Personnel Announcements: Staff News from Around the Industry

VISTA NAMES BOIKE DISTRICT SALES MANAGER. Jim Boike has joined the sales team at Vista Professional Outdoor Lighting as district manager for San Diego and Orange counties in Southern California. Boike will be based in San Diego and will provide field support, product training and design tips on Vista’s expanding line of low-voltage lighting systems. He will work with landscape contractors, distributor personnel and landscape architects.

Boike also will be assisting with Vista’s popular contractor seminars entitled “Light Your Way to More Profits.” Boike has worked in sales and marketing for more than 12 years, most recently as a regional manager for a landscape design and maintenance firm in Northern California.

QUIXOTE TRANSPORTATION ANNOUNCES NEW SALES MANAGERS. Quixote Transportation Technologies (QTT) has made two personnel announcements recently. Greg Friend was named senior international sales manager and Dale Bader was appointed southern region sales manager for Surface Systems, a member of QTT.

Friend will be responsible for international sales of all QTT products and services and will work closely with QTT international distributors and Quixote international regional managers. Friend brings 28 years of experience to the QTT sales team, most recently handling the operations of Nu-Metrics, a QTT company. Friend had been with Nu-Metrics since 1977, holding a variety of senior management positions in data processing, manufacturing, sales and marketing. He has also served as a Staff Sergeant in Communications for the U.S. Air Force and worked with the ITT/Federal Electric Corp. with the Secure Voice Communications Defense Attache contract in Asia.

“Greg possesses a wealth of information on Quixote products, weather systems and competitors, which will enable him to provide the highest level of service to our international distributors and customers,” says Mark Holland, sales and marketing director for QTT. “With his new responsibilities, we look forward to aggressively expanding and supporting our international efforts for all QTT companies.”

At Surface Systems (SSI), Bader will now be responsible for sales of all SSI and QTT products and services in the southern region, and will work closely with SSI distributors. In addition, he will support the sales and marketing team on sales of SSI’s weather forecasting services.

Bader joined SSI in 1996 as a part-time meteorologist in the SSI Weather Center. He has worked as a full-time meteorologist and weather sales specialist at SSI since 2000. Bader’s experience includes weather forecasting and sales support for the transportation industry, utility and related markets. In his role as weather sales specialist, he has worked closely with the SSI sales team to identify prospects, conduct product demonstrations and presentations, and close sales orders. “Dale’s experience will provide him with a solid foundation to build from in his new role,” says John Grimm, sales and marketing manager for SSI.

ALLMAND ANNOUNCES PROMOTIONS. Allmand Bros., announced recently that Brad Allmand was promoted to marketing manager, while Tom Martin was assigned to an expanded sales territory.

Allmand will be in charge of the company’s marketing strategy, including product feature decisions, pricing, distribution, advertising and after-sale support. He has been with the company since 1985, serving as regional manager for 18 years. He will retain a small sales territory in addition to his new responsibilities.

Martin, current regional sales manager for Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico, will now take on responsibilities for business development in North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Prior to joining Allmand Bros., Martin was an inside sales representative for Orthman Mfg. In Lexington, Neb.

SOLO NAMES NEW PRESIDENT. Newport News, Va.-based SOLO, the U.S. subsidiary of German manufacturer SOLO Kleinmotoren GmbH, has named David Longfield as its new president. SOLO manufactures sprayers and mistblowers, as well as chain saws, trimmers, brushcutters, blowers and other outdoor power equipment.

Longfield joined SOLO as a territory sales manager in 1987 and was promoted to national sales manager a year later. He succeeds former company president James Dunne, who retired in June. Longfield previously operated his own lawn and garden dealership.