Wheeled Coach Names Barnes VP Of Sales
Scott Barnes has been named vice president of sales and marketing for Wheeled Coach Industries, a leading ambulance manufacturer based in Orlando, Fla.

Barnes, who had most recently worked for American LaFrance, reports to Bob Collins, president of Wheeled Coach. In his new position, Barnes is responsible for leading the sales and marketing team for the company’s complete line of emergency vehicles.

“We’re certainly excited that Scott Barnes has joined the Wheeled Coach team,” Collins said. “Scott has over 38 years experience in the fire and EMS industry dating back to 1979, when he became a dealer for our company. In fact, during the 17 years Scott represented Wheeled Coach, we grew to become the world’s leader in emergency medical vehicles. I believe Scott has vision and experience that will enable us to not only maintain our leadership position, but increase that position throughout the global emergency vehicle market.”

Until he took his new position with Wheeled Coach, Barnes had served as vice president of sales and marketing for American LaFrance.

Barnes has field experience with the Altamonte Springs Fire Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Valencia Community College. He was a firefighter/paramedic in 1978 when he created a company that introduced the MedicMaster and RescueMaster vehicles to the fire and EMS industry. In 1998, he sold MedicMaster to Freightliner and joined its subsidiary, American LaFrance.

Wheeled Coach, a subsidiary of Collins Industries, manufactures ambulances, rescue vehicles and fire emergency vehicles.

For information call 401-848-6300 or go to www.wheeledcoach.com.

Darley Completes Move To New Facility
W.S. Darley & Co. has completed a move into its new 40,000-square-foot facility in Itasca, Ill., 10 minutes from its previous headquarters in Melrose Park, Ill., where the company had been for nearly 50 years.

“Our business is growing, and this new state-of-the-art building is almost double the amount of space we had in our Melrose Park headquarters,” said Paul C. Darley, president of the company. “The new building also better reflects our corporate image in the fire service marketplace and will allow us to more efficiently handle the needs of our growing customer base.”

The company bought the building in October after looking at more than 75 others and considering construction of a new facility.

“For our international customers, we needed a location that was still in close proximity to O’Hare Airport,” said Executive Vice President Peter Darley. “We also considered the impact on our employees’ commute to work. The visibility from the highway was a bonus.”

The primary call center and sales office houses a staff of over 30 full-time specialists responding to customer calls. An 8,000 square foot portion of the upper floor is dedicated to Darley’s new Defense Division, administering prime vendor and other government contracts. The lower level holds a Darley museum, training facility and business archives.

Darley moved into the facility in February.

“We were able to complete our move in less than a week, and it went very smoothly,” said James Long, Darley’s vice president. “We had almost no down time with our customers.” The telephone numbers for the company and direct lines remain the same as they were at the Melrose Park facility.

For information  call 708-345-8050 or go to www.darley.com.

ALF Appoints Director Of Sales
Michael Gordon has been named American LaFrance’s director of sales, marketing and customer support for fire. He replaces Scott Barnes who worked for the company for over nine years.

Before his promotion, Gordon was ALF’s director of product marketing for fire. He had been in that position for a year, deeply involved with sales operations, assisting the former vice president of sales.

Gordon has many years of fire experience at E-ONE in Ocala, Fla., where he focused on product development and marketing.

“Michael is well established within the American LaFrance family and the fire community in general,” said ALF president and CEO Bill Hinz. “His intimate knowledge of our industry will make for a very smooth transition in sales leadership and help set the stage for the company to focus on a positive future.”

For information call 843-486-7400 or go to www.americanlafrance.com.

Grilliot Honored For Customer Service
Mary Grilliot, the chief operating officer of Total Fire Group, is the 2008 recipient of the prestigious Joe Fishelson Award.

The annual award is presented for excellence in customer service to the fire service through the industry of fire protection, which includes manufacturers, independent manufacturer’s representatives, distributors, members of the fire media, associations, and other support or service organizations.

The formal presentation of the award was made at the annual Fire Department Instructors Conference, the largest fire service event, held in Indianapolis in April.
“Mary Grilliot is a great example of what the Fishelson Award is all about,” said Sam Goldwater, the chair of Joe Fishelson Award Board of Directors. “Her nominations says it all. Mary’s customer service to the fire service can be described in one word – passion.  Her devotion to the protection of fire fighters goes well beyond good business; it is closer to religion.”

He predicted she will raise the bar for selecting future recipients.

Goldwater, who is a past recipient of the award, said it is given “based on long term impact through customer service.  If you look at the past recipients of the award you will see people that have devoted their entire career to supporting the fire service and bring that support through excellence in customer service.” 

The award is a traveling ornate fire bell that has the names of all previous winners displayed. Previous winners include such distinguished fire service leaders as Bob Barraclough, Paul Curtis, Tom Darley, Lila Gillespie and Alan Saulsbury.

The bell stays with the winner for a year and is then passed on to the new recipient. In addition to the traveling bell, a smaller replica is given to the winner to keep.

The award is named after Joe Fishelson, a pioneer in the manufacturing of fire equipment, a big proponent of customer service and the founder of Red Head Brass LLC of Shreve, Ohio. Funding for the award is provided by Action Coupling, Key Fire Hose and others.  Members of the board serve on a pro bono basis.

Rosenbauer Expands Dealer Network
Major Firefighting Technology of Kenvil, N.J., has been appointed as the Rosenbauer America dealer for New Jersey, New York City and Long Island.

The principals of the dealership, Brad Badal and Rob Windesheim, collectively have over 60 years of industry experience in the automotive, fire services and emergency warning equipment industry in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area.

To support their efforts in apparatus sales, Major Firefighting Technology has hired Tony Angelella as its national sales manager. Tony has over 20 years of fire service and fire industry sales experience.

Rosenbauer is a leading international manufacturer of firefighting vehicles and equipment. In North America, Rosenbauer incorporates the strength and innovation of a global company with top American manufacturing firms – Central States, General Safety and Rosenbauer Aerials.

For more information about Major Firefighting Technology call 973-927-1098.
For information about Rosenbauer call 605-543-5591 or go to www.rosenbaueramerica.com.