Read on for recent promotions, new hires, and company acquisitions within the Green Industry.
Vista Professional Outdoor Lights taps New District Sales Manager
Vista Professional Outdoor Lighting has appointed Jake Sepulveda as the company’s newest district sales manager in its Landscape Division. Sepulveda will be responsible for Southern California sales territory, which includes the cities of Riverside and San Bernardino, as well as Las Vegas, NV.
Sepulveda comes to Vista from his former role as regional sales manager with Brilliance LED. While at Brilliance, Sepulveda was responsible for educating existing distributors on products as well as maintaining relationships with contractors in the field, assisting them with lighting design, and troubleshooting projects. Prior to his tenure with Brilliance LED, Sepulveda worked as a store manager for both Horizon Distributors and SiteOne Landscape Supply, roles that allowed him to learn Vista’s landscape lighting products and the contractors who purchase and install them.
Dovetail Promotes Callahan to Marketing Manager
Dovetail Workwear, a women’s workwear brand, has promoted Molly Smithson Callahan to Marketing Manager. Callahan joined Dovetail in 2018 as a digital marketing consultant with particular emphasis on social and email campaigns and content creation. Over the past eight months, she’s parlayed her knowledge and experience into her newly appointed role overseeing all marketing efforts for the women’s specific workwear brand. In a nearly decade-long career, Callahan has brought her creative energy and entrepreneurial spirit to a variety of female-empowered functional lifestyle brands, across all things marketing, from SEO to social media.
Takeuchi Names New Regional Business Manager
Takeuchi-US has named Carl Stickels as its new regional business manager (RBM) for the Northeast region. Stickels replaced current Northeast RBM Mark Barndollar, who is retiring after a long and successful career in construction equipment sales, including almost seven years with Takeuchi. Stickels will now be responsible for all sales development and activity in the multi-state region, including dealer development and recruitment, inventory control, forecasting, promotions and the support of national and direct accounts. Based in Cortland, NY, Stickels comes to Takeuchi after 12 years as a territory and sales manager with an equipment distributor. Prior to his tenure there, Stickels spent more than 15 years in other roles, honing his sales, training and customer service skills.
Arborjet | Ecologel New Hires
Sean Belanger has been hired as the New England and New York Regional Sales Manager for Golf, Sports Turf, and the Nursery Markets at Arborjet | Ecologel. He began his career in the golf industry, building courses throughout the Southeast, before segueing into the landscape business. Belanger previously worked as an account manager for a residential landscape company in Boston. He has a B.A. in Sociology and a certificate in Turfgrass Management. He also holds a pesticide applicators license.
Wister Dorta will assume the role of California Regional Technical Manager. He initially moved to Santa Monica to work on pressing tree planting, tree preservation, and drought issues. Dorta has a diversified arboriculture background, is well known throughout the West Coast ISA and has spoken at multiple conferences. In addition to a degree in Environmental and Forest Biology, he holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management. Dorta is a Certified Arborist, Qualified Tree Risk Assessor, and fluent in Spanish.
Arborjet | Ecologel also added Sabesh Kanagalingam as the new Head of Chemistry and Formulation. He has many years of experience in agricultural related formulations. In addition to his work with pesticides, he is an expert on microbial activity and carbon sources, and has worked with botanical oils and microencapsulation techniques. His past experience includes work with Agrium, currently known as Nutrien. Kanagalingam has a B.S. degree in Chemistry, a Master’s Degree in Biomed Engineering and a PhD in Polymer Chemistry. He also holds more than 15 patents.
Ruppert Landscape
Ruppert Landscape recently named Rachel Kelly branch manager in the company’s Charlotte, North Carolina location. Kelly has over 25 years of experience in the landscape industry. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School, she served on the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) board of directors and has been involved in several NALP committees. Rachel has been with the Ruppert organization for over three years as the director of quality and efficiency in the landscape management division’s southern region. In her new role, she will be responsible for the overall welfare of the branch, including the safety and development of her team, strategic planning and budgeting, training, customer service, and day-to-day operations.
Ruppert Landscape recently announced the addition of Jon von Staden as director of finance and administration in the company’s landscape construction division. In this role, von Staden will be working in close partnership with local branch teams and division leadership to further develop best practices and help capitalize on efficiencies. He holds a B.A. in accounting from Frostburg State University and has over 26 years of general contracting experience, most recently serving as controller.
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