Stihl announces personnel updates
10 May, 2010 LM Direct!VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — Jim Kneeland has accepted the position of sales manager for Stihl Inc.'s Intermountain STIHL branch, located in the Denver area. He succeeds Larry Blamer, who has accepted the position of sales and marketing manager for Stihl Northwest.
In his new position, Blamer will be responsible for growing the Stihl brand and market share in the Pacific Northwest region, which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska.
Originally from Virginia, Blamer grew up working with his father, who operated a power equipment dealership. After working in the retail business, he took a position as a service manager for a multi-line distributing company. His next career move led him to an outdoor power equipment manufacturer based in North Carolina, where he worked as a service manager for their North American operations. Following that, he went into sales for a major outdoor power equipment distributor. Then in 1991, Blamer began his Stihl career when he joined Mid-Atlantic Stihl in Hillsborough, NC. He currently resides in Winlock, WA, with his wife, Lisa.
"With 19 years of experience at STIHL along with his work ethic, ability and dedication, we are very confident that Larry will thrive in his new role at Stihl Northwest,² said Steve Meriam, Stihl Inc.'s manager of national sales and product development.
Kneeland began his career with Pacific Stihl in California in October 2006 as a territory manager covering Northern California and Nevada. In his new position, Kneeland will be responsible for overseeing sales efforts within the region, which covers Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah.
Kneeland left the financial industry in 2003 looking for something that would keep him better connected to his agricultural roots, and entered the OPE industry working Northern California for a small distributor based out of Oregon. It didn¹t take long for Stihl to take notice.
"It was my dealers that helped me get noticed by Pacific Stihl," Kneeland says. "My dealers called Stihl and recommended me."
Kneeland and his family are settling in to their new home in Colorado and look forward to many years as part of the Intermountain Stihl family.
"Jim has impressed us with his drive, his ability and his willingness to work together with his customers to grow their businesses. We are confident that he will succeed in his new role in Denver," Meriam said.
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