PEOPLE PLACES

Jan. 1, 2002
The board of Skyjack, Guelph, Ont., announced the resignation of Wolf Haessler, founder and chairman of Skyjack, for personal reasons. Frank Hasenfratz

The board of Skyjack, Guelph, Ont., announced the resignation of Wolf Haessler, founder and chairman of Skyjack, for personal reasons. Frank Hasenfratz was appointed chairman and William Harrison was appointed director. Hasenfratz is chairman of Linamar Corp. and has been a director of Skyjack since earlier this year when Linamar acquired a 48 percent interest in Skyjack. Harrison is president and CEO of Lift Technologies and a director of Linamar.

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JLG Industries, McConnellsburg, Pa., recently announced the appointment of Israel Celli to vice president of international sales.

Celli will be responsible for all international sales, sales support, marketing and service operations for Europe, Asia and developing markets. Celli assumes responsibility for all functions formerly held by Geoff Campbell, senior vice president of international operations, who has resigned for personal reasons, effective Jan. 31, 2002.

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To improve efficiency and capacity, Thompson Pump & Manufacturing, Port Orange, Fla., is restructuring its sales divisions and the responsibilities of some key executives. John Farrell was promoted to vice president, sales. Farrell's responsibilities will include establishment and maintenance of a dealer network in the Northeast, Midwest and Western states, as well as international sales, sales support and the expanding public works department.

Doug French, Thompson vice president, will add branch operations in Florida, Southwest and the Gulf region to his responsibilities. Majid Tavakoli will lead Thompson's newest division as vice president of applied products.

Formerly vice president of branch operations, Tavakoli's new division will consolidate the applications and engineering support that Thompson offers customers and company sales personnel.

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Matthias Heinz was named vice president of finance for Putzmeister America, Sturtevant, Wis. Heinz will oversee the finance, human resources and information services departments, and will replace Ali Ettl who plans to retire in April. Randy Ziarek was appointed Midwest regional sales manager. Ziarek is responsible for the full line of Putzmeister new and used concrete boom pumps, Telebelt conveyors, Thom-Katts and large line trailer pumps. David Hirt joined the company as a field service technician and Dave Rudin has been given the added responsibility of sales and product management for Putzmeister mortar machines. His new title, national sales manager, Thom-Katts and Mortar Machines, reflects the change.

Firehawk Industries, LLC, Midland Park, N.J., named Geoff Gwizdz national sales manager. Gwizdz previously served as a regional sales manager for Terex Light Construction.

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Rick Piper was appointed vice president, sales and marketing, of TaskPoint Inc., Raleigh, N.C. Piper will be responsible for leading the company's sales and marketing efforts.

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CIFA USA, Milwaukee, Wis., announced the addition of Scott Kelly as Midwest regional sales manager. Kelly's experience in various material handling markets includes concrete pump sales extending over a 10-year period. He will be responsible for marketing all of the CIFA products including truck mounted concrete boom pumps, trailer pumps, shotcrete pumps and equipment, concrete formwork for tunnels, rail mounted concrete transporters and remix surge hoppers.

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Ford Power Products, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Co., is implementing organizational changes to improve customer service and product quality, while supporting an expanding product line. John Andreas was appointed vice president of global programs. Formerly vice president of global engineering and vice president of global marketing, Andreas will oversee the Industrial, Marine and On-Road product development groups.

Kendel Winkelhaus was named industrial program manager. Formerly operations manager, Winkelhaus has been the emissions team leader for the past two years. E.W. Muehlhausen, director of North American business, leads an expanded sales group to focus on industrial distributors and OEM customers. The group consists of regional business managers with corresponding sales coordinators, distributor development group, application engineering, global inventory and marketing communications. Additional changes include the creation of a global business planning group.

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Donna Burmeister was recently promoted to customer service leader with Giant Industries. Her duties include overseeing day-to-day functions and managing other inside sales staff.

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Ake Sundby was appointed president Atlas Copco Electric Tools Division in Germany, effective April 18, 2002. Ake Sundby has more than 20 years of experience from the hand-tool industry. He is currently managing director for Bachco Tools in Sweden and for Belzer GmbH in Germany.

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Ariens Co. announced that George Koenigsaecker recently joined its board of directors. Koenigsaecker is president of Lean Investments LLC, which supports manufacturing firms in their lean enterprise conversions. Koenigsaecker joins current board members Phil Hendrickson, Jeff Riester, Tom Lisle, Bob Atwell, and Mike and Dan Ariens.