Lewis-Goetz Expands Leadership Team To Serve Growing Customer Base

Two positions have been created to serve the company’s growing customer base: vice president of supply chain operations, and vice president of marketing and sales.

PITTSBURGH — Lewis-Goetz, a leading industrial service provider of industrial products, including fabricated hose, conveyor belts, valves and gaskets, has announced new leadership roles within the company. Two positions have been created to serve the company’s growing customer base: vice president of supply chain operations, and vice president of marketing and sales.  

Eelco de Graaf has been named vice president of supply chain operations. Previously, Mr. de Graaf was chief operating officer of Makro Colombia, a wholesale distributor and sister company of SHV Holdings, NV. Since 2004, he has held leadership positions for SHV Holdings/Makro in sales and operations, supply chain, and management.  

From 2010-2012, Mr. de Graaf was a regional sales and operations director of the south for Makro Brazil. He also served as regional sales manager for Makro Indonesia and as store general manager and purchasing manager for Makro Malaysia. Before that, he worked at the head office of SHV Holdings in Utrecht, The Netherlands. In 2010, he completed SHV Holdings in-house management programme at Nyenrode Business University, The Netherlands. He earned a post master in sales management from Erasmus University Rotterdam; and a master in law from the University of Utrecht.  

Mr. de Graaf recently relocated to Pittsburgh from Bogotá. In his new role, he will lead the manufacturing and supply chain teams at Lewis-Goetz and help to foster a culture of continuous improvement by championing operational excellence within the organization.

Gary M. Giallonardo, the newly appointed vice president of marketing and sales, has spent more than 15 years in the industrial paints and coatings industry. He has a proven track record in global marketing and sales organizations, including international positions with PPG Industries. From 1998-2000, at Lilly Industries, Inc. (now The Valspar Corporation), a producer of industrial paints and coatings, he served as marketing director for Global Coil SBU and managed a team that generated double digit sales growth year over year. Since 2001, Mr. Giallonardo was the managing director and founder of Industrial Visions Company, LLC, a business development advisory that focused on diversification strategies for SMEs and private equity clients.

In his new position, Mr. Giallonardo returns to his native Pittsburgh to direct Lewis-Goetz’s commercial organization, synthesizing the company’s marketing, product management and national account teams. Mr. Giallonardo earned his master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Princeton University.

“These are exciting times at Lewis-Goetz,” said president and CEO Don Evans, “as we continue to grow and improve in our ability to serve our increasing customer base. We are honored to welcome two highly skilled and driven leaders to our management team who will help us achieve our goals.”

Lewis-Goetz is part of the ERIKS group of companies, one of the world's largest industrial distributors. With annual sales in excess of $800 million, the North American entities of the ERIKS group ranks among the top 20 industrial distributors according to Modern Distribution Management's 2014 list of market leaders.

Since 1935, customers have trusted Lewis-Goetz to tailor solutions to meet their mission critical hose, sealing, belting and valve needs. Lewis-Goetz is one of North America's largest industrial distributors and is the largest company owned by ERIKS North America, which was recently ranked 20th on MDM’s 2014 list of Top 40 Industrial Distributors. Visit www.lewis-goetz.com for more information.

Founded in 1940, ERIKS is a leading international industrial service provider offering a wide range of engineering components and related technical and logistics services. ERIKS currently consists of more than 60 companies with 450 branches in 27 countries, serving over 200,000 customers in the MRO, OEM, and project distribution business. For more information visit www.eriks.com.

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