PEOPLE The ITA’s new numero uno is an old hand at titanium

Dec 01, 2007 | 12:34 PM |

In 2002, when Charles H. Entrekin temporarily exited the domestic titanium industry, the number of attendees at the International Titanium Association's annual conference in Orlando, Fla., totaled fewer than 425.

He's back in the industry now and recently was elected president of the trade group at its 2007 annual meeting, which also was held in Orlando. If there is one single statistic that reflects the industry's transformation during that five-year gap, it is the number of people who showed up at this year's meeting 1,050.

Entrekin rejoined Titanium Metals Corp. (Timet) Jan. 1, 2007, and is now president of global operations and chief operating officer of the company working out of its Morgantown, Pa., facility. When he left Timet five years ago, the industry was still reeling from the impact of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and it wasn't until well into 2004 that the first signs of a recovery emerged. There was a general consensus then that another sponge plant would probably never be built in this country.....