Since its inception, Bennington has grown to include three additional brands: Sedona pontoons, Azure fiberglass pleasure boats and SouthWind outboard deck boats. The company has also expanded its distribution to the global market, including Australia, Africa, Europe and England. With this growth in manufacturing, staffing and dealers, a number of key organizational changes have been made to strengthen the leadership team and position the company for continued success.
Vogel has promoted J.P. Hoyer to Chief Operating Officer for Bennington Marine. Hoyer has been with Bennington for nearly three years as Chief Financial Officer, also managing the sales and marketing functions. As C.O.O., he will oversee day-to-day operations for the fiberglass and aluminum businesses as well as the company's research and development effort.
Kevin Hamby has been promoted to Director of Engineering. Hamby, who joined Bennington in 2003, has also served as general manager of the Azure fiberglass business as well as a regional sales manager. He will direct the research and development activities for the both aluminum and fiberglass operations in Elkhart, Ind.
Pat Call, another founding member of Bennington, will continue his role as Vice President of Sales-Midwest U.S. Call has been instrumental in dealer development and pontoon product development since 1997. Company veterans Susan Buff and Daniel Hahn have been promoted to new positions in the sales department, where they are responsible for managing sales and dealer relations for all brands in multiple independent sales territories. Buff is now Vice President of Sales-Eastern U.S. and Hahn is Vice President of Sales-Western U.S., serving territories west of the Mississippi as well as western Canada. All three report directly to Steve Vogel.
Growth in Eastern Canada has been strengthened with the addition of the Dockside Group, an independent sales organization owned and operated by Bob Spencer and Jim Lacey of Ontario, Canada. Dockside will represent the Bennington, Sedona and SouthWind brands in Ontario and Eastern Canada.
Kevin Bragg has been hired as the new Director of Marketing for Bennington core brands. Bragg has over fifteen years of marine experience and he will manage all marketing efforts in print materials, sales training and marketing analysis.