acquired by ACT’s former management in March in an effort to diversify the company so that it was not totally reliant on the weakened computer market. During ACT’s second fiscal quarter, five weeks’ worth of the subsidiary’s sales contributed $1.75 million, or about 43% of Applied Circuit Technology’s total revenues of $4.1 million. In the company’s third quarter, Whiteworth’s sales made up two-thirds of the company’s $7.1 million in revenues.

Sweatman said that the subsidiary’s sales currently total about $19 million in annual sales and that it can potentially generate $30 million.