pyramid. Safety issues are under the auspices of the
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Kimmel deals with the Environmental Protection Agency
and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and his
company must also adhere to regulations germane to
railways. Compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002 “was painful for everybody, but less so for us,”
according to Kimmel. He had to tweak things, but it
was not difficult for Harsco to comply because strong
financial controls were already in place.
BUILDING BLOCKS
Harsco is a company built on acquisitions, according
to Kimmel, who has participated in several significant
transactions. In one of his first global deals, Kimmel
had to bring together teams in 12 European coun-
tries to accomplish the 2005 purchase of Hnnebeck
GmbH, a leading German-based infrastructure equip-
ment company. Acquiring Brambles Ltd.’s European
services business was another notch on his belt. In
2009, Kimmel and his team orchestrated the acqui-
as senior attorney at Harsco. Kimmel was promoted
to the general counsel position in 2004. He gradu-
ated in 1982 from Lehigh University with a degree
in accounting, and he received his law degree three
years later from what is now Pennsylvania State Uni-
versity Dickinson School of Law.
You can’t know 50 countries’ laws, but you must
know where the risks lie.”
The company operates in 50 countries, with more
than 70% of its income generated overseas. As a
result, Kimmel spends one-quarter of his time on the
road. It is critical for him to grasp foreign laws. An in-house lawyer “needs to have a sense that something
is hot. You can’t know 50 countries’ laws, but you must
know where the risks lie,” he said. A benefit of “the
computer having become the center of my universe”
is that the distances and difficult logistics of intercontinental work are now less of a problem. Kimmel and
counsel handle union issues, and he interacts with
European work councils to resolve such matters.
sition of Costa Rica’s ESCO Corp., a multifaceted
industrial applications company. During the past year,
building an intellectual property structure has been
a Kimmel focus. “I come from Hershey Foods, where
trademarks were the lifeblood.”
PERSONAL
The native of Huntingdon, Pa., is married to Kimberly
Kimmel, a “stay-at-home mom.” They have five chil-
dren: Jonathan, Maria, Elisabeth, Olivia, and Joshua.
Kimmel fills his spare time with biking, reading and
hiking. “I tend to be somebody who builds things and
who takes things apart.”
Kimmel’s management credo: “Get good people
and develop them; don’t get preoccupied with the
urgent at the expense of the important; maintain bal-
ance in your life; stand your ground when you know
you are right, for your company’s sake and your own;
don’t get caught up in the peer pressure of Corporate
America.”
ROUTE TO THE TOP
Kimmel’s career commenced with 12 years spent
at Hershey Foods Corp. in various legal roles. He then
had a two-year term as vice president for administration and general counsel at a Hershey spinoff, New
World Pasta Co. He spent the following two years
A BOOK AND MOVIE
Integrity, by Henry Cloud and The Reason for God,
by Timothy Keller; and Old Dogs.
—ROGER ADLER
An earlier version of this profile appeared in The
National Law Journal on June 28, 2010.
