AUGUST NAMED PRESIDENT AT BEVERAGE-AIR, HOTARD IS EXEC. V.P.

Come Sept. 1, Rob August will assume the presidency of Beverage-Air, an Ali Group company. August will succeed Filippo Berti, who is transitioning to the position of company chairman. Berti also will continue as president of Ali North America; he’ll be based in Beverage-Air’s Winston-Salem, N.C., headquarters.

August joined the Ali Group in January 2007 as executive v.p.-sales and marketing for Ali Group’s Champion Industries. Prior to that, he served as v.p.-sales and marketing for Blodgett and Southbend within Middleby Corp. August also has held senior sales management positions with the Garland Group, now part of Manitowoc Foodservice, and Globe Food Equipment.

Tom Hotard, who previously was v.p.-operations and development at Beverage-Air, succeeds August as exec. v.p. He has extensive experience in product and organizational development in the foodservice equipment industry. His resume includes the presidencies of Merrychef USA, now a division of Manitowoc, and Southbend, A Middleby Co. Hotard will continue to be responsible for managing the Beverage-Air Brookville facility and engineering department.

Beverage-Air’s parent, the Ali Group, is headquartered in Milan, Italy, and operates 67 brands in 24 countries.