Greenbrier Announces Management Changes at Its Gunderson Manufacturing Facility and Corporate Offices

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Effective April 15, 2011, The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. ("Greenbrier") (NYSE: GBX) appointed Mark Eitzen vice president and general manager of the Company's Gunderson LLC manufacturing plant in Portland, Oregon.  Mr. Eitzen, who joined Greenbrier in 1999, has been general manager of Gunderson's Marine operation for the past five years. 

In his new assignment, Mr. Eitzen will have responsibility for Gunderson's Marine and Rail operations, which currently employ about 900 personnel on Portland's Willamette River waterfront.  Gunderson is Greenbrier's flagship facility for freight car manufacturing in North America, serving as a shared-services center for many functions, including central engineering, purchasing, and other services.  Its operations currently include the manufacture of newly-built railcars and marine barges, and the repair and refurbishment of railcars.  Under Mr. Eitzen's leadership, Gunderson's Marine operation achieved record production levels and profitability.  Mr. Eitzen will continue reporting to Alejandro Centurion, president of Greenbrier's manufacturing operations in North America.       

Owen Whitehall, who earlier held the position of general manager for Gunderson Rail Operations, will continue to head Global Sourcing for Greenbrier, reporting to Mr. Centurion.  In addition, Mr. Whitehall will work with Mr. Centurion to develop and expand new lines of business for Gunderson and for Greenbrier's manufacturing segment, capitalizing on Gunderson's expertise in heavily engineered products and metal fabrication.  Mr. Whitehall will also work with Mr. Centurion to streamline certain shared services among Greenbrier's various business units.  He will maintain offices at Gunderson with staff located there, and also at Greenbrier's corporate offices in Lake Oswego, Oregon.  

Greg Saxton, senior vice president and chief engineer at Gunderson, will continue to have responsibility for railcar engineering at Greenbrier for its combined North American business segments including Manufacturing, Leasing and Rail Services.  He will continue to report to Mr. Centurion and will maintain offices and staff at Gunderson.

These changes will reunite Gunderson Marine and Rail under a single management structure, as it was historically.  It will also allow more time and attention to be given to the growing activities and demands in global sourcing, as well as new business opportunities.  

About Gunderson

Gunderson, located at a deepwater facility on 75 acres on the Willamette River for over 70 years, manufactures railcars and marine barges, and repairs and refurbishes railcars.  Gunderson has the largest side-launch facility on the West Coast.  The Company currently employs about 900 personnel.  Gunderson was established by brothers Al and Chet Gunderson in 1919; Greenbrier acquired ownership in 1985.  Gunderson is an active participant in the Working Waterfront Coalition (WWC), an organization of businesses concerned about the environmental health and economic vitality of the Portland harbor.

About The Greenbrier Companies

Greenbrier, (www.gbrx.com), headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, is a leading supplier of transportation equipment and services to the railroad industry.  Greenbrier builds new railroad freight cars in its three manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Mexico and marine barges at its U.S. facility.  It also repairs and refurbishes freight cars and provides wheels and railcar parts at 37 locations across North America.  Greenbrier builds new railroad freight cars and refurbishes freight cars for the European market through both its operations in Poland and various subcontractor facilities throughout Europe.  Greenbrier owns approximately 9,000 railcars, and performs management services for approximately 216,000 railcars.

This release may contain forward-looking statements. Greenbrier uses words such as "anticipates," "believes," "forecast," "potential," "contemplates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "seeks," "estimates," "could," "would," "will," "may," "can," and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from in the results contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, reported backlog is not indicative of our financial results; turmoil in the credit markets and financial services industry; high levels of indebtedness and compliance with the terms of our indebtedness; write-downs of goodwill, intangibles and other assets in future periods; sufficient availability of borrowing capacity; fluctuations in demand for newly manufactured railcars or failure to obtain orders as anticipated in developing forecasts; loss of one or more significant customers; customer payment defaults or related issues; actual future costs and the availability of materials and a trained workforce; failure to design or manufacture new products or technologies or to achieve certification or market acceptance of new products or technologies; steel or specialty component price fluctuations and availability and scrap surcharges; changes in product mix and the mix between segments; labor disputes, energy shortages or operating difficulties that might disrupt manufacturing operations or the flow of cargo; production difficulties and product delivery delays as a result of, among other matters, changing technologies or non-performance of subcontractors or suppliers; ability to obtain suitable contracts for the sale of leased equipment and risks related to car hire and residual values; difficulties associated with governmental regulation, including environmental liabilities; integration of current or future acquisitions; succession planning; as well as the other factors as may be discussed in more detail under the headings "Risk Factors" and "Forward Looking Statements" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2010 and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended November 30, 2010 and February 28, 2011, and our other reports on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's opinions only as of the date hereof. Except as otherwise required by law, we do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

SOURCE The Greenbrier Companies, Inc.