Industry Leaders On The Move

Bill Mason, Managing Partner observes: “Current economic, and particularly housing issues where relocation is required, have certainly complicated moving top performers into key roles with new employers.  We have found an essential component of success is a compelling ‘career road map’ outlining significantly increased opportunities for personal and career growth.  With our clients, it is critical to design and promote with each candidate tailored, step-by-step future advancement plans beyond the current role which are superior to those the candidate can identify with his/her current company. ”

Dick Israel, Managing Partner adds: “Equally important then is to have this plan personally communicated and confirmed to the candidate by as many key leaders of the client as practicable.  These steps appreciably lessen candidate hesitancies associated with moving from a ‘known’ situation to one which will always require a certain ‘leap of faith’.”

Elmhurst, IL – The Chamberlain Group, Inc., the leading, single-source providor of access products for residential and commercial applications, has elected James J. Roberts as Chief Executive Officer, replacing J. David Rolls, who previously announced his retirement.  Roberts began his new role at Chamberlain’s Elmhurst headquarters on April 5, 2010.

 ”A dynamic and strategy-oriented leader, coupled with his illustrious career spanning 30 years with leading consumer and commercial products companies, Jim is an ideal choice for this position. He brings a tremendous track record of strong product management and development skills, along with an innovative marketing, manufacturing and distribution background which combine to provide customers with a world-class experience,” stated Robert Fealy, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Duchossois Group, Inc., the parent company of Chamberlain. “Jim’s energy and forward-thinking approach are just what Chamberlain needs as we position our company for future growth and development following the recent economic challenges.”

Prior to joining The Chamberlain Group, Inc., Roberts most recently served as President and CEO of Igloo Products. Prior to Igloo, his past leadership roles included several executive positions within Newell-Rubbermaid, including Executive Group President of the Cleaning, Organization, Décor and Office Products Group. Preceding his tenure at Newell-Rubbermaid, Roberts was President of Worldwide Hand Tools and Hardware at The Stanley Works, and he spent 19 years at Black & Decker, rising to the position of President of Worldwide Accessories, as well as Vice President and General Manager of the company’s European Professional Power Tools Group.

Roberts, age 51, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from The University of Delaware. He and his family will be relocating from Houston to Elmhurst in the near future.

Houston, Texas. April 15, 2010 — Anthony R. Favilla has joined Crane Energy Flow Solutions as General Manager of its Industrial Valve Group. Crane Energy is a subsidiary of Crane Co. (NYSE). Mason, Israel & Partners represented Crane Energy in recruiting Mr. Favilla for Crane.

In this newly created role, Mr. Favilla will be reporting to Vince Buffa, president of Crane Energy. Mr. Favilla will have direct responsibility for the Flowseal, Duo-Chek, Crane, Center Line, Aloyco, Jenkins and Stockham brands.

The assignment brings Mr. Favilla back to Crane where he served from 2002-2008 in several key sales management capacities. He spent the last two years as Vice President, Sales and Marketing for privately-held Conbraco Industries’ Apollo Valves.

In announcing the appointment, Bill Mason, managing partner of Mason, Israel & Partners, said “The continuing consolidation in the valve industry, the strength of an internationally oriented operation backed by a strong public company such as Crane Co., and recent strategic growth initiatives by new leadership at Crane Energy contributed significantly to our success in recruiting Tony to this opportunity.”

According to Vince Buffa, Crane Energy’s President, “We see a more favorable economic environment, and view this as an excellent opportunity to hit the ground running.  We are pleased to be able to add someone with Tony’s experience and market knowledge to the management team we have been building over the past two years.”

Tony Favilla said, “I am very excited to be back with Crane, especially with the new team that we have in place.  We are setting aggressive goals for ourselves, but feel we are well positioned for growing industrial sales in the US and Canada.”

Anaheim, CA, September 22, 2009 – At ASIS International’s 55^th Annual Seminar & Exhibits, Mason, Israel’s Dick Israel and Bill Mason visited with Tony Byerly, recently promoted to an expanded role as President – North America of Stanley Convergent Security Solutions, Inc. (CSS), the electronic security  and security systems integration unit of Stanley Works.  CSS’ unique sports-themed booth served as the focal point for the company’s introduction of several advancements in integrated electronic security including: Stanley’s “Commander” Integrated Solution, its Sonitrol-brand Advanced iBase Audio Verification Technology, and its eServices Reports On-Demand and other enhancements to eServices.  

 With “convergence” figuring prominently in his company’s name, it was natural to ask Tony his opinion of where he felt the industry had come, and was going, in defining just what the term implies.   “I’ve observed various end users (IT, HR, Security, Facilities) all have different ideas of what convergence means” notes Tony.  “You can overcomplicate or oversimplify this thing…the key to convergence is the ease of use of data and that’s being driven by the modeling between IT and the actual physical devices in the field.  For example, our ‘Stanley Commander’ product provides a graphical overlay of all your various security systems…we don’t just combine various hardware brands but provide the software under one unified graphical interface.” Tony further stated: “Another key deliverable going forward is to educate the end user in what these combined capabilities can do for them.  We’re putting together a ‘Convergence Center of Excellence’ in Indianapolis that will write the code to tie in all the manufacturers’ products so that we get all that data flowing through on the security side.”

 We asked Tony how he viewed his expanded leadership role driving CSS forward:  “My issues evolve as my position changes…making sure I bring along my senior leadership team.  I need to spend additional time looking for new opportunities across North America.  For example, there are customers that are dying for a major player to come in with cost reducing models.”  Tony indicated his wide travels have confirmed the significant opportunities for growth in the space, and the need for “visionary time” to develop appropriate strategies to go after such opportunities.  But he also noted: “We believe, down through the organization, that we are ‘Doers’.  We want to make technological change a reality for our customers and therefore we have to instill it in our own organization from the top down.”  Further, Tony pointed out: “We sell technology products because we are a technology company.  But, all the technology comes together through service!   We have to make sure that when people think of our industry they think of us as ‘high performance’ and ‘high quality’.  People create and are the real touch points with customers.  Sometimes we move too far forward just presenting technology and don’t link it to the people part of our industry.  When people talk about ‘convergence’ the huge people element can get lost in the shuffle.”  Tony says his efforts to prevent potential disconnects include championing total transparency in dealings with global and national customers to show them exactly how CSS manages their account relationships.

 Recognizing that talented people are an essential ingredient to the evolution of any industry, Tony observed “We have a lot of bright talent; we need to get our engineers out of Purdue or wherever, get them into our engineering and product groups so they learn from the ground up and can lead in transforming the industry from within.”  And Tony observed that many factors have combined in recent years to make the security industry a more exciting space, thereby attracting significant external talent.  “Security, safety and loss prevention have definitely come together with IT, and we need people who have the ability to look at that combination differently than before.   If we ignore that we will be the dinosaurs.”

 In concluding our discussion, Tony pointed out: “When I graduated I never intended to be in security, might have pursued a career in insurance…but now at the end of the day what I like most is the opportunity to talk with so many leaders in so many spaces…we touch all industries…we can be specialists in some and generalists in others.  This is not true for any other industry.”

Buffalo Grove, IL – Former Adesta Vice President and PSIA Chairman Rob Hile has joined Siemens Building Technologies as Director of Integrated Security Systems, a newly formed business segment.  In this role, Rob will report to Cary Boethel, Siemens VP.

“I was interested in going to an organization that could provide me with some structure…an organization that can make me a great manager,” Hile said. “There’s clearly nobody better at that than Siemens.  Siemens has the breadth of products…and when you look at the levels of integration their products are capable of, and that we have more than 100 offices in the U.S. alone, that can’t really be matched.”

Hile’s  new business unit is one of three that have been created within the Security Solutions unit that Boethel runs.  Integrated Security Systems will focus on very complex, large-scale integration projects, Hile said, often involving some kind of custom software work.  The other two units – Lifecycle Security, and Management Services – will focus on smaller installations and services that can leverage Siemens’ two central stations.

 ”I see security as a service as being in its infancy,” Hile said, “but with the monitoring capabilities Siemens has, I think it’s going to be an awesome match” with the integrated security customers.

Germantown, MD -  Optelecom-NKF, Inc., a leading global provider of advanced IP video network solutions, has appointed Dave Patterson as President. 

Previously, since 2006, Mr. Patterson served as President and CEO of Siemens Government Services, a Siemens AG subsidiary providing IT-enabled solutions to improve end-user operations and infrastructure and seckure vital assets. 

Mr. Patterson is quoted suggesting the industry must move  beyond a “one size fits all” mentality and support the development  of open system architectures and “best of breed technologies” which will enable the gathering of more data and converting it into “actionable information”.

Fairport, NY – Bosch Security Systems has appointed Nick Valente, as Vice President, Business Developoment.  In his new role, leading the Bosch business development management team, Nick is based in Fairport, NY. 

Nick reports he is successfully identifying several new, key target markets, particularly in the processing field, where Bosch’s latest security systems advances are gaining traction.

Irvine, CA – June 16, 2009 – Leon Chlimper’s extensive international background has landed him a new home as Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Deister Electronics USA Inc, part  of the multi-national company which identifies itself as “The RFID Company” focusing on major advances in security and safety, identification and automation as well as universal RFID products.

Buffalo Grove, IL, – March 26, 2009 – Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., announced today that Sam Docknevich has joined the Security Solutions Business Unit as National Business Manager for 4 Zones, reporting directly to the Vice President and Business Unit Head, Carey Boethel.

Docknevich has extensive experience in the IT and physical security industries. He comes to Siemens from IBM where he held various positions of increasing responsibility including leading the Physical Security practice in the U.S.

In this position, he integrated physical security services sales and operations teams from both the IT and physical security organizations within IBM.

Throughout his career his strong IT background and knowledge, including networks, hardware, applications and middleware, have enabled him to develop and grow businesses that capitalize on emerging technologies. Docknevich earned his BA from Brown University.

“Sam’s experience with the convergence of IT and physical security is an asset to Siemens,” said Boethel.

“His IT background and strong record of sales leadership will help us as we continue to expand our presence in the security integration market.”  

 As a leading provider of energy and environmental solutions, building controls, fire safety and security systems solutions, Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., makes buildings comfortable, safe, secure and less costly to operate.

With U.S. headquarters in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., employs 7,400 people and provides a full range of services and solutions from more than 100 locations coast-to-coast. Worldwide, the company has 28,000 employees and operates from more than 500 locations in 51 countries