industry insiders
people in the news

APPOINTMENTS
Belron US Aligns Field Leadership Staff
Belron US, which was created when Belron purchased Safelite, has made several new staff appointments in the field leadership structure of the company, according to Dan Wilson, president and chief executive officer of Belron US. 

“We have implemented some changes to our field operations management structure that will position us well for the integration of the new company,” Wilson says. “The new appointment of these individuals helps us round out our field management team and positions us well as a company as we move into our busy season.”

The field leadership will report to Garth Beck, vice president of field operations, who held the same position for Safelite previously. Belron US’s 14 division managers will report to Beck, including three new division managers, as follows: Brenton Carr, former group warehouse manager for Safelite, Midwest division manager; Mike Jalbert, vice president for Elite Auto Glass, Arizona division manager; and Dave Leach, former vice president for Elite Auto Glass, the Colorado division manager.

New VP at Mitchell International
Greg Horn has joined Mitchell International, parent company of NAGS®, as vice president of industry relations. Prior to joining the San Diego, Calif. based company, Horn served as vice president of material damage claims at St. Louis-based GMAC, and before that he served as director of material damage processes for National Grange Mutual.

FRANCHISES
Glass Doctor Recognizes Outstanding Members 
Waco, Texas-based Glass Doctor honored its outstanding team members during the company’s 2006 annual conference in Phoenix.

The honorees were:

• Mike and Mary Evans of the Glass Doctor of Montana franchise in Montana, named “Franchisee of the Year”;
• Cecylia Herron of the Glass Doctor of North Texas franchise in Texas, named “Woman of the Year”;
• Jerry and Sarah Dickinson of the Glass Doctor of Birmingham franchise in Alabama and Rob and Leslie Wolken of the Glass Doctor of Los Angeles franchise in California, awarded for excellence in mentoring;
• Greg and Kris Holden of the Glass Doctor of West Palm Beach franchise in Florida, Cary and Lynn Hooper of the Glass Doctor of Eagle franchise in Idaho and Bill and Susan Dawson of the Glass Doctor of Columbia franchise in Tennessee, awarded for excellence in leadership;
• Mike and Colleen Scorzo and Ron and Sharon Schueneman of the Glass Doctor of Warren franchise in Michigan and Tom Ashley of the Glass Doctor of Niceville franchise in Florida, named sales leaders of the year.

The President’s Award was presented to Gene and Janet Porter of the Glass Doctor of Clovis franchise in New Mexico.

Phuc and Hannah Phu of the Glass Doctor of the Daly City franchise in California and Fred and Elizabeth Garcia of the Glass Doctor of Santa Fe franchise in New Mexico received awards as rookies of the year, and Leo Lemus of the Glass Doctor of Los Angeles franchise in California was named technician of the year. 

Eric Asbery Promoted to President at Equalizer
Round Rock, Texas-based Equalizer Inc. has named former company VP Eric Asbery as president, effective Monday, May 21, 2007. He succeeds his father, Ray, who previously served as president, and who will continue to serve as chief executive officer for Equalizer.

As president, Eric Asbery says he has a number of plans for the company.

“We’re going to be improving our customer service a bit—not that we were bad at it, but we’ll be improving that [and] expanding our web presence,” he says. “We have a program called the Equalizer store program, where we put point-of-sale displays inside glass warehouses. We currently have 237 of those around the United States, and we’re going to be doubling that number.”

Ray Asbery says this is a promotion that has been in the works for a while. “[Eric has] been working toward the position ever since he came to work with us,” he says. “We’ve been working intensely toward [the promotion] for the last three years.” Ray says he will still be involved with Equalizer in his capacity as CEO, but is taking a step back from the day-to-day operations, while Eric will be focused on the aforementioned expansion.

“This gives me a lot more freedom to work on new products, new product lines and the expansion of the company,” Ray says.

AGRR
© Copyright 2007 Key Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
No reproduction of any type without expressed written permission.