Dakota Supply Group appointed Julianne Turk as its CFO. Turk will lead DSG’s financial teams and oversee all the company’s financial processes and strategy development. She will be based out of DSG’s Plymouth, Minnesota, office and will be part of DSG’s executive team. Before joining DSG, Turk served as CFO of COKeM International for the last seven years. She brings more than 30 years of broad finance and senior executive experience coupled with a proven track record in developing and executing strategy, DSG noted.

Sioux Chief Mfg. Co. announced a trio of recent personnel moves, including the promotion of Michael Foster to vice president of commercial products. He will lead a team focused on Sioux Chief’s line of commercial application plumbing products. Foster moves to this new roll from his previous position of director of national sales. Foster joined Sioux Chief in 1989 after serving in the United States Army. In his 32 years of service, he has held positions in customer service, product management and sales. 

Todd Amerson, formerly of Sigma Corp. will be joining Sioux Chief as director of trench drain sales. He has been in building materials working with concrete since 2001. He has worked specifically within the trench drain Industry since 2010, working closely with engineers, architects, contractors and distributors across all divisions of construction driving brand awareness and assuring market understanding of trench drain as a viable drainage solution, with additional duties of inventory management, vendor coordination and P&L responsibilities.  

Additionally, Tim Stephenson is moving onto the role of regional sales manager. Stephenson joined Sioux Chief in 2016 as customer service manager and later transitioned to the Regional Sales Support team. Stephenson will initially be working with Sioux Chief’s reps in the West; Double A Sales SW, Mountain West Marketing and Paramount Sales.

Newmans Valve appointed Sara Alford to the position of president following her leadership and contributions as general manager of the company since 2016. Alford started at the original Newmans 22 years ago and has helped oversee the success of Newmans Valve and its evolution as a master distributor of industrial valves in the downstream oil and gas sector. Alford has a B.S. in management along with her Lean Six Sigma Executive Black Belt Certification. 

Obituary: Garrick Dahlquist of Synergy Sales NW died Sept. 28, surrounded by family he loved after a six-year fight with cancer. “Gar battled cancer with the same tenacity and passion he brought to his work,” said David Dahlquist, Garrick’s brother. “His drive and commitment earned him friends and colleagues throughout our industry. Gar’s market awareness was keenly insightful and intuitive. He knew what it would take and how to get it done. Gar held his work relationships with deep regard, his business network became like a second family to him.” Dahlquist started his career at Dahlquist Rush Sales, eventually becoming an owner at Western States Sales and ending his career at Synergy after its acquisition of WSSI.

Oatey Co. announced Matthew Rodgers has been promoted to vice president, customer and technical support. Rodgers joined Oatey more than six years ago as director, customer service. With more than 20 years of experience, Rodgers has extensive expertise in supporting customers at manufacturing organizations. As Oatey’s vice president, customer and technical support, he will lead Oatey’s customer service and technical functions as they expand their efforts to support customers and end users with purchasing, training, technical guidance, issue resolution and beyond. Also, Scott Voisinet has been promoted to vice president, sourcing. Voisinet joined Oatey more than 10 years ago, serving most recently as director of North American sourcing. Voisinet is a supply chain and product management leader with more than two decades of experience. In his new role as vice president, his responsibility will be expanded to include indirect sourcing and purchasing. 

Dakota Supply Group announced it is now a full-line supplier of residential and commercial plumbing products for LIXIL across its American Standard, DXV and GROHE brands. “Expanding our relationship to include American Standard and DXV will enable DSG to achieve long-term growth across our footprint,” said Paul Kennedy, CEO at DSG. “We are proud to strategically align our efforts with LIXIL to bring quality and reliable plumbing solutions to our mutual customer base.”

“We welcome the addition of DSG as an authorized supplier of all LIXIL plumbing products, which will allow plumbing professionals across DSG’s distribution network to have expanded access to our American Standard, DXV and GROHE product portfolios,” said Chris Brown, leader, LIXIL Americas Sales Organization. “We look forward to working with and supporting the newest member of our distribution team to better serve and meet the needs of our customers.”

LIXIL plumbing products are now available across all DSG plumbing locations in Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

A. O. Smith announced it has earned the 2021 ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award, a top ENERGY STAR honor. This recognition marks the third consecutive year that A. O. Smith received an ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year award for its commitment to providing professionals and homeowners with energy efficient solutions.

Bradford White Water Heaters announced it has received the 2021 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.

“ENERGY STAR is one of the most trusted voices for energy efficiency,” said Carl Pinto Jr., senior director of marketing communications for Bradford White Corp. “Being selected as Partner of the Year for two years in a row reflects Bradford White’s commitment to leading our industry in providing high-quality, energy efficient products.”

RepMasters of Denver, Colorado, is the winner of the Watts Representative of the Year and winner of The Golden Regulator Award for driving significant sales growth during the 2020 pandemic year. RepMasters has been a Watts authorized sales representative since 2016, and earlier they represented Watts’ FEBCO brand. They represent Watts in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.

Peter Brown and Chris Brown of Walmar Mechanical Sales based in Nepean, Ontario, received the Watts Lifetime Achievement Award. Both have worked tirelessly to help build a backflow program in conjunction with the city of Ottawa, among other achievements, Watts pointed out. Walmar has been a Watts authorized sales representative for three generations and represents Watts in Ottawa, Canada.

RWC has been honored with a Metro Atlanta Top Workplaces 2021 Award by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This honor is a testament to the culture and company values not just in Atlanta but at every RWC location,” said Lauren Buchbinder, vice president of human resources, Americas. “We all are connected by our company values, and that shared passion manifests in the sense of community we’ve built even during the challenges of the pandemic.”

The anonymous survey measures 15 culture drivers critical to the success of any organization. RWC received top scores in three areas: execution, open-mindedness and innovation.

Noritz America announced Austell, Georgia-based Sunbelt Marketing will help cover the Southeast tankless water heater market. The master distributor and buy/sell manufacturers representative will work alongside Noritz’s sales team staff in that region. Formed in 1976, Sunbelt Marketing is “a well-established leader among independent sales representatives in our industry,” stated Jason Fleming, executive vice president and general manager at Noritz America. “They have a special expertise in water heating, having worked with both storage-tank and tankless manufacturers over the years. Their in-depth product and application knowledge, and their numerous industry relationships will be an outstanding complement to our existing sales team in that part of the country.”

Franklin Electric Co. announced it has acquired Puronics and its wholly owned subsidiaries, headquartered in Livermore, California, in an all-cash transaction. Puronics is a residential and commercial water treatment products and services provider operating four company-owned service centers and serving about 133 independent water quality dealers with around 260 locations in 31 states. Puronics’ consolidated annual sales are about $24 million, Franklin noted.

Viega has been announced as one of the 50 Sustainability & Climate Leaders by TBD Media Group. This campaign is based on the United Nations’ naming of 17 goals as part of its Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Its goal is to recognize those corporations that are doing some of the most important and innovative work toward developing a sustainable world, the group explained.

Viega was recognized for its exemplary work in providing safe drinking water and heating piping systems that save energy, or, as the company puts it: “installing lifelines for the buildings of tomorrow.”   

“We ensure safety in buildings, comfort in homes, drinking water hygiene and energy efficiency,” explained Anna Viegener, chairwoman of the board, Viega Holding GmbH & Co. KG. “This is what really drives us every day.”

During the May 4-5, Virtual Minnesota Safety and Health Conference, Uponor North America received its third Governor’s Safety Award. Presented by the Minnesota Safety Council, the award recognizes the company’s distribution center in Lakeville, Minnesota, for exemplary workplace safety and health.

Weil-McLain has partnered with plumbing and mechanical firm 4950 Sales to represent the company’s full line of residential and commercial boilers in the Alaska region. Based in Palmer, Alaska, the company, which serves the commercial, industrial and plumbing and mechanical and construction sectors, is led by Charles Benshetler and Nick Benshetler.

DiversiTech Corp., an aftermarket manufacturer and supplier of highly-engineered components for residential and light commercial heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR), announced it has acquired Fresh-Aire UV, a manufacturer in the indoor air quality industry.

EVAPCO has selected Delta T Equipment as its manufacturers representative to serve the southeast Texas region. The Houston-based HVAC distributorship offers a broad array of products and services to consulting engineers, contractors and end users.