SJE is excited to introduce Chad Thompson, our newest Regional Sales Manager! Chad will be responsible for the Southeast Region (North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, Florida and Alabama) upon Tim Callander’s retirement at the end of the year. “I needed a change of pace and wanted to work for a great, reputable company,” Chad said. “SJE provided both. I had heard great things about working for them.” Chad has over 15 years of experience in the water industry, seven of which have been in sales. His favorite thing about the industry is the tight-knit community and the amazing people. Outside work, Chad enjoys boating, fishing, live music, sporting events and traveling.

SJE is pleased to announce that Ellie Mulcahy has joined the Leadership Team as President of the Standard Division. She will have responsibility for the entire Standard Products division, the largest division of SJE. SJE has experienced tremendous growth over the last decade.  In today’s fast-moving and ever-changing business landscape, SJE determined that someone with Ellie’s talent, experience and vision would help build on their 40+ years of success with Standard Products solutions in the market. “Ellie brings a tremendous level of leadership and operations experience in multi-site manufacturing environments to SJE, including senior management roles at Heico, IDEX Corporation, EVRAZ and SET Enterprises,” said Dave Thomas, President and CEO of SJE. Ellie describes herself as a “proven results-driven leader with a passion for manufacturing, quality improvement and cost management.” She has experience in domestic and international management in a variety of industries and manufacturing environments. She is also skilled in operational excellence, full P&L responsibility and supply chain management. She will be based out of her home office near Chicago, Illinois.

SJE is excited to introduce Trey Spath, our newest Regional Sales Manager! Trey will be responsible for the Northwest Region (Wyoming; Colorado; California; Arizona; Alaska; New Mexico and El Paso, Texas; Nevada; Washington; Idaho; Oregon; Montana; Utah; Hawaii) for SJE Rhombus and CSI Controls upon Mark McCollum’s retirement at the end of the year. Trey has 17 years of experience in the water industry, working from wholesale distributors to manufacturers and taking care of specific territories for the water, well, ag and SSE markets. For Trey, the customers are his favorite part of the job and what keep him in this industry. “The people, the relationships you form with your customers—they’re hands-down second-to-none,” Trey said. Outside work, Trey enjoys golfing and spending time with his family. They have 7 children and are very involved with sports, which keeps them running nonstop. Contact him at trey.spath@sjeinc.com.

Lack of access to affordable, high quality childcare is a major obstacle that keeps parents out of the workforce in Ashland County. However, a new onsite daycare in the Ashland Business Park could help change that. The Women’s Fund Childcare Initiative (through the Ashland County Community Foundation) hopes to expand childcare access to the community, and SJE is proud to be a partner in this mission. The Childcare Initiative proposes building a new onsite daycare in the Ashland Business Park that will add 131 new childcare spots: 23 infant, 33 toddler, 39 preschool, and 36 school-age. With a current lack of licensed childcare after 6 p.m., the daycare will offer hours of operation to include non-traditional work hours. It will also create over 20 full-time jobs, as well as a boost in construction jobs during the build. With two Ashland locations, at 221 Ford Drive and 2395 Rock Road, SJE recognizes that this new initiative will benefit both its employees and the community at large. SJE Inc. and the SJE Foundation together have committed $200,000 over five years to this project. During June, this donation will be used as matching dollars for any contributions. SJE will also host a kickoff event at the 221 Ford Drive location. Tim Bartholomew, operations manager for SJE’s 221 Ford Drive location, is serving on the initiative’s board of directors. His own personal experiences as both a parent and manager involved in hiring new employees informed his decision to join this initiative. “As more companies come to Ashland and the Ashland Business Park grows, having affordable childcare will also help our city to grow,” Bartholomew said. “Families will be more likely to put roots down here since they can both live and work in the city without having to commute.” The initiative is hoping to raise $3.5 million for construction and startup, and $1 million for endowment to support ongoing operations, according to the Ashland County Community Foundation’s website, www.ashlandforgood.com. Construction is planned for spring 2023, with a target opening date in the fall of 2023.

SJE is pleased to announce that Bjorn Haldorsen has joined the Leadership Team as President of the Engineered Division. His position is new to the company and will emphasize customer focus and growth execution. The Engineered Division will expand through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions. Bjorn’s experience in running businesses in similar industries with comparable strategic focus aligns well with SJE. “Our Engineered Division has seen significant growth over the past few years,” said Dave Thomas, President & CEO of SJE. “Having Bjorn join SJE as the Division President will provide additional focus as we continue to expand our leadership in providing controls and automation solutions to our customers.” Bjorn has more than 28 years of leadership experience in the industrial manufacturing sector. Before joining SJE, Bjorn held the position of President of North America at Colson Group. He headed their North American business operations, with focus on growth and strategic initiatives to best service the marketplace. In addition, he worked for Honeywell International for 8 years and then for Flowserve Corporation for 18 years. At Flowserve, he served in various regional and global leadership roles that culminated in the role of Vice President and General Manager for the Industrial Pump Operations. His background brings valuable experience to SJE. “SJE is a good fit for me because of their strong brand recognition in the industry and their focus on growth,” Bjorn said. “I have experience working with their end markets, as well as driving growth organically through new vertical markets, product development and M&A.” Bjorn received his bachelor’s degree in Purchasing and Logistics Management from Arizona State University and his M.B.A. in International Finance from Thunderbird School of Global Management. He will reside in Maryland with extensive travel.

SJE is excited to announce that Tim Fowler has joined the Leadership Team as Chief Information Officer (CIO). This is a new position for the company that will oversee IT initiatives and the current IT team. He is based out of the SJE location in Plymouth, Minnesota. “I am looking forward to helping the company grow by being a true business partner,” said Fowler. “SJE is an excellent fit for me to add value given my background in M&A, Cyber Security and broad IS strategy in enablement of new business capabilities.” Before joining SJE, Fowler held a series of VP and divisional CIO roles at Polaris Industries. Prior to that, he spent 21 years between Irwin Financial (banking) and Rexnord Industries (international industrial manufacturing). He has developed a successful track record positioning the role of IT to support both the short and long-term needs of fast-growing organizations. “SJE’s fast growth over the last few years has created challenges that require new capabilities, new perspectives and additional expertise on our team,” said Dave Thomas, President & CEO of SJE. “Tim’s background in high-growth, larger company environments will enable SJE to scale our technology capabilities to overcome these challenges and improve the level of service we provide to our customers.” Aside from work, Tim enjoys coaching, running, hunting, exploring nature, boating and the finer details of a restaurant.