Columbus McKinnon, a designer, manufacturer and marketer of material handling products, has appointed Joseph Maliekel as chief accounting officer. Maliekel joined Columbus McKinnon in October 2009 as corporate controller.

He assumes the role from Karen Howard, who also serves as CFO and vice president of finance.

Prior to joining Columbus McKinnon, Maliekel spent two years as part of BDO Seidman's professional services team in Chicago, and prior to that, he was responsible for a variety of financial areas with increasing responsibility, including leading external reporting, policies, and compliance and acquisition accounting for Monsanto Company in St. Louis for over seven years. He began his accounting career at Deloitte in Chicago, where he served for 12 years.