Personnel Roundup

ServiceMaster, whose brands include TruGreen and TruGreen LandCare, announced that Jim Kunihiro has joined the company as senior vice president of corporate strategy and marketing.

Prior to joining ServiceMaster, Kunihiro was executive vice president of strategy and marketing at Culligan International where he focused on driving growth and strategic positioning. Kunihiro's career experience also includes strategic and leadership roles at PepsiCo, where he focused on developing a competitive strategy for the Gatorade and Quaker Foods divisions, as well as consulting experience for Fortune 500 companies as a manager with Bain & Company.

"We are pleased that Jim has joined the ServiceMaster family," said ServiceMaster CEO Pat Spainhour. "I am confident he will help deliver on our corporate objective to excel with our customers, as well as provide new and innovative approaches to marketing all ServiceMaster brands to consumers."

Kunihiro graduated from MIT with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. He also holds a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration.

Murray Feiss Lighting, a Generation Brands Company, a resource for interior and exterior decorative lighting and accessories for home and hospitality, has appointed Pamela St. Martin to the newly created position of Vice President, Product Marketing.  
 
St. Martin joins Murray Feiss Lighting bringing more than 25 years of lighting industry experience to the company. Most recently, St. Martin led the sales and marketing efforts of Alexander-John, a division of John-Richard, where she developed the brand's product expansion and sales organization. Throughout her career, St. Martin has also held various sales and marketing management positions with Sea Gull Lighting, Kichler Lighting and Fine Art Lamps.
 
St. Martin's primary focus will be product development and marketing for the company reporting to Greg Vandia, president of Murray Feiss Lighting.  Additionally, she will serve as the company's executive contact for the brand's licensing agreements with Martha Stewart Omnimedia and Bob Mackie Home.

DuPont Professional Products announced it has hired Scott Parker as Midwest Turf & Ornamental sales representative. Based in Kentucky, Parker’s territory will span North Dakota through Ohio. With him, Parker brings 10 years of sales experience to DuPont. He has also worked in the field as an assistant golf course superintendent. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a B.S. in Agronomy and an emphasis in Turfgrass Management.

Parker will provide golf and turf professionals with DuPont Acelepryn, a new insecticide for controlling all key white grub species, which recently received an expedited EPA approval and reduced-risk rating. Parker will also be charged with supporting DuPont Provaunt insecticide. Provaunt controls multiple caterpillars, mole crickets, annual bluegrass weevil (ABW) larvae (curative application), European crane fly larvae, potato leafhopper, grasshoppers and European pine sawfly.

“We are excited to have such a proven sales representative joining our team, at a time when DuPont is introducing new products with unbeatable efficacy and environmental profiles,” said Curtis Orrben, national sales manager for DuPont Professional Products.  “Scott will play a key role in capitalizing on the strong interest in our products throughout the turf and golf industries.”

Schréder Lighting USA has announced the appointment of Eric Hardesty to Sales Engineer. Schréder Lighting USA, the newest of the 40-member Schréder Group G.I.E. located in 36 countries on four continents, is marketing the Schréder brand in the fields of outdoor lighting, public lighting, floodlighting, tunnel/transit lighting, industrial and urban lighting throughout the U.S. 

In his new position, Hardesty will be responsible for coordinating engineering products for special and custom applications and performance. In addition, he will be responsible for technical sales presentations, photometric calculations and maintaining a photometric database for the range of Schréder Lighting products.

Prior to joining Schréder Lighting USA, Hardesty served as national accounts sales engineer and application engineer for Ruud Lighting. He also was sales associate and assistant showroom manager for Portland, Ore.,-based Globe Lighting and Colorado Springs-based Home Lighting.

PROFILE Products, manufacturer of products for soil modification, erosion control and plant establishment, has announced the hiring of Todd Lagerlof as the international sales and service representative. Lagerlof will be primarily responsible for coordinating product exports, processing orders for international distributors and sales support for customers.

Lagerlof has experience in international sales and service with both Rohm and Haas, and most recently with Illinois Tool Works/Signode, where he spent five years as an export representative focusing on the Latin American market.

"Todd Lagerlof brings great knowledge and experience to our team, and will be a strong representative for Profile with our international customers," said Wally Butman, vice president of distribution and international sales. "His background lends itself well to this role, and we anticipate he will play an active role in customer service and sales."

NGK Spark Plugs announced the restructuring of the United States and Canadian Product Departments into one group. Previously, the two companies worked separately to provide support to their respective customers. 

Jeff Desveaux, currently the Senior Product Manager has been named to lead the North American Product Department efforts for both the USA and Canadian Aftermarket Division. Desveaux, an 11-year veteran in the automotive aftermarket industry, was previously responsible for NGK Spark Plug Canada’s Product Department, Customer Service and OES efforts. In his new role as North American Product Manager, Desveaux will be responsible for the product efforts for NGK in both the United States and Canada.

Supporting Desveaux is Robert DeBlander, USA Product Manager and Chris Harrison, Canadian Product Manager.  Their roles are to support and implement the goals of the Product Department for their respective customers. 

“We have a strategic vision that by bringing our U.S. & Canadian product groups together into one unified team, we can provide new part numbers and up-to-date application coverage more quickly. We will explore new product opportunities, respond to frequently changing market conditions and raise our service levels in all areas for our aftermarket distributors”.