Nilfisk-Advance Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers and distributors of professional floor cleaning equipment, this week brought in Jeff Barna as president and general manager of Nilfisk-Advance U.S., the company’s United States headquarters in Plymouth, Minn.
With 25 years of experience in the North American commercial and industrial markets, Barna comes to Nilfisk-Advance from the global battery manufacturer Exide Technologies. Barna served two terms with Exide Technologies from 1987 to 2001 and again from 2005 to 2012. Barna was most recently senior vice president of sales and service of its U.S. business, where he was responsible for sales of more than $1.2 billion.
“Jeff Barna’s extensive professional background, skills and abilities make him the best choice to lead the growth and expansion of our business in the important U.S. market,” said Jorgen Jensen, president and CEO of Nilfisk-Advance Group. “Jeff has a proven record of innovation and driving growth. His strong leadership competencies will help us deliver best-in-industry products and customer service.”
“Nilfisk-Advance is a company with impressive corporate fundamentals, including great people and great products,” said Barna. “I am eager to infuse my ‘customer-first’ leadership style with Nilfisk-Advance’s strong foundation to continue growing our U.S. business and deliver great value and service to our customers.”
The Denmark-based Nilfisk-Advance Group is one of the world’s leading suppliers of professional floor-cleaning equipment. Nilfisk-Advance has production, sales and service entities in all major geographic regions including, EMEA (Europe, Middle-East and Africa), Americas (U.S., Canada and Latin America), and Asia Pacific, including China. Nilfisk-Advance is a part of the NKT Group, which is an OMX20 company listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. Total 2011 sales were more than $1 billion.