IIG Strengthens Its Sales And Technical Roster

By Hal Shapiro, Sales Team Leader, IIG

With the retirement of some of IIG’s greatest sales and technical players to the Insulation Hall of Fame, we went on a mission to discover new talent. After a productive spring training, the new crew has earned spots on the roster in the area of sales, specifications, and technical support and is prepared for success during the peak of the insulation season. As the new coach in the dugout, I am excited to announce our 2014 lineup.

First let’s start with the members of our IIG sales team. We lead off with a few industry veterans and round out the lineup with a few rookies. While they may be new to our franchise, they do not lack the experience in the “Big Show” that is the insulation industry. The accompanying territory map shows the regions for each representative – or, you could say, their respective fields of play.

The experienced 2013 MVP, Pat Tasson, has been with IIG since 2010, and is capably handling Left Field (Western US and Western Canada). At Center Field (Midwest) is Chad Meyer who started with IIG in December 2013 after completing seven seasons with Johns Manville.  He adds a solid understanding of mechanical insulation to the roster and strong customer relationships.  Our Right Fielder is the talented Charles Sortino, who covers the Northeast US and Eastern Canada and has a sales engineering background in piping component technology.

Behind the plate, we’ve got Cornerstone Sales, who will cover us in the Southeast. These guys bring more than 20 years of experience in the commercial and industrial market. They can play multiple positions to keep their customers happy.

On the mound, veteran ace and Hall-of-Famer Gary Towler left following his retirement, so Mike Johnson pivoted out of his finance role with IIG and joined the IIG sales team.  When he started, he mumbled something about sales calls being a lot more fun than counting beans, and sure enough, he can pitch a wicked slider.

Download the IIG Sales Team Territory Map 

We’ve got the defense, and now the offense is in place, too. We’ve recruited a heavy-hitting specification team that will focus on upstream activities designed to provide a talent bank for IIG and our partners in the industry.  They will drive business for many years to come, developing relationships with distributors, facilities owners and engineering firms.  Basically, they put the fans in the seats, the score on the board and make sure everybody knows the rules.

In the West, we’ve got long-ball hitter David Shong, who recently joined us as Senior Western Specifications representative. He’s spent his entire career in the construction materials industry and provides expert educational assistance to owners, EPC firms, consulting engineers, facility maintenance personnel and mechanical contractors.

In Houston, we’ve got another star, Chad Rebholz, a mechanical and industrial insulation industry veteran who knows the drill when it comes to executing win-win plays for specifiers, distributors, and contractors. He can hit to all fields, and has the Gulf States covered.

Last but not least, our bullpen of technical experts are masters of the ins and outs of the insulation game; Ames Kulprathipanja, (Product Development Leader), has a PhD in Chemical Engineering and the expertise required to understand the emerging insulation needs of owners, engineers and contractors. Rick Dolin (Chief Product Analyst) is the Technical Manager of the IIG plant in Fruita, Colorado responsible for testing of physical, chemical and thermal properties for IIG’s existing products, as well as manufacturing support, and assisting in the development of new products. Doug Fast (Technical Service Specialist) capably fields technical inquiries regarding mineral wool, MPT, calcium silicate and perlite insulations. He has 15 years under his belt as a testing lab manager and product development engineer.

These experts focus on the technical fastballs, change-ups, and knuckleballs that are part of the industrial insulation game, including product testing, product development and application assistance. Ask them how to win on your project and they can give you a precise answer.

We are excited to introduce this talented team — capable of providing IIG customers with a full range of industrial insulation solutions, solid technical information and a successful trip around the bases for the remainder of this season and beyond.

Please let any of us know how we can serve your companies better. We are playing to win in 2014, and we want our partners to join us when the champagne is spraying.