Plumbing News

On The Move - March 2006

Bradford White announced the retirement of Anthony Maglione, who had been with the company since 1966, finishing his career as director of international sales. That position will be filled by James Resnick, who has been with Bradford White since 1981, most recently as director of product development. The company also announced the appointment of Dennis Travisano to the newly created position of director of business development. Travisano is a 25-year plumbing industry veteran who most recently served as vice president wholesale for Jacuzzi's Bath Division.

John W. Norris Jr., chairman of Lennox International, will retire on July 21, 2006. Director David V. Brown will retire on April 20, 2006, and Walden (Wally) O'Dell resigned from his director position. The company's board governance committee recommended that Richard L. Thompson, current vice chairman, be elected to succeed Norris. A search will be initiated to fill the director positions.

Paul W. Jones was elected chairman, president and CEO of A.O. Smith Corp. Previously, he was elected president and COO in January 2004. Prior to joining A.O. Smith, he was chairman and CEO of U.S. Can Co. Inc.

John Galyen was named president of Danfoss Refrigeration & Air Conditioning in North America. He had been serving with Danfoss as vice president of commercial refrigeration OEM sales & marketing since 2003. Also, Danfoss appointed Jamie Kitchen as training manager. He joined Danfoss in 1999 and most recently was a sales account manager in Canada serving commercial refrigeration OEM customers.

Hansgrohe-Germany elected Richard Grohe, the grandson of the company founder, to the board of directors. Also, Russ Wheeler was named president of Hansgrohe-North America. He formerly was vice president of sales for Your Other Warehouse, one of the plumbing industry's leading master distributors, owned by Home Depot. Wheeler replaces Chris Marshall, who in August 2005 was promoted within the Masco Corp.

Amtrol named Larry Guillemette as chairman, president and CEO, and Joseph DePaula as executive vice president, treasurer, secretary and CFO. The appointments were made after Albert Indelicato resigned as chairman, president and CEO, citing personal reasons.

Jacuzzi Brands appointed Edmund Krainski to the newly created position of vice president, finance. Over the past 22 years, Krainski has served in management positions at Zurn.

Symmons Industries named Dominic Solis as vice president of sales and marketing. Previously, he was the company's director of marketing.

Black & Decker named Penny Mauro as general manager of BDHHI Canada, and Joe Woodhouse as vice president of sales, security hardware, Canada. Mauro joined BDHHI International Group in 2004 as vice president of marketing; Woodhouse was vice president of sales, Canada.

AERCO International announced senior-level promotions throughout the organization: Neil Pilaar was named director of global sales; Mark Croce was named director of marketing; Jerry Fioriti was named director of technology; Mohamed Mehdi Doura was named senior product engineer; and Ken Banuls was named senior lab technician.

John Aykroyd was named national sales manager for Sloan Valve Co. Previously, he was national sales manager for Halsey Taylor.

Perfection Corp. appointed Olivier Braquet to head its export sales expansion efforts. Braquet is the former director of Ohio's Cleveland State University International Business Center.

Ron Yeomans has been named national sales manager-Canada for Briggs Industries. He had been associated with Black & Decker since 1985.

Basco promoted Linda Garman to the newly created position of director of marketing communications. She has been a Basco employee for nearly 25 years, most recently as director of customer relations. The company also hired Jeff Roy as director of customer service. His previous experience is in the industrial valve industry.

Moen announced the following appointments: Mike Bauer to senior director/wholesale marketing (he had been senior director of marketing, product development and quality for Creative Specialties International (CSI), a division of Moen); Allen Talley to director of commercial marketing and product development (most recently he was a senior project manager); Tim Millay has joined the company as director of commercial sales (he previously worked as vice president of sales for Swan Corp.); and Gary Pember was named director of marketing and product development for CSI (he previously served CSI as director/operations and finance).

Paul Sellers was hired as an account manager with Rinnai America. He previously served as Western regional sales manager with A.O. Smith.