Industry News 9/15

For the fourth year, Globe, DuPont Protection Technologies and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) have partnered to provide new, state-of-the-art turnout gear to fire departments in need. Through the 2015 Globe Gear Giveaway Program, 13 departments from the United States and Canada will each receive four sets of gear. This year’s first three recipients are the South Amboy, NJ, Fire Department; Koosharem, UT, Fire Rescue; and L’Orignal Fire Department, Ontario, Canada.

“We received over 550 applications for gear, demonstrating the need that fire departments are facing across North America,” said NVFC Chairman Kevin D. Quinn. “Through this program, we lessen the burden on departments who are struggling to provide gear to their members and often have to make do with gear that is old, non-compliant, ill-fitting, and otherwise inadequate, putting the safety of the firefighters at risk.”

To be eligible to apply for the four sets of new Globe turnout gear, departments had to be all-volunteer or mostly-volunteer, serve a population of 25,000 or less, be legally organized in the U.S. or Canada, demonstrate a need for the gear, and be a member of the NVFC. To help departments meet this last requirement, Globe sponsored NVFC Department Memberships for the first 200 non-members to apply.

Additional awards through the Globe Gear Giveaway Program will be made monthly throughout 2015. A total of 52 sets of gear will be distributed to departments in need.

Michael Bowman has been appointed to the position of vice president of national sales by Smeal Fire Apparatus Co., with responsibility for North American sales for Smeal, LTC and UST products. Bowman will report to Jeff Wegner who has been appointed to the position of senior vice president of global sales.

Bowman has more than 15 years of experience in the fire and emergency response industry. Most recently he served as vice president of sales with Spartan Motors USA. Wegner joined Smeal in 1993. He formerly held the role of regional sales director for the Northeast U.S. and was responsible for dealer management and development, major account sales and forecasting.

In their new positions, Wegner and Bowman, will be responsible for international and U.S. business development, sales and sales support management, dealer relationship management and pursuit of strategic accounts. Wegner also has primary responsibility for the management and strategic planning of Smeal’s relationship with Gimaex International as well as sales, marketing and customer service for the Smeal, LTC and UST brands.

“Smeal is very fortunate to have the team of Jeff Wegner and Mike Bowman at the helm of our national and international sales and business development programs,” said Mark Huber, Smeal’s president. “We are a company with many opportunities before us, including in regions where we have not yet ventured. Our eyes are on serving more fire and emergency customers with a broader, more diversified selection of products and technologies.”

ESO Solutions, Inc. has acquired Emergency Technologies, Inc. in an effort to reinforce ESO’s commitment to the public safety market. The move is seen as the next step in ESO’s attempt to deliver a true all-in-one software solution to the Fire/EMS market.

“The ETI team is known for their passion for the fire market and delivering great customer service,” said Chris Dillie, president and CEO of ESO. “We’re excited about them joining the ESO team. We’re also looking forward to bringing current ETI customers the most state-of-the-art software applications possible, while preserving the robust functionality they’ve come to expect from ETI.”

Tim Irelan, vice president of ESO Fire, added: “With over 40% of the nation’s EMS agencies run by fire departments, and our current clients requesting additional fire modules, we feel it is the right time to double-down on our commitment to the fire industry. We are committed to bringing out the most sophisticated, user-friendly fire software system on the market.”