For the first time in the 142-year history of The Homer Laughlin China Co., the mantle of leadership is being handed down, not to a successive generation, but from brother to sister. The privately held Newell, W.Va., company has announced executive v.p. Elizabeth McIlvain as its new president; she assumed the office March 18. As…

Market Forge has announced two key personnel appointments as part of a management restructuring. Jeff Leckel has been promoted from operations manager to interim president and CEO, replacing Dave Zappala who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Leckel, a 15-year veteran of the Everett, Mass., company, has been a senior level manager for…

Robert Lynn, the founder of Tampa, Fla.-based Arco Food Service Supply, died Feb. 11. He was 74. Trained as a mechanical engineer, Lynn served in myriad positions—manufacturing, design and sales–throughout a long career in the foodservice E&S industry. He got his start in 1961 as a sales engineer at Alco Standard Corp. in Valley Forge,…

Longtime MAFSI member Carl M. Kaufmann passed away March 17 at age 77. He was the founder of the New York-based rep firm, Kaufmann & Associates. The Pittsburgh native got his start in the foodservice industry in 1961, when he took a job at his uncle’s equipment supply house on the Bowery in lower Manhattan.…

San Antonio-based Ace Mart Restaurant Supply has made two personnel changes in its Houston market operations. Eddie Sigh has been promoted to regional manager there; Sigh had been store manager of Ace Mart’s Gulf Freeway store for two years and assistant manager for one year. Prior to joining Ace Mart, Sigh held various leadership positions…

Philadelphia-based warewashing equipment maker Insinger Machine Co. has strengthened its representation in the West with the addition of three rep groups: Preferred Marketing Group, Heartland Group, LLC and The Redstone Group. Territories for Preferred Marketing are California and Nevada; Heartland Reps has southern Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska; and The Redstone Group will cover…

J Frishman Associates has entered into a partnership with Southbend to represent the Fuquay-Varina, N.C., company’s brands to consultants. According to Southbend President John Perruccio, “This partnership will assist our company in developing stronger relationships with our consultant base and communicating with them the developments and changes we have brought to equipment. These changes and…

The foodservice equipment and supplies business is so complex, you can just never know enough. A true E&S professional needs to know the difference between a Btu and a kW, have some knowledge of airflow dynamics, understand what 18/8 means on a piece of flatware (and know to call it flatware, not silverware), recognize dangerous…

Four foodservice equipment manufacturers have announced they’ve won Energy Star honors from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Two companies, ITW Food Equipment Group-North America and Manitowoc Foodservice, have received Energy Star Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence awards, recognizing their continued leadership in protecting the environment through energy efficiency. Troy, Ohio-based ITW FEG has been…

Three well-known industry names have joined forces under one roof as manufacturer’s sales representatives. GMV Sales, based in Westboro, Mass., represents 16 factories and covers the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont (MAFSI Region 1). The trio include 30-year industry vet Kevin Golden, who has held leadership posts…