People and Positions for July 2014

has promoted Larry Smith to director of fleet operations to lead the company’s fleet sales efforts. For the past five years, Smith has held the position of district sales manager for the company, managing dealer operations and sales activities for the upper Midwest. He replaces Jack Morris, who recently retired from MFTA after a long and distinguished career.

Meritor Inc has appointed Mark Evans to senior director, field sales, aftermarket, North America for the company. Based in Florence KY, he leads more than 40 district managers and regional directors. Most recently, Evans was a senior sales executive for Milacron LLC in Cincinnati OH.

has accepted the position of area sales representative at Maxon Lift Corp. With more than three years of industry sales experience, he will be based out of Nashville TN and will cover Tennessee, Kentucky, eastern Arkansas, and southern Indiana. James Richardson will be the firm’s new area sales representative covering North and South Carolina and Virginia. He brings more than nine years of mechanical repair and outside sales experience and will be based out of North Carolina. Matt Fuhrmeister will cover eastern Pennsylvania, eastern New York state, New Jersey, Delaware, and eastern Maryland for Maxon. He has more than 12 years of industry sales experience and will be based out of Philadelphia PA.

, a division of Iochpe-Maxion SA, has appointed Bill Wardle as its new vice-president, global sales and marketing. He will be based in the company’s global headquarters in Novi MI. Wardle most recently served as the global vice-president of sales and marketing for Magna Exteriors, Interiors, and Seating.

Grote Industries has named long-time employee Eric Thorstensen to the newly created position of director of business development, leading the firm’s business development teams. Kent Bode, another career Grote manager, has been named director of OEM sales, filling Thorstensen’s position. Thorstensen has substantial knowledge and experience in leading teams in sales, quality, operations, international business, and engineering. In Bode’s most recent position, he held the dual role of eastern regional manager and national accounts manager for the Heavy-Duty aftermarket division.  Both men will be operating out of Grote headquarters in Madison IN.

LoJack Corporation announced the appointment of Joe Castelli as vice-president, fleet and commercial operations. He has 30 years of automotive, fleet, and commercial sales experience and was previously vice-president, commercial vehicles and fleet for Nissan North America Inc.

VMAC has appointed its first board of directors. Members are company co-founder and president Jim Hogan, Elizabeth Menard, David Elgie, Lindalee Brougham, and Ken Marzocco. Menard is shareholder and representative for the Menard Family Trust, the company’s largest shareholder, and is the sister of co-founder Tony Menard. Elgie has been a director of corporate and non-profit boards and is an independent director of this board and board chairperson. Brougham has served as a chairperson or director of corporate and non-profit boards and is an independent director of the VMAC board. Marzocco has a background in strategic planning, marketing, organization optimization, and financial management, and he will be an independent director of this board.

has appointed Bjorn Cannon to the position of senior account manager. He has more than 10 years of experience within the truck industry, most recently with RealWheels Corporation as senior product specialist managing more than 50 heavy truck, fire, and bus accounts for aftermarket accessories.

Fras-le has named Pedro Ferro as its new chief executive officer. He joins Fras-le after a career at Meritor as senior vice-president and president of Aftermarket & Trailers. He also held executive positions with The Marmon Group, Motor Coach Industries, and Cummins Inc. Ferro succeeds Daniel Randon, new chief financial officer of the Randon Group.

has announced the promotion of Doug Sebastian to vice-president of sales and marketing. Previously, the company employed him as branch manager for its Des Moines IA location to oversee day-to-day operations and expand Aspen’s presence in the local market. Sebastian’s experience also includes 10 years of sales management and dealer operations management in the construction industry.