Personnel Notes

Kripke Enterprises shifts officer roles

Toledo, Ohio-based Kripke Enterprises Inc. (KEI) has announced several promotions and what it calls “a new corporate structure as it looks to the future of the 28-year-old company.”

The metals brokerage and recycling firm’s executive roster now includes CEO Matt Kripke, President Chad Kripke, Chief Operating Officer Eric Phillips, Chief Strategy Officer Andy Golding and Senior Vice Presidents Marvin Finkelstein and Alan Sallee Jr.

“I am proud of KEI’s executives,” Matt Kripke says. “Their hard work and vision allowed us to grow exponentially over the years. I am excited to watch this team as we continue to be on the forefront of the aluminum recycling and usable coil industry,” he adds.

Founded in 1993, in addition to its Toledo headquarters, KEI has a trading office in Coconut Creek, Florida, and its Mid-South Aluminum operation is in Jackson, Tennessee. The company’s annual revenue totals $200 million.

In memoriam: Ralph Velocci

Velocci

Waste Pro, Longwood, Florida, has announced that Ralph Velocci died July 15 at age 72. 

Velocci most recently was a senior vice president at Waste Pro and a member of the company’s board of directors.

He grew up in Long Island, New York, where he got his start in the industry by working on his father’s garbage trucks.

Waste Pro says Velocci first worked with the company’s founder, John Jennings, in the 1990s at USA Waste when the company acquired Waste Management. He later reconnected with Jennings at Waste Pro in 2009.

Velocci led Waste Pro’s commercial sales and oversaw the company’s landfill and recycling operations.

According to a statement from the company, “Velocci made a difference in the lives of people around him. He acted as a mentor to many in the company and industry, generously offering his time, knowledge and expertise. He was beloved and respected by his family, friends, all of his Waste Pro family and will be greatly missed.”

“Ralph was an exceptional businessman,” Jennings says.

He adds, “He loved the simple things around him and never took for granted how fortunate he was. He was the son of Italian immigrants who lived the American dream with a strong personality whose impact will last a long time.”

Iron Horse Logistics Group appoints director of sales

Rail and barge logistics provider Iron Horse Logistics Group (IHLG), Aurora, Ohio, has appointed Joe Chrien as its director of sales. He comes to the company with more than 20 years of professional experience in sales.

According to a news release from IHLG, Chrien will develop and implement the firm’s overall corporate sales strategy, managing the sales team and engaging prospective clients.

“Joe brings an expertise in sales that perfectly complements IHLG’s core values,” says Dennis Wilmot, president and CEO of the company. “Our sales vision will be carried by his rare skill set and capability, and we’re very excited to have him on our team.”

Previously in his career, Chrien worked in sales at IHLG.

He can be contacted by email at joe@ihlogistics.com or by phone at 330-222-8240.

Connect Work Tools adds regional business manager

Ali

Connect Work Tools, a division of Exodus Global, Superior, Wisconsin, has added Vaughn Ali to its team as a regional business manager for the Southeast. Ali has almost 20 years in the industry and most recently was the Southeast territory manager for Lockport, New York-based Moley Magnetics Inc.

“I have had the opportunity to work with Exodus Global’s team for several years as a vendor and have watched them grow,” Ali says. “Two things that have always stayed consistent are their positive energy and their reputation to exceed customers’ expectations.”

He continues, “When the chance to work with Geordie Stewart and the Connect Work Tools group came to me, it was an opportunity that felt natural and like being home. I am truly grateful to have this opportunity. I am excited to be able to help this division grow and take care of our customers.”

Stewart, director of sales at Connect Work Tools, says, “I have gotten to work with Vaughn on joint deals over the past years with mutual customers. Vaughn’s reputation for customer service, product knowledge and his drive to go above and beyond is exactly what Connect Work Tools is focused on to grow our business. Everyone who has dealt with Vaughn has nothing but great things to say, and we are beyond thrilled to get to add him to our team in the Southeast.”

Connect Work Tools offers attachments, including hydraulic breakers, compactors, rotating grapples and pulverizers, for the construction, demolition, recycling and mining industries, as well as rebuild services and reconditioned equipment.

Eriez appoints managing director for Eriez-Germany

Eriez President and CEO Lukas Guenthardt has announced that the Erie, Pennsylvania-based company has selected Eric Adams to serve as managing director for the newly established Eriez Deutschland GmbH, based in Recklinghausen, Germany.

In his new role, Adams will lead efforts to increase Eriez’s presence throughout central Europe, including Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

“Eric has been working closely with our executive team at Eriez-Europe to craft and execute a comprehensive business plan that addresses the needs of the German market,” Guenthardt says. “We recognize that this area of Europe is far too important to properly serve via an independent agent or distributor and, therefore, requires a direct and constant presence in the form of Eriez-Germany, guided by the strong leadership of Eric.”

Adams will report to Jaisen Kohmuench, vice president of international at Eriez.

“Eric’s three decades of experience in technical sales of capital equipment has been integral to the ramp-up of Eriez-Germany,” Kohmuench says. “Eric is already proving to be a tremendous asset to the company, and we are fortunate to have him on our team.”

Adams started his career as a sales engineer supporting deep drilling and mining support systems. Prior to that, he worked for Fördertechnik and Noell Service und Maschinentechnik, a provider of microtunnel technology. He continued in this area, eventually becoming a sales executive at Herrenknecht AG.

More recently, Adams served as general sales manager with Germany-based Steinert Elektromagnetbau and then as the managing director of H+E Logistik, a subsidiary of Herrenknecht AG, a manufacturer of belt conveyor systems for tunnel construction.

Eriez’s magnetic separation, metal detection, material handling, fluid recycling and advanced flotation technologies have applications in numerous industries, including mining and recycling.