SPARTAN MOTORS INC. has announced that Daniel Slater has joined the company as president of its Emergency Response business, effective Jan. 5. He reports to Daryl Adams, Spartan president and chief executive officer.
“I am excited to welcome Dan to Spartan as president of our Emergency Response segment,” Adams said. “Dan brings extensive experience and the skills needed to lead the resurgence of Spartan Emergency Response. He has demonstrated his ability to turn a loss-making operation into a significantly profitable business and to improve operating metrics through the application of lean manufacturing principles. I look forward to working with Dan as we accelerate the pace of change in the Emergency Response business.”
John Sztykiel, who retired as Spartan president and chief executive officer, said, “Dan has successfully led a business similar to Spartan Emergency Response – a strong brand in need of improved operating performance. We are confident that he will provide the leadership needed to grow profitably and deliver to our customers and dealers the highest quality, best performing fire apparatus available.”
Slater was most recently vice president and general manager of Terex Cranes Inc., a manufacturer of rough-terrain cranes, truck cranes and boom trucks with annual revenues of approximately $500 million. Before joining Terex, he was president of the Manufacturing Performance Solutions group of RWD Inc., a management consulting and training firm. He also held manufacturing management positions for BMW, Toyota and Volkswagen.
GLOBE and DUPONT PROTECTION TECHNOLOGIES, in partnership with the NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL (NVFC), awarded 52 sets of Globe turnout gear to departments in need in the 2014 Globe Gear Giveaway program. The program has provided 247 sets of turnout gear to 43 departments since launching in 2012. The 13 newest winners each received four sets of gear, significantly enhancing the safety of their firefighters, who previously made do with old, worn, and non-compliant gear that provided less-than-optimal protection.
“Thank you to everyone who applied for the 2014 Globe Gear Giveaway,” said NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. “There are many volunteer departments that are struggling to make ends meet and provide their firefighters with the best protection possible. We are pleased to work with Globe and DuPont to help some of those departments obtain much-needed gear and enhance the safety of their personnel.”
“Volunteer firefighters make a difference in people’s lives every day and for that we thank them,” said Globe Senior Vice President of Marketing Rob Freese. “Globe is glad to donate new turnout gear through this program to protect and help keep them safe them while they protect others.”
To be eligible for the 2014 giveaway, departments had to be over 50% volunteer, serve a population of 25,000 or less, be located in the U.S. or Canada, be a member of the NVFC and demonstrate significant need for the gear that the department could not meet on its own. To help departments with the membership requirement, Globe also sponsored 200 department memberships to the NVFC. More than 500 departments applied for the gear.
The 2015 Globe Gear Giveaway application period opens this month. See nvfc.org for details.
KME has received a Superior, Gold rating from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) as a top-performing supply contractor for fiscal years 2013 and 2014. The award is part of the Department of Defense’s Superior Supplier Incentive Program.
As a Department of Defense combat support agency, DLA provides the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, other federal agencies and joint and allied forces with a variety of logistics, acquisition and technical services. The agency sources and provides nearly 100% of the consumable items America’s military forces need to operate, as well as fire apparatus, construction and barrier equipment.
“Given DLA’s mission to support our warfighters around the world, it’s important to recognize those companies with proven track records for superior performance in government contracting,” said Matthew Beebe, head of DLA’s acquisition directorate.
According to Andrew Yenser, KME’s government sales manager, “KME is proud to support our military personnel stationed around the globe and honored to receive the highest gold rating.”
LEADER, which designs, manufactures and promotes high-performing equipment used in firefighting and search and rescue applications, has developed interactive courses for free download to help firefighters acquire skills in the implementation of ventilation techniques. Created in partnership with EDUCEXPERT, an organization globally recognized in the field of training firefighters, the courses have been specially designed for fire trainers to assist them in their mission.
Three major topics are addressed:
1. The main principles of fire and the different phases of development.
2. Thermal phenomena and their consequences.
3. The basics of fire ventilation during firefighting according to three main techniques (offensive, defensive and combined ventilation).
The lessons are downloadable in English, Spanish, French and Chinese. To download the courses, see http://www.leadernorthamerica.com/training/interactive-courses-742.html.
PIERCE MAUFACTURING has announced that GOLDEN STATE FIRE APPARATUS, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in October 2014, has moved to new offices and service center facilities located at 7400 Reese Road in Sacramento, CA, effective Jan. 8. The campus features a renovated 30,000-square-foot maintenance facility with space for up to 18 apparatus bays, making Golden State a single-source provider for sales and service.
“After careful deliberation, and a comprehensive site selection process, we are relocating to a facility that includes a dedicated fire apparatus service department staffed by Golden State employees who are Pierce and EVT (Emergency Vehicle Technician) certified,” said Ryan Wright, vice president of Golden State. “Moving to California’s capital city is a major commitment and long-term investment that will benefit Pierce customers across central and northern California
“Golden State Fire Apparatus, led by the Wright family, is an outstanding team and we’re excited to see this move to a campus with comprehensive in-house customer support capabilities,” said Jim Johnson, Oshkosh Corp. executive vice president and president, Fire & Emergency. “For a quarter of a century, the Golden State brand has stood for excellence; this move paves the way to further support and carry on their tradition of putting the customer first.”
The new headquarters is situated on three acres and its 30,000-square-foot maintenance facility is located near Highway 99 (close to the Interstate 80 and Highway 50 interchanges) with easy access to the Bay Area and Interstate 5 corridor. The new facilities feature a dedicated 2,600-square-foot parts-distribution department. The service and repair staff includes EVT-certified service and support professionals, backed by Pierce’s service and training department. Among its services, Golden State will offer comprehensive warranty support, technical support, mobile service, equipment mounting, and pump testing. The company also plans to develop a strategically located network of service providers throughout its territory.
US DIGITAL DESIGNS has enhanced its Phoenix G2 fire station alerting system with new products. The system helps reduce dispatch call-processing times by instantaneously alerting the right units, in the right places, so they can respond more efficiently and with better information.
“While we’re excited about the entire suite of G2 station alerting products, the feedback that we’ve gotten from our customers and prospects is they they’re very intrigued about receiving alerts at the station and on the go,” said Dominic Magnoni, US Digital Designs’ vice president and general manager. “Yes, there are several mobile alerting applications in the market, but this is the first of its kind to be integrated with a comprehensive station alerting system, which is synched with alerts sent from the dispatch center to the fire station. It’s not a standalone solution; it’s total solution.”
US Digital Designs’ Phoenix G2 Station Alerting System offers an array of sophisticated new emergency alert-related products ancillary to the system:
• FSA Mobile App – Delivers alerts to smartphones, such as dispatch announcements, administrative alerts, IT support notifications and application update notifications. It can send alerts to fire department individuals or groups (e.g., stations, battalions, districts, etc.) while they are away from the station or apparatus. Receiving simultaneous alerts at the station and on mobile devices allows fire agencies to receive important notifications while conducting department business, such as inspections, training and/or meetings.
• G2 Communications Gateway Dashboard – Enables public safety dispatchers to manually alert fire stations, monitor the status of alerts, control radio announcements and conduct alarm reporting (per-station), helping fire agencies maintain National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1221 requirements.
• G2 HDTV Remote – Generates the display of multi-line dispatch information on a customer-provided high-definition television (HDTV) screen, TV, video wall or projector.
• G2 Message Sign – Displays an almost instantaneous single-line scrolling alert message, and can be mounted over doorways or in hallways, kitchens, offices and apparatus bays. Information can be configured to display dispatch information, turnout timer or unit status (with a capable CAD system).
• G2 Sign Remote – Offers a very flexible, inexpensive, general-purpose, station peripheral that supplies power, data and control to a single, non-Power over Ethernet digital LED message sign. The G2 Sign Remote can be hung near a message sign in a hidden ceiling area or mounted to the back of a digital LED message sign.
• G2 Color Indicator Remote – Features high-intensity LED lights in a variety of colors that are instantly recognizable by station personnel, providing immediate dispatch information to the observer. Offers a quiet, alternative visual alerting method and can be mounted on ceilings or walls.
MCMURDO GROUP has appointed Randel Maestre as vice president of sales for Americas, responsible for developing integrated sales and marketing efforts in key search-and-rescue region. Maestre is responsible for implementing a coordinated sales and marketing strategy for McMurdo’s products, including emergency distress beacons, search and rescue infrastructure products and fleet management/tracking software. This includes building sales teams, recruiting partners and developing new channel programs for the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Randel will bring a tremendous amount of experience, leadership and energy to this role,” said Jean-Yves Courtois, CEO of McMurdo Group. “His global background, proven ability to implement go-to-market strategies and ability to relate to partners and customers will help us to quickly establish an in-region presence in the Americas. We are confident that he will develop the programs necessary to maximize revenue and growth not only for McMurdo, but also for our entire channel partner community.”
Maestre has nearly 25 years of global sales and marketing experience to his expanded role at McMurdo Group, where he has been vice president of global strategic marketing for over a year.
Firehouse Staff
Content written and created by Firehouse Magazine editors.
