People on the Move: Promotions and hirings from LMN, IA and more

Kristen Kiely (Photo courtesy of LMN)

Landscape Management Network (LMN), a B2B landscape business management software company, has promoted Kristen Kiely to senior vice president, customer experience.

Kiely’s promotion follows the rapid growth and evolution of LMN’s Customer Experience team, which works with the company’s growing customers across North America to deliver exceptional training and customer support.

Since July 2021, the customer experience team has more than doubled in size, with growth designed to provide even more support for landscape and snow contractor business operators.

Kiely joined LMN in 2016 as a business adviser, and over the course of more than five years, she has held multiple positions on the LMN customer support team, including client success manager, director of customer implementation and, most recently, vice president of professional services. In her new role, she’ll continue to oversee all customer experiences including training, implementation, success and support.

The Irrigation Association (IA) board of directors has named Natasha Rankin, MBA, CAE, as its new CEO.

She will assume her new role on Jan. 10, 2022. Rankin brings more than 25 years of experience to the IA, including nine years in chief executive roles. Most recently, she served as the chief strategy officer/chief operating officer for the American Counseling Association, where she has helped the organization achieve record levels of membership and revenue growth. Previously, while at Bostrom Corp., Rankin held the position of executive director for the Employers Council on Flexible Compensation and the Greeting Card Association. During her career, she also served as executive director of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.

“After a comprehensive selection process that considered many qualified candidates, the board is confident that Natasha Rankin is the right person to lead the IA into the future,” said John Newlin, CIC, CIT, CLIA, chair of the CEO Search Committee and incoming IA president. “Her wealth of experience with associations on multiple levels and her track record of success in developing and executing strategies to achieve growth and sustainability will be huge assets for the IA.”

In addition to executive roles, Rankin has extensive experience working with associations, including meeting planning, advocacy work, professional development and implementing membership growth strategies. She has also been involved with the American Society of Association Executives, currently serving on the ASAE Foundation Innovation Task Force and on the ASAE Political Action Committee, where she is recognized as an APAC Ambassador.

David Caldwell and Lee Padgett of Takeuchi-U.S. have expanded their product manager responsibilities to encompass new duties that take advantage of their unique expertise in the compact equipment industry.

Caldwell is now Takeuchi’s national product manager. In his new role, he will oversee new product development and rollouts to the company’s North American distributor network, as well as national sales training events. Caldwell will continue to be extremely involved in Takeuchi’s compact excavator product line by developing training courses, conducting sales training events, overseeing the product department and assisting with its development and management. He will also provide competitive compact excavator product and market analysis materials.

Caldwell joined Takeuchi-U.S. in 2010 as a product and training manager, working his way up to become the excavator product manager before taking on his new national product manager position. He has more than 20 years of experience in the equipment industry, including six years with Mitchell Distributing Co. and seven years with Komatsu America.

Padgett is now the product manager for Takeuchi’s compact track loaders, compact wheel loaders and attachments. In his new role, Padgett will assist in the development and management of those product lines, including developing training curriculums and conducting sales training events. He will also work with distribution and customers to better understand customer needs and use that knowledge to enhance future product development. Padgett will provide competitive product and market analysis materials for both the track loader and wheel loader product lines, and he will source, test and on-board new attachments for the Takeuchi Attachment Program.

Padgett joined Takeuchi in 2014 as an inside sales representative before moving into his product management role.

After 30 years of service to Albaugh, Spencer Vance will continue and extend his involvement as a member of Albaugh’s board of managers. Douglas “Dak” Kaye, currently Albaugh’s Group chief commercial officer, will be Albaugh’s next regional president for the North American region.

“After 30 years with Albaugh, it is the right time for me to focus my talents in these critical areas,” Vance said. “I’m as excited to continue to bring the high quality and compelling value of Albaugh ‘Your Alternative’ to customers in the U.S. and Canada.”

In addition to his responsibilities as manager, Vance will continue his involvement in the new role of director of customer engagement for North America. In this capacity, Vance will continue his efforts to ensure customers have full knowledge of Albaugh’s portfolio and capabilities, cultivate both existing and new customer relationships in all market segments and craft high-quality solutions to the ever-growing needs of customers.

“Words cannot express how grateful Sue and I are for Spencer’s three decades of service to my company,” said founder and chairman Dennis Albaugh. “Under Spencer’s leadership our company has reached unparalleled levels of success in serving agriculture in the US and Canada, and I know that Dak will build upon Spencer’s legacy to continue our outstanding performance even further.”

Kaye began his career in crop protection in 2009 and came to Albaugh in 2011 as its chief financial officer for the European region. Kaye became the president of the European region for Albaugh in 2012 and was appointed to the position of group chief commercial officer in 2019.

The Davey Tree Expert Co. appointed Justin Walker to district manager of Davey’s Long Island Residential/Commercial (R/C) services office.

Walker’s most recent position was an arborist account manager with a company in eastern Long Island. Some of his job responsibilities included creating and implementing plant health care programs on large Hampton estates and training and supervising the production team.

Prior to this position, Walker served as the office manager and arborist representative manager for another company in Long Island. In addition to sales duties to build programs for small residential projects and large commercial properties, he also managed multimillion-dollar projects for parks in New York City. Walker has also served in the United States Marine Corps.

Walker is an International Society of Arboriculture Board-Certified Master Arborist and a Tree Care Industry Association Certified Treecare Safety Professional. He holds a New York State Commercial Pesticide Applicators License and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.