The Caldwell Group Inc., based in Rockford, Illinois, has added two professionals to its sales organization as part of its preparations for future growth. Brian Porter (pictured left) has joined the company as regional sales manager, and Kent Henry (pictured right) has been hired as a sales engineer.
In his role, Porter will oversee sales efforts across Caldwell’s product lines, including below-the-hook lifters, construction and mill duty lifters, Renfroe clamps and RUD lifting points. Caldwell works in partnership with the RUD Group to align sales and marketing activities in North America for RUD material handling and lifting devices, which are used in a wide range of industrial and construction applications.
Henry will focus on custom lifting equipment, supporting distributors and end users by consulting on applications that require anything from moderate changes to standard products to fully customized solutions. His responsibilities also include supporting internal technical sales teams and producing concept drawings that allow customers to review and provide input on engineered designs.
Jeff Ferchen, director of business development, said: “Both Brian and Kent bring a great deal of industry experience to our organization. Brian has deep knowledge and understanding of our product offering and has been instrumental in the distribution side of rigging and lifting his entire career. Historically working for some major distributors, he has always partnered with manufacturers to develop rigging solutions for cranes and BTH [below-the-hook] lifting equipment for major industrial, construction and OEM [original equipment manufacturer] end users.
“Kent also comes to Caldwell with a long history and knowledge of BTH lifting equipment. He spent the majority of his career with a major distributor partner of Caldwell’s in the Midwest, focused on engineering support for their sales team regarding any and all custom lifting solutions.
“We are excited to have both of these individuals join our growing team as we expand our solutions offering to better support our distributors and end customers.”
Porter said: “I have known Caldwell for all of my nearly 30 years in the industry. I have always admired the company as a leader and have enjoyed working with team members across its brands — people are the treasure of any company.
“It is all about relationships; we need to instill in our customers the attitude of ‘it is easy to do business with Caldwell’. We need to be superior communicators with our customers. The more we interact with them, the more we strengthen our bond with them. We have so many methods to communicate — and just need to utilize them.”
He added: “One particular end user I have already been working with is a leading manufacturer of aluminum sheet, plate, extrusions and architectural products and systems.”
Henry said: “I have been familiar with the Caldwell business, having previously worked for a major lifting and rigging equipment supplier with coast-to-coast coverage. I have a proven skillset in delivery of quotes on custom projects; I’m also looking forward to assisting the inside sales department with concept drawings and structural calculations.”
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