INDUSTRY NEWS
The Automotive Aftermarket Charitable Foundation announced the election of Mike Spagnola to its board of trustees. Formerly SEMA vice president of OEM and product development programs with oversight of the Government Affairs, SEMA Data, human resources and accounting departments, Spagnola currently serves as interim CEO for the association until a new CEO is hired.
AWE appointed Belinda Tschorn its new head of human resources to support the growth of the organization. As human resources director, Tschorn will oversee all areas of organizational development, training, employee relations, benefits, recruiting and HRIS as well as building out the HR department at AWE to support future growth. Prior to joining AWE, Tschorn held executive and management positions at Piramal Pharma Solutions, Omni Cable and Scala.
RNR Tire Express officially announced the appointment of three new executives to the brand’s national leadership team, including the promotions of Tracy Cintron to the role of franchise director, Candace Lovett to national marketing director, and the recent addition of Susan Vice as the company’s new financial controller. Cintron will continue helping franchisees in their store development efforts and play a more central role in their onboarding, training and overall success. Lovett will oversee strategic planning and initiatives for the company’s 160-plus locations nationwide. Vice’s position with the franchisor puts her in control of the daily operations of the accounting department.
Leed Brakes is growing its sales team by adding 30-plus-year industry veteran and Buffalo native Pat Infantino to the position of wholesale sales manager. Infantino’s longtime industry experience includes 15 years as a manufacturer’s rep, three and a half years as national sales manager at Castle Chemical, followed by eight and a half years as sales manager at Stainless Steel Brakes. Most recently, he spent six and a half years with Covercraft Industries as eastern director of sales.
CRP Automotive named Brian Banks its 2021 Canadian Sales Representative of the Year. Banks is the president of BRB Sales and Marketing Inc. and represents CRP Automotive’s AAE, Ajusa, Pentosin and Rein brands in the Ontario province. Banks served his first full year as a sales representative for CRP Automotive in 2021. The award was presented by CRP Automotive Canadian National Sales Manager Patrick Hébert.
MAVTV Motorsports Network, the U.S.-based TV network owned by Lucas Oil Products, appointed Mark Carter director of sales and marketing. Carter will be responsible for MAVTV brand strategy and implementation in growing sales and advancing the entire MAVTV platform to a larger and more engaged audience.
Continental named Peter Dobrowolski the new product manager for diagnostics and services for North America. In his new role, Dobrowolski will be responsible for managing the portfolio of diagnostics products that include the Autodiagnos Pro Automotive Diagnostic System, Autodiagnos TPMS Tools and the Autodiagnos Drive Connected Vehicle Data Solution. Dobrowolski is a long-time employee of Continental, serving in several capacities during the past 10 years.
Hopkins Manufacturing Corp. announced the addition of Barrie C. Green as vice president for human resources and chief human resources officer. Barrie brings to Hopkins an extensive background in human resources, most recently serving as the vice president of human resources for CFS Brands LLC. Prior to that, Barrie served as vice president of human resources for Horton Automatics, a division of Overhead
Door Corp.
Race Winning Brands (RWB), a leading manufacturer of high-performance engine components for the automotive and powersports aftermarkets, added Cary Redman to the RWB family as vice president of sales for automotive. Redman has more than 25 years of experience in the performance manufacturing and retail sectors, working in sales leadership roles with veteran organizations such as Holley Performance, Mr. Gasket Co. and Edelbrock.
Live Fast Motorsports announced that former general manager Jessica McLeod was appointed CEO. McLeod will be working directly with company team owner Matt Tifft and her husband, co-owner and driver B.J. McLeod. The McLeods have had many business ventures within NASCAR’s K&N, Trucks, Xfinity, and Cup Series. McLeod and her husband co-own the Xfinity Series B.J. McLeod Motorsports (BJMMS), which fields three full-time stock cars (numbers 5, 78 and 99).
Stertil-Koni announced that Michael Tillbery joined the company as service manager. In his new post, Tillbery brings more than three decades of experience specializing in customer care, technical service and support, service management and heavy-duty equipment operation. Most recently, Tillbery worked for the Maryland Queen Anne’s County government as a heavy-equipment operator.
CRP Automotive announced that Director of Engineering P.T. Muldoon was named chairman of the Technology & Operations Council of MERA—The Association for Sustainable Manufacturing. Founded in 2021, the Technology & Operations Council is a peer group network that provides a forum for MERA-member companies to discuss the latest techniques, developments and equipment that are advancing the remanufacturing industry.
