Jeswant Gill to lead Harsco Rail

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Jeswant Gill will assume the role on Nov. 1.

He succeeds Scott Jacoby, who resigned in August. Nick Grasberger, president and CEO of Cumberland County-based Harsco Corp., has led the division in the interim.

Jacoby’s departure came the same month Harsco released its second quarter earnings statement, which reported that strong metals and minerals performance was offset by a loss in the company’s rail division.

The issue stems from railroad maintenance equipment contacts with the Swiss federal rail system, officials said.

Gill brings to the role three decades of global leadership experience in multinational manufacturing and technology firms. He comes to Harsco from The Arcadia Group International, where he served since 2015 as managing director of the global solutions group, providing business advisory and strategic planning services to multinational clients.

Previously, he led Kennametal’s $1.3 billion industrial segment as executive vice president, where he delivered revenue growth and margin expansion in emerging markets. Before that, Mr. Gill served as vice president, global services for the industrial technologies sector of Ingersoll Rand, where he developed and launched offerings to address the equipment/systems life cycle needs of customers.

He also served as president of Ingersoll Rand’s security technologies business in the Asia-Pacific region, and has held leadership positions in Asia and North America with Invensys PLC and Johnson Controls Inc.

“Jeswant is an inclusive, collaborative leader who has built and led high-performance global teams and driven significant business growth across the Americas, Europe and Asia,” Grasberger said. “His leadership accomplishments fit perfectly with our aspirations for the Harsco Rail business.”

Gill earned both a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics and an MBA from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

He will be based at Harsco Rail’s division headquarters in Columbia, S.C.

The division provides railroad track maintenance and construction to more than 125 customers throughout the world.

Harsco Corp. is based in Wormleysburg.