Fire Industry People

Pelican Appoints Williams As VP

Following the acquisition of longtime rival Hardigg Industries, Pelican Products Inc. has appointed Dave Williams as vice president to manage the integration of the two businesses.

With nearly 30 years of executive and management experience, Williams will oversee and coordinate the task of evaluating systemic strengths and weaknesses and uniting the two industry-leading companies for maximum efficiency and profitability, the company said.

“Dave has an amazing track record of handling complex business issues around industry growth and company acquisitions, and his skill set is tailor-made for this task,” said Pelican CEO Lyndon Faulkner. “Our talented executive team is doing very well with our business and will be further enhanced with his sort of talent being added for our new acquisition strategies at Pelican.”

Williams served as vice president of capital and engineering at Technicolor Optical Media Services, where he oversaw engineering initiatives for the world’s largest pre-recorded, optical disc manufacturing facilities and developed and managed capital budgets of $100 million at their peak.

Williams is a 2007 graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Executive Strategy Leadership Program and the Thomson Executive Leadership Program.

For more information go to www.Pelican.com, www.hardigg.com or www.behrmancap.com.

KME Adds Fink To Customer Service

The KME division of the Kovatch Organization has added Ronald Fink to its customer service department.

He joins the team with three decades of experience in apparatus manufacturing, service and support. He will lead KME’s customer service operations department in Nesquehoning, Pa., where the company is based. The department encompasses the service, warranty administration, parts sales, technical support and training facets of KME.

The addition of Fink follows KME’s recent expansion of its western regional operation, which is overseen by Jerry Hennessey, another step taken to improve customer service.

Fink’s experience began in 1980 with fire apparatus manufacturing and progressed into service and refurbishment positions. His management experience includes customer service, training and technical support.

For more information visit www.kovatch.com.

Companies Partner To Develop First Responder Locator

InterSense and BVR Systems announced a partnership agreement to develop a First Responders Independent Navigation Device (FIND).

Supplemental funding will be provided by the Bi-National Industrial Research and Development Foundation, an organization that supports commercial technology development between Israeli and U.S. organizations.

The FIND system will allow locating, tracking and monitoring of an individual’s position without relying on GPS coverage. InterSense will lead the development of the core-sensing component based on the company’s NavShoe technology, a boot-mounted inertial sensor that provides highly accurate position data. BVR will lead in system design, develop the command and control network, and perform final system integration.

NavShoe incorporates advanced filter algorithms that continually correct for “drift,” commonly experienced when tracking an individual with inertial sensors. The technology enables tracking of a person’s position over extended distances and time periods.

“There are two critical elements in developing the FIND solution,” said Ilan Gillies, CEO of BVR. “First, the system must precisely track and monitor first responders’ locations. It must then collect that data through robust wireless links and synchronize the information in the command-and-control system.”

For information about InterSense go to www.intersense.com. For information about BVR Systems go to www.bvrsystems.com.

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