Marietta, Georgia – YKK Corporation of America's president and CEO, Alex Gregory, was elected chairman of the company's board of directors on April 29, 2011. YKK Corporation of America ("YCA") is a subsidiary of YKK Corporation, a worldwide manufacturer of fasteners marketed under the YKK brand and architectural building products marketed under the YKK AP brand. Headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, YCA oversees thirteen companies operating throughout North and Central America, Colombia, and the West Indies. As chairman, Gregory succeeds YKK Corporation's president and CEO, Tadahiro "Tad" Yoshida, who will continue to serve as a director on YCA's board.

Commenting on his new assignment, Gregory stated, "I am honored to have been given these new responsibilities. I pledged to Mr. Yoshida and to our board of directors my best efforts in ensuring our next fifty years will be as productive and rewarding as the past fifty years have been. I am indebted to more than 2,500 YKK and YKK AP colleagues in this hemisphere for the work they do on behalf of our thousands of customers in dozens of industries.

"Three decades ago our business was local, which meant YKK could best meet the needs of its customers by manufacturing locally in more than seventy countries. By 2000, many of our customers were doing business globally, so YKK sought global solutions to meet our customers' needs. Organizationally, YKK has transitioned from numerous local companies to six large geographic regions circling the globe.

"Speed to market is essential. We develop hundreds of new products each week for consumers in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. Our effectiveness is measured by how quickly we can develop and deliver these products to our customers. The industry has become many times more complex and difficult in the last twenty years. This challenge has only intensified with the constant price pressures we face from global competitors, but we are committed to maintaining manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. and throughout the rest of the region.

"We are tremendously proud of our YKK and YKK AP brands, the value of which is directly linked to the quality of our products and services. The best way we can control quality is by manufacturing the products ourselves. We are confident we can remain globally competitive in this region because we have extremely efficient manufacturing centers. As a matter of fact, we export many of the fastening products we manufacture here to other regions around the world."

Gregory, a native of Eatonton, Georgia, joined YKK (U.S.A.) Inc. in 1973 as the weaving department manager in its then new zipper manufacturing center in Macon, Georgia. He was promoted to vice president of Manufacturing (1978) and then to senior vice president (1982). He became senior vice president of Corporate Planning (1991) for YCA in Marietta, and then executive vice president of Corporate Development (2000). He was named president and CEO of YCA in 2001, and will continue to serve in that role in addition to his duties as chairman of the board. Gregory was named YKK's first non-Japanese Group Officer (2004) for YKK Corporation (Japan). He also served on YKK Corporation's board of directors in Japan (2008 ~ 2010). Gregory, who is a retired Naval Reserves Commander with 28 years of service, spent three years on active duty in the United States Navy before joining YKK.

Gregory has been deeply involved with Atlanta's and Georgia's Japanese community for many years. He is on the board of the Japan America Society of Georgia. In 2000, Gregory received the Japanese Chamber's first annual Yamabikokai Award.

Gregory has a degree in Textile Engineering from Georgia Tech, and MBA and MSA degrees from Georgia College in Milledgeville. In 2001, he was inducted into Georgia Tech's Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni and he received Georgia College's Alumni Achievement Award. In 2002, he was honored as Georgia College's Executive of the Year. He has been active on the Georgia College Foundation's Board of Trustees for more than twenty years, serving as chair on two occasions. In 2004, he received the first-ever "Governor George Busbee Award" from Governor Sonny Perdue. In 2009, he was appointed by Governor Perdue to serve on the State Workforce Investment Board. In 2010, he was inducted honoris causa into the Georgia College Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) honor society.

Gregory and his wife Glenda have two grown children: a daughter, Kristen, and a son, Alex III. They also have two granddaughters, Emma and Mya, and a grandson, Alex IV.