• Plastimayd added Rich Mitchell to the position of western sales manager for the company. Mitchell has more than 25 years of industry, including time working for SCP and Balboa Water group, among others. He will be responsible for selling, promoting and servicing the Plastimayd, VynAll and CoverLogix brands to dealers and distributors in AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, HI, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY and British Columbia.
“We are excited to have a professional of this caliber join our company,” says Ted Kozikowski, president of Plastimayd LLC.
• HaloSource, the parent company of the SeaKlear brand of premium water treatment products for pools and spas, added Bob Lawlor to the SeaKlear sales team to cover sales for the Northeastern portion of the US. Lawlor is an industry veteran; he owned his own pool business for several years and also worked in distribution at BayState and most recently for Horner. Lawlor will be based out of New Jersey.
• RB Control Systems hired Lex Fogle as the company’s new director of sales and business management. Fogle brings experience in sales, marketing and new business relations and will offer RB Control Systems dealers his expertise in business accounting and finance forecasting.
In addition, RB Control Systems is proud to announce they were ranked one of the top 100 fastest-growing companies in Pittsburgh, PA. The top 100 companies were selected by the Pittsburgh Business Times based on revenue growth between 2009 to 2011. “Our customers are the number one reason for our businesses continued success & we would like to thank them” says Rachael Pritz, executive director at RB Control Systems.
• Marquis appointed Bill Wells as the company’s director of national sales. Jim Johnston, who served as the vice president of both sales and marketing, will now focus exclusively on marketing. Wells' 24-year career — 15 of which have been spent at Marquis — includes time as Marquis’ vice president of retail and most recently served as the director of retail marketing as well as an account executive. Wells will continue to serve as the account executive for Marquis dealers in California, Nevada and Arizona, and in his new role will oversee all Marquis’ domestic account executives.
Jim Johnston has been with Marquis for five years. He joined Marquis as the Vice President of Marketing in 2007, before accepting the dual role of leader for both sales and marketing in 2009. Johnston has extensive marketing experience, spanning 35 years with various companies largely in the sporting goods and apparel industries.
• DSM&T announces Rich Reilly as the company's executive vice president. Reilly will oversee sales, marketing and purchasing while also assuming general management responsibilities. Reilly joins the DSM&T team after a 25-year career with J&J Electronics, a manufacturer and supplier of LED products for the pool and spa industry.
"The opportunity to join a successful, growing company such as DSM&T and help lead them to the next level is something I am very excited about," Reilly says. "DSM&T's ability to provide the tools and resources necessary for meeting the company's present and future goals was the deciding factor in bringing me to the company."
• Coverstar launched a new, expanded website for their automatic, solid and mesh safety covers. The new site showcases new branding and messaging as it positions Coverstar as a one-stop source for automatic and solid/mesh safety covers. It features two iconic characters designed to represent the product lines: AUTO, a robot, for automatic safety covers; and SAM, a friendly, muscular human, representing solid and mesh safety covers.
The new website is segmented into sections for consumers and trade professionals. Consumer sections of the website show and tell all of the benefits of Coverstar automatic safety covers and solid/mesh safety covers, provide a gallery of pool covers images and a simplified "Find A Dealer" function.
Dealer sections of the website provide complete product details, dealer support programs and a link to a secure, password-protected online ordering function. Additional information and functions for dealers will be added in future updates to the website.
“Our new website is the next important step in our goal of supporting our dealers and distributors with the strongest consumer marketing program in the safety cover category,” Coverstar President Doug Larson says. “Our full-page ads in national consumer magazines, TV and digital ad campaigns will all drive homeowners to our website to locate the Coverstar dealers in their area.”
