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Bath & Kitchen Pro eNews for May 21, 2008 |
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Green is everywhere. It was frequently heard at the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in April. The strength of the green movement was evident by the attendance at the GreenBuild conference last November in Chicago. As gas prices continue to soar, energy prices rise and water conservation remains a concern, everyone wants to talk about green or sustainable alternatives. When it even gets to the local radio stations, with deejays sharing suggestions on how to save water in the bathroom, you know that green has really arrived. Pictured here is the Hansamix faucet.
Hansa is now offering the water conserving, two-step ECO cartridge as a complimentary upgrade to anyone who purchases a Hansamix faucet and fills out the form at www.HANSACHALLENGE.com. For more on this, click on Green Street in the Table of Contents. |
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Jack Krecek |
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Tom Samanic | Elkay Manufacturing Co.'s Plumbing Products Division (PPD
), which manages the company's marketing of residential and commercial sinks, faucets, water coolers and related accessories, has just announced the creation of three new business units within the organization. Jack Krecek was promoted to vice president, general manager of the PPD's commercial business unit and Tom Samanic to vice president, general manager of the PPD's residential trade business unit. Also, Mark Lawson was named vice president of engineering and innovation.
In his new position, Krecek will supervise the water cooler and fountain manufacturing plant in Savanna, Ill., as well as a set of specialized engineers, marketers, global sourcing and new product development resources that focus solely on the development and growth of Elkay's commercial business unit. During his 24 years with Elkay he has served in positions in marketing, sales, management, international business development and product management. Since 2006 he has served as vice president, marketing for Elkay's PPD.
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Mark Lawson | In addition to managing the marketing and engineering team for the residential trade business, Samanic will oversee global sourcing and new product development resources. Most recently Samanic was the director of marketing for residential sinks.
Lawson joined Elkay in 1990 as a product engineer and since 2006 has served as vice president of innovation, co-leading Elkay's rapid production center team. |
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Elkay honored Dellon Sales,
Albertson, NY, as its "Rep of the Year" at the company's annual Chairman's Dinner during the 2008 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Chicago. The award is based on a rep firm's ability to consistently grow sales, quick implementation of new Elkay sales and marketing initiatives and successful sales of Elkay products. Pictured
L to R: Timothy Jahnke, Elkay's president/CEO; Mark Whittington, Elkay's senior vice president of sales; Ken Schwab, Scott Dellon and David Dellon, principals of Dellon Sales; and Ronald C. Katz, executive chairman of Elkay's board of directors.
Basco Shower Enclosures
recognized the following manufacturers representative firms with 2007 sales awards at its national sales meeting: Marton Sales and Service, Pinellas Park, FL, as Eastern Region Manufacturers Rep of the Year; Battersby Danielson & Associates, Westfield, IN, as Central Region Manufacturers Rep of the Year; Mid-America Sales, Grimes, IA, as Western Region Manufacturers Rep of the Year; Gray Sales, Philadelphia, PA, as National Manufacturers Rep of the Year; and Dominion Marketing, Sparks, MD, for the Celesta Star Award.
Bill Holliday of Holliday Sales in Charlotte, NC, was presented with the Founder's Cup as recipient of the Chairman's Award, which honors the individual who exemplifies honesty, integrity, enthusiasm and dedication and has earned the respect of the industry, according to George Rohde, Basco president and CEO.
Danze recognized its top performing sales agencies for outstanding performance in 2007 at its national sales meeting. Metro Reps, Franklyn Square, NY
, was named Plumbing Wholesale Sales Agency of the Year. Michael Werner, Jeff Pratt and Ken James of Danze presented the award to John Alimo and Lance Silverman of Metro Reps. HF Wood & Associates, Dallas, TX, received the 2007 Sales Growth Award. Brennan Brothers, Kenner, LA, earned Top Contribution Award and Mullen Corp., St. Petersburg
, FL, received the Danzeaholic Award. Photos of the award presentations will be posted to www.supplyht.com in June.
Blanco America honored Brill Associates as the "2007 Rep Agency with the Most Growth by Dollars" Award and recognized Ashworth Train & Associates as "2007 Rep Agency with the Most Growth by Percentage Award'' at Blanco's national sales meeting in April.
Marc Nover, president, and Mark Kleinhenz, Eastern regional manager, of Blanco America presented the award to Robert Justiniano, Jonathan Brill, Michael Rizzuto and Matt Matragas, all with Brill Associates. David Train and Jim Bach of Ashworth Train & Associates accepted the award from Marc Nover, president, and Kevin Madsen, central regional manager, Blanco America. Photos of the award presentations will be posted to www.supplyht.com in June.
Lasco Bathware honored its key salespeople for 2007 at K/BIS in Chicago. Seamon Sales Associates, New Albany, IN
, was named Representative of the Year for its success in developing the Kentucky and Indiana markets. Pictured, L to R: Gene Hobbs and Dave Seamon of Seamon Sales; Jim Bollinger, Midwest regional sales manager at Lasco; Fred Adams, Lasco's vice president of sales and marketing; and Tom Smith of Seamon Sales. Seamon's staff includes salesmen
Barry Horral, Gene Hobbs, Tom Smith and second-generation owner David Seamon, as well as inside sales staff Susan Koranchan and Cheryl Banet.
Lasco's Jim Bollinger received the Regional Sales Manager of the Year Award for the exceptional leadership of his sales team covering 16 states in the Midwest. He has worked with Lasco since 2001 and has been a part of the industry for the past 27 years.
Gus Carver, Lasco's district sales manager for northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, was awarded the District Sales Manager of the Year award for his superior performance in sales volume, customer relationships and team leadership. He has worked in the plumbingware industry for the last 12 years.
Liberty Pumps awarded its "Top Rep of the Year" to M.L. Kornstein, Roslyn Heights, NY, at its Northeast regional meeting held in Rochester,
NY, in April, attended by more than 40 salespeople. Chuck Schwabe, national sales manager, and Randy Waldron, director of sales and marketing, both with Liberty Pumps, presented the award to Jess Bernstein, Phil Kornstein, Ed Kornstein, Vinnie Kotowski and Jack Wheeler of M.L. Kornstein. A photo of the award presentation will be posted to www.supplyht.com in June.
Julien Home Refinements announced territory agreements with two representative agencies. Whitehead Marketing, Newnan, GA, will oversee Georgia,
Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina. JDL Associates, Mt. Airy, MD, will serve Delaware, Washington DC
, Virginia and Maryland.
"We look forward to growth in the premium segment, with focus on the architectural and design community," said Randy Whitehead, president of Whitehead Marketing.
"We will also work to generate pull-through business by calling on designers, architects, builders and specifiers," said Jeff Luther, president of JDL Associates.
 PACE Supply Corp
., Santa Rosa, CA, hosted 188 participants in its Plus Business Program on a trip to Cancun, Mexico, in March. The group included the wholesaler's sales associates, executive team, vendor sponsors and contractors from throughout northern California. Customers qualified their way up to four vacation trips by purchasing products during the promotion period. Next year's trip will be a cruise to Alaska. Pictured, L to R: PACE's Barry Nitzberg, vice president of sales; Kelly Hubley, vice president of purchasing and operations; and Ted Green, president/CEO, at
Chichen Itza.
PACE is an employee-owned plumbing wholesale distributor with eight locations and a decorative plumbing showroom.
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Regis Saragosti |
SFA Saniflo announced that Regis Saragosti has succeeded Bertrand Bouchard as chief executive officer of its operations in the United States
. Bouchard, an 18-year veteran with Saniflo and its parent, Société Française d'Assainissement (SFA) Group in Paris, retired on March 31. Saragosti originally joined SFA in June 2005, initially working as an export manager in Greece,
Turkey, the Middle East, Japan, India, Armenia, etc. He subsequently served as top manager for SFA subsidiaries in
Russia, Poland, Ireland and Romania.
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David Kenyon |
Fluidmaster named David Kenyon vice president of global marketing. Formerly, Kenyon was vice president of product management for the data protection and archive business group at Sun Micro Systems.
Jacuzzi Brands Corp. announced Dawn Wells as manager for marketing communications and strategy.
LA-CO Industries/Markal Co. named Debbie Petrille as product marketing manager for the plumbing and chemical division.
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 2007 Residential Bath CLEAReport
- Which residential brands of faucets, toilets and showerheads are preferred by contractors and recommended by wholesalers? To find out, purchase this report. Buy a section on toilets, faucets or showerheads, for $1,000 each or the whole report for $3,000. For more information, visit www.clearseasresearch.com
and click CLEAReports or contact Lydia White at whitel@clearseasresearch.com. |
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First Supply LLC
, Madison, WI, has held eight continuing education green training seminars that drew more than 300 people. The seminars, offered in Madison, Brookfield, Green Bay, Minocqua & La Crosse, WI; Dubuque, Iowa, and Rochester, MN, were designed to teach plumbers, HVAC contractors, builders, architects, engineers and other business leaders about the process of green building, emphasizing the top three green areas of energy efficiency, resource conservation and indoor air quality. Robin Pharo, president of Healthy Home Reports and director of the Wisconsin's Green Built Home Program was the keynote speaker.
Apollo Valves has announced its formal membership through its parent company Conbraco Industries, in the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Conbraco
produces ball and butterfly valves, pressure-reducing valves, safety relief valves, backflow preventers, actuators and other devices, through its Apollo brand.
W.A. Birdsall, Linden, NJ, a plumbing, heating, air conditioning distributor,
hosted a day dedicated to Eco-friendly products in May. Technical seminars were presented on solar heating, geo-thermal heating and cooling, R410A refrigerant certification for high efficiency cooling, installation of high-efficiency boilers and furnaces and payback analysis on high-efficiency heating and cooling equipment. Expositions and "Live Fire" workshops were sponsored by Roth Solar, Takagi Tankless Gas Water Heaters, Rheem Solar, Weil-McLain Ultra, Utica Boiler, Adams Furnace, Peerless Pinnacle boilers, Multi-Aqua Chilled Water Air Conditioning Systems, Philco Heating and Cooling Products and Hydron Module Geo-Thermal Systems. Pictured, Steve Kelly
and Bill Merion of Roth and Steve McGovern of East Coast Refrigeration discussed solar heating.
Grohe introduced more than 60 low-flow faucets and shower products at the 2008 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in Chicago
. Its WaterCare kitchen and lavatory faucets and shower products help reduce water consumption by 30%. With the introduction of its WaterCare line, GROHE announced its status as an EPA WaterSense partner.
Hansa is encouraging homeowners to integrate water-saving measures into everyday rituals with the Hansa Challenge. People who purchase a Hansamix faucet and fill out the form at www.HANSACHALLENGE.com receive a water-conserving, two-step ECO
cartridge as a complimentary upgrade. The ECO cartridge restricts the flow of water and provides savings of 16% to 40%. "A leak of only one drop per second wastes over 2000 gallons of water per year, or the equivalent of running 160 full cycles on an automatic dishwasher," said Kelly Coldren, office and media manager for the HANSA group, North America. |
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American Standard Brands: Don Devine (center in photo), president/CEO of American Standard Brands, met with Bob Miodonski (left), publisher, PM Engineer and Bath & Kitchen Pro, and associate publisher, Plumbing & Mechanical
and Supply House Times, and George Zebrowski (right), publisher, Plumbing & Mechanical, and group publisher, PM Engineer and Supply House Times, at American Standard Brands' booth during the 2008 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in April, held at Chicago's McCormick Place.
AF New York (New York, NY
) hosted a book presentation and photography exhibition on May 19 at its showroom, sponsored by Duravit, to introduce a book by artist and photographer Mark Craemer, seadream.
"This is the first of many new exciting art events that we will be doing in the future," said Bennett Friedman, principal at AF New York. "The design and art worlds are fusing, and we are here at the forefront."
Component Hardware Group
, a manufacturer and distributor of plumbing and specialty hardware components for the healthcare, foodservice, institutional and commercial markets, recently introduced its SaniGrasp antimicrobial door pull for use on public restroom doors. It eliminates the need for restroom users to touch dirty door knobs after hand washing. The
patented stainless steel door pull permits the use of the forearm instead of hands to open the door, thus minimizing the chance for cross-contamination of potentially harmful bacteria. To further inhibit the growth of microorganisms, SaniGrasp has been treated with SANIGUARD, an inorganic, silver-ion antimicrobial treatment. |
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