PBI announces several organizational changes within its senior management team, effective immediately. These changes aim to capitalize on the thriving growth opportunities the US-based fiber manufacturer has across world.

Industry boundaries are shifting, as ecosystems and competition across countries, continents and sector lines are becoming more prevalent, new alliances are formed.  Traditional industry boundaries are being challenged and borders redrawn or redefined, at a more rapid pace than we have previously experienced in the fire service.

“These changes call for strategic thinking about what we can do to continue to be at the forefront in innovation to serve our partners and our customers even more efficiently. At PBI, we have the ability to do that. Today, we are introducing our new organizational structure that has one goal in mind: create a customer-centric, unified global ecosystem with a strong regional focus.” says Bill Lawson, President of PBI.

These changes will help deliver PBI’s goal of continually providing a top-tier service to its customers, drive growth and execute its strategy more quickly, to deliver the right capabilities to its partners and customers through the industry’s most innovative fabric technologies.

Helmut Zepf is promoted to Managing Director, PBI – PPE Division. 

In this new role, Helmut will manage all sales, marketing and technical support activities for PBI fiber sold to PPE markets worldwide.

Helmut came to PBI in 2003 and has increased PBI’s visibility across all markets.  Previous to PBI, Helmut held leading positions in Engineering, Manufacturing and Sales at a large acrylic fiber manufacturer. 

Helmut will report to Bill Lawson, President.

Bryan Bolden is promoted to Vice President of Sales for the Americas and Northeast Asian Markets. 

Bryan came to PBI in 2007 and has established a strong track record in all the markets he has been assigned.  Bryan has had increasing responsibility throughout his years in the PBI business and has improved PBI’s relationships with key partners, while driving growth.

Prior to joining PBI, Bryan started his career with a large distributor of Fire Fighting equipment in the Phoenix area.  Reporting to Bryan will be Jingyu Lee, Sales Manager for Asian Markets. 

Bryan will report to Helmut Zepf.

Ian Callaghan is promoted to Vice President of Sales for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asian Markets. 

Ian joined PBI in 2008 and has since contributed substantially with his remarkable people skills and expertise to PBI’s global growth in the key markets he has been responsible for.

Ian came to PBI from a large UK garment manufacturer where he was the sales leader. In this new role, Ian will be responsible for sales activities, supply chain management and coordination with PBI’s agents, in the markets they serve.

Ian will report to Helmut Zepf.

Catalina Ciobanu is promoted to Vice President of Marketing for PBI – PPE Division. 

Catalina joined PBI in 2015 and had an instant impact on PBI’s marketing strategy and support programs to our key partners. Prior to PBI, Catalina was the Global Marketing Leader for a large North American PPE company.

Since joining PBI, Catalina was responsible for PBI’s brand positioning, advertising, tradeshow presence and has led the successful implementation of PBI’s new brand identity in 2021. In her new role, she will be focusing her efforts on PBI’s global marketing & communication strategy, to promote PBI’s brand and product portfolio worldwide. She will also be leading business developments efforts and managing key

Firefighters with Green Creek (NC) Fire Rescue are pleased to announce that the department has received it’s new rescue pumper, according to a report published by Tryon Daily Bulletin.

According to the report, Engine 26 is a 2022 4 Guys rescue pumper built in Pennsylvania on a Spartan cab and chassis.

Additionally, the department is expecting to move into a brand new fire station sometime later this year, according to the report which also said the new apparatus and station should improve the community’s insurance rating.

The station for the department, which was established 1964, is expected to be completed and opened in November.

By Bill Adams

Everyone knows the Raisin Squad is an informal group of white hairs, a bunch of past-their-prime firemen (mostly volunteers). “Firemen” is what we called ourselves before the era of political correctness.  We routinely get together for morning coffee to tell lies, relive the past, and pass judgement on everything and everyone.

At a recent trade show, I was verbally accosted by another white hair, a former apparatus dealer. He busted my stones saying I never write about older fire apparatus dealers and some of the B.S. (not bologna sandwiches) we had to put up with. I really think he was at the show passing out his resume so he can feel important again, but that’s not going to happen. Once you’ve gone over-the-hill, it’s a tough climb back.

• Apparatus Purchasing: Easy or Hard?
• Fire Apparatus Purchasing: Frustrating the Vendors
• Commentary: What Is Your Best Apparatus Line?

Later, I asked a couple former dealers what they thought of the idea. They were all for it. One actually berated me for not doing it before. And I thought these guys were my friends. We told each other stories of selling and interactions with customers, including some we referred to as “obstinate” purchasers. I ran it by one of the real raisins at morning coffee who concluded that I and they were certifiably crazy. He said: “Who gives a hoot about what you has-been salesmen say about selling,” and “What the hell are you going to call yourselves—The Prune Crew?” I didn’t think it was funny. He thought it was hilarious.

Obstinate Purchasers

The people that used to walk into fire stations peddling fire trucks were called dealers or, my favorite gender-neutral term, salesmen. Today they’re called sales professionals, sales personnel, factory direct sales staff, account managers, account representatives, and probably some non-sexist name that hasn’t been invented yet. Regardless of their handles, I wonder if they must contend with what we called the “obstinate” members of apparatus purchasing committees (APCs). Instead of APCs, back then they were called truck committees. But today some people get their noses out of joint believing a truck committee only buys ladder trucks. Times have changed.

A dealer’s biggest challenge was diplomatically telling the truth to a prospective purchaser without losing the sale. The second biggest challenge was resisting the urge to grab an intransigent APC member and, while trying to shake some sense into him, scream into his ears: “Do you have any clue what the hell you’re talking about?” I’m sure dealers today don’t face similar challenges…or do they?

Many situations caused severe angst to us and occasional heartburn to the apparatus manufacturers we represented. One was dealing with a purchasing committee or one of its members that was 100% convinced they knew more about fire tru

Officials with the Monarch Fire District in Wildwood, MO, are ready to go to court to build a new fire station, a project voters approved two years ago, according to a report published by KSDK.

According to the report the delays in the construction are jeopardizing the new fire station and a new ambulance service the department is looking to start.

The construction project is being blocked by elected officials in Wildwood, according to the report which also indicated that voters overwhelmingly approved the measure in 2020. Delays in the bond-approved construction are costing the district lots of money, the report says.

Fire district officials say the new fire station meets all the city zoning requirement and other local restrictions and fire officials are not sure what the hold up is, according to the report.

Wildwood officials say there are two reasons for the hold up, one is the fact that the new site added 10 seconds to most response time and the second is the fact that the fire district believed it was exempt from any local restrictions, according to the report. The local governance issue may have been resolved with the district complying with city requests, according to the report.

Both sides acknowledge that each wants what’s best for the community and there hope the issues can be resolved, according to the report.