People News

July 15, 2009
The latest additions and promotions from industry contractors and manufacturers.

Contractors

Robert T. Armistead, P.E., assumed the office of President of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America during the association’s annual convention in San Francisco, California. The presidential gavel was passed from 2009 President Lonnie Coleman to the new MCAA president during the convention’s closing session. Armistead is President of Armistead Mechanical, Inc., a fourth-generation mechanical contracting and engineering firm with offices in Waldwick, NJ and Newburgh, NY. Michael R. Cables was named Vice President and Assistant Treasurer. Cables is chief operating officer for Domestic U.S. Operations at Kinetics. He is based in Wilsonville, Ore. William J. (“Mac”) Lynch was elected Senior Vice President and Treasurer. Lynch is the president of William F. Lynch Company, Inc., an HVAC, service, plumbing and pipe welding contractor that serves the Worcester, Massachusetts, area. Mark Rogers was named President-Elect. Rogers is chief operating officer of West Chester Mechanical Contractors, Inc., an HVAC, service and plumbing contractor that serves the Philadelphia area. MCAA also presented its 2009 Distinguished Service Award at the convention. This year’s award went to Steve Shirley, President and CEO of University Mechanical & Engineering, an EMCOR subsidiary based in California. Shirley has been on the MCAA’s Board of Directors for six years.

Stuart Taylor had joined Murphy Co., mechanical contractors with offices in St. Louis, Mo., and Denver, as business development manager for its heavy industrial group. Taylor brings more than 20 years of experience to his new position, with a long list of successful projects ranging from $1 million to more than $100 million in size. Prior to joining Muphy, he worked as director of business development for a major construction company in the St. Louis area. Greg Friess has been promoted to lead Murphy’s pre-construction and estimating operations in Colorado. Friess joined Murphy Co. in 2007, and brings more than 15 years of design and engineering experience to his new position. Anne Murphy Hill has been promoted to Vice President of Corporate Development. She previously led Murphy’s Energy Solutions Group, and will continue to provide executive leadership as the group expands.

The Wisconsin Fox Valley Sheet Metal Contractors Association has elected its officers at its annual meeting. They are: President Tom Feldman of Feldman, Inc., Appleton; Vice President Mark Loper of Azco, Inc., Appleton; Secretary/Treasurer Brad Baumgart of Baumgart Mechanical, Inc., Kaukauna. Also elected were board members Brad Hurckman of Hurckman Mechanical Ind., Inc., Green Bay, and Roy Jacobsen of Great Lakes Mechanical, Inc., Greenville. David C. Seitz continues to serve as Executive Vice President.

Kim Bassett-Heitzmann has been elected president and CEO of Bassett Mechanical, Kaukauna, Wis. Bassett-Heitzmann has been president and chief operating officer for the past two years, taking over day-to-day operations from Bill Bassett, P.E., chairman of the board. Bassett-Heitzmann’s promotion is the final step in the firm’s succession plan, according to Bill Bassett, who will remain as chairman of the board. She joined the firm in 1996 and has worked in a variety of positions in the shop and in the field. She holds a graduate degree in construction management from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Bill Basset and other key employees purchased the contracting firm from his uncle in 1974. The company now employs 300.

Alan Ring has joined the National Contractors Insurance Co., Inc., a risk retention group headquartered in Big Fork, Montana, as director of Sales and Marketing. Ring is a Regional Manager for CONTRACTOR Magazine, Green Mechanical Contractor, Engineering Green Buildings and Building Design + Construction. He has also served as a business development manager for Brown & Brown of California, Inc., located in Orange, Calif.

ARC Mechanical Contractors has announced that Jody Perkins, a Plainfield, NH resident, has successfully achieved another NATE certification. Already NATE-certified in service and installation of hydronics – gas, is now NATE-certified in service and installation of light commercial refrigeration. There are 21 separate NATE tests covering various areas of technical expertise.

Worth & Co., a provider of mechanical contracting and maintenance services located in Pipersville, Pa., has announced that Pat Hurst, the company’s Vice President of Finance, was named the inaugural “Woman of the Year” by the Southeast Pennsylvania Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. ABC SEPA represents almost 500 general and specialty contractors, material suppliers and related firms in the Pennsylvania area. Hurst is a 20-year company veteran and an active member of multiple construction-related trade associations.

A.O. Smith Water Heaters has announced the winners of two $2,500 scholarships for students pursuing plumbing-heating-cooling related studies. The PHCC Educational Foundation administers the program and is responsible for selecting the award winners. The 2009 scholarship recipients are, Austin Beery of Rittman, Ohio who is enrolling in the University of Akron to pursue a 4-year degree in Mechanical Engineering, and Lauren Sokolowsky of Cumming, GA who is enrolling Georgia Southern University to pursue a 4-year degree in Business Management.


Manufacturers

ABS America has appointed Jim Torony as Vice President of Product Management and Marketing for its North American operations. Torony re-joins the company with nearly 25 years of rotating equipment experience, much of it with ITT Flygt Corp., and most recently with ITT Water & Wastewater USA where he was Director of Marketing and Business Development.

Eemax has recently hired Kevin Dokla as Marketing Manager. He brings 12 years of experience in marketing communications to the post. Prior to joining the company, Dokla held leadership positions at Pyramid Technologies, Tech Depot and Cendant, Inc.

HeatLink Group has announced the addition of Wade Peterson to the company as Vice President, Sales and Marketing for North America. He brings more than 20 years of experience to the post. He is a former Vice President, Sales and Marketing with Uponor, North America, and former President of Uponor, Canada.

BrassCraft has announced the appointment of Jim Pletcher to Vice President of Wholesale Sales. Previously, Pletcher was a Senior Director for the company. Steve Adams has been named Senior Director of Wholesale Sales and will continue his oversight of the souther region, buying groups and national accounts. Ken Kemmerling has been appointed Sales Manager for the central region of the wholesale channel.

The Gas Technology Institute has announced that Ernst Lever has joined the company as a Senior Institute Engineer. Lever has over 20 years of project management experience in the plastic piping industry. He joins the company from Georg Fischer Central Plastics where he worked for 13 years in various positions, including Vice President of Engineering and Quality.

Rotobrush International has announced that Lane Jeffryes is their new CEO and President. Jeffryes is a 15-year veteran, most recently employed in various leadership positions at Lennox Industries.

Klein Tools has promoted Mark P. Klein to Director, North American Sales. Most recently Klein served as manager, strategic channel development, which included all of Canada, HVAC, Telecom, Utilities and MRO. Prior to that he served as channel manager, HVAC.

EASB Welding & Cutting Products has named Andrew Masterman as President and CEO of EASB North America. Masterman will be based in Florence, SC, and will replace Brendan Colgan, who will assume the role of Chairman of the ESAB Group, Inc., (North America). Masterman was previously President of Metalico’s Platinum Group Metals division.

Uponor has announced that Jerry Leyte, MASc., P. Eng., has joined the company as a Commercial Sales Engineer. Leyte has held positions in sales, engineering and management for organizations such as Jamesway Incubator Co., TdS Dixon and Satlantic Inc.

Tracy Sianta has joined Hart & Cooley, Inc. as Director of Marketing at their Grand Rapids, Mich., office. She was most recently Director of Marketing, Sales & Business for Klise Manufacturing, a Grand Rapids company serving the furniture and cabinet industry.
Superior Radiant Products Ltd., has announced the appointment of Susan Samson to the position of Marketing Manager. She has been with the company for 12 years.

Maxitrol Co., a Southfield, Michigan-based manufacturer of gas pressure regulators, has announced the promotion of Richard Bargert to Vice President of Marketing and Communications. He joined the company in 2000 as Marketing Coordinator.

Reed Manufacturing has welcomed Jeff Esmont as its noew Regional Manager for Ohio, Kentucky, Southern Michigan, Western New York and Northwest Pennsylvania. Before joining Reed, Esmont worked at Milwaukee Electric Tool for 25 years.

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