Mississauga, Ont.-based NSK Canada Inc. welcomes Michael St. Jacques to the position of general manager for the global bearing and linear motion company's Canadian operations.

He joins NSK with extensive international experience in manufacturing, distribution, finance, sales and marketing. Most recently general manager of Latham International, his career has also included progressive management roles at multi-nationals Karcher, Interactive Media, Orkin/PCO-Quebec and Group Service France.

"The quality of NSK's customer relationships and industry leading bearing and linear motion products are what attracted me to this opportunity," St. Jacques says. "NSK's commitment to the Canadian market and our continued investments in supporting our ever growing customer base make this an exciting time to lead the business."

NSK Canada is part of NSK Americas, which provides motion and control products and engineering support to both OEM and after-market customers in sectors such as: automotive, food, mining, oil and gas, pulp and paper, energy and others. His immediate plans to support NSK's Canadian customers include:

• Expanding the technical support team in the Atlantic Region, Ontario, Quebec and Alberta to provide additional customer support and advice on maximizing NSK bearing performance;
• Providing ongoing technical and product information for customers and distributors to extend the life of NSK's wide range of products;
• Delivering ongoing technical specifications, product advancements and engineering advice through online (www.ca.nsk.com) and personal support; and
• Leveraging the learning from NSK's 13 global technology centres and $60 million USD annual research investment to solve customers' complex technical challenges.

The company recently launched a new website in both official languages to offer an array of online product information, technical tools and other resources to English and French speaking customers across Canada.
www.ca.nsk.com