Carlo Lonardi, president and CEO of Kito Americas Inc., Manheim, Pa., and executive officer of Kito Corp., Yamanashi, Japan, announced the promotions of key personnel as the company continues to build its Kito Americas corporate structure.
Marc Premont, COO of Kito Americas and executive officer of Kito Corp., who leads subsidiary operations in Canada and Brazil, will assume a number of additional responsibilities related to business development. He will take on a senior leadership role for business development for the Kito Americas Group.
Chris Hess has been promoted to vice president of quality and product development engineering for Kito Americas. He will assume responsibility for advancing the capabilities of both Harrington Hoists Inc., Manheim, Pa., and Peerless Industrial Group Inc., Winona, Minn., in identifying technological product innovations and unifying quality processes. He was hired as manager of engineering and QC in 1995 and later named director of engineering, in which he led the engineering department at Harrington Hoists. Hess earned his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Lafayette College and is a licensed professional engineer. He serves as vice president of Hoist Manufacturers Institute, is a member of ANSE B30.16 and B30.21 committees on hoists and is a Standards Technical Panel member for UL LLC, Northbrook, Ill.
Jason Said was promoted to director of business development and will oversee marketing and sales strategies for the product development of hoists and lifting. He also will be responsible for developing and implementing growth opportunities for hoists, cranes and below-the-hook products. He joined Harrington Hoists in 1997 in the production department of the Corona, Calif., facility. Said later moved into sales and eventually became the Western Region sales manager. He relocated to Manheim in 2014 after being named business development sales manager, in which he managed marketing and the development process of new products and services.
Ken Woidill was promoted from director of operations to managing director of Harrington Hoists. He will control and oversee business operations and guide and monitor overall workflow and processes to ensure they meet the company's short- and long-term objectives. He also will lead Harrington's customer service, engineering, supply chain and production teams. Woidill was hired in 2013 as Harrington's director of operations, in which he was responsible for the management of both strategic and day-to-day production, facilities planning, manufacturing and the supply chain.
