industry insiders

APPOINTMENTS
Belron US Names Three New Senior VPs Belron US has named Dino Lanno, Pete Pearson and Mark Placenti to its eightmember senior leadership team. Lanno, Pearson and Placenti will lead the supply chain, client sales and support and marketing/brand development areas, respectively.

“As our company embarks on its next phase of growth, we identified key areas that needed to be elevated because of their importance in how they will contribute to the success of the organization,” says Tom Feeney, president and chief executive officer of Belron US. “Dino, Pete and Mark each bring a business sense, industry knowledge and strong leadership skill set that has earned them a spot on our senior leadership team.”

Lanno and Pearson both joined the company in 1989. Placenti was hired in 2005.

The Belron US senior leadership team also includes Feeney, Rich Harrison, senior vice president and chief operations officer, Doug Herron, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Mark Smolik, senior vice president, general counsel and ethics officer, and a to-be named senior vice president of human resources.

IGD Names Angad Director of Purchasing
Independent Glass Distributors Ltd. (IGD) in Edmonton, Alberta, has appointed Sukhu Angad to the position of director of purchasing. Angad comes to IGD with 28 years of auto glass purchasing experience. He previously was with Trans Canada Glass Inc., which was purchased by Belron in 2006.

Angad will be based in the company’s warehouse in Vaughan, Ontario.

Horvath Retires from PPG; Kirby Appointed Customer Service Manager
William F. Horvath, manager of customer service and e-business for PPG automotive replacement glass, recently retired after 31 years with the company. Bryan Kirby has been promoted to manager of customer service upon Horvath’s retirement.

Horvath has held a variety of positions since he joined the company’s auto glass distribution arm in 1977. Kirby joined PPG in 1998 as a chemical engineer for the chlor-alkalai & derivatives business in Natrium, W.Va., and has held various roles since he joined to the auto glass replacement business in 2003.

HSG Appoints Stagner as Executive VP HSG - CodeBlue™ recently appointed David Stagner as executive vice president of sales for the Eau Claire, Wis.-based company. In this capacity, Stagner will oversee all strategic and business development initiatives related to acquiring and supporting property and casualty insurance clients.

Prior to joining the company, Stagner spent 16 years at Safelite Group Inc.

D E A T H S
Steve Briggs, Formerly of Elite Auto Glass, Passes Away Steve Briggs, former sales manager for US Auto Glass and a partner in Elite Auto Glass, passed away on April 18 at his home in Boulder, Colo. Briggs had retired from Elite in January 2007. He was 62 years old. He is survived by his wife, Micki LarsonBriggs; daughter, Mariah Larson of St. Paul, Minn.; and two brothers, Jon Briggs of Lincoln, Neb., and Bill Goodman of Memphis, Tenn.

KUDOS
Auto One Tech Goes the Extra Mile to Remove Python from Vehicle Mike Meyers, a technician with Auto One’s Howell, Mich., location, recently made an interesting discovery when doing a favor for a customer. The customer, who was having a remote starter installed on her vehicle, asked if Meyers might also be able to remove the center console on her 2005 Chevrolet Silverado.

“It’s an easy enough project to do,” says Meyers. “Upon asking why she was looking to have the center console removed, the customer told me that her friend’s snake had gotten loose and was coiled up under the center console,” he says. “I removed all the seat bolts and gently pulled up center console. There it was—a 6-foot python curled up. The customer was happy, and I think the snake was pleased, too.” 

AGRR
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