New Appointments at AEMP

The Association of Equipment Management Professionals (AEMP) elected its new 2013-14 executive committee members and named new directors during its 2013 Management Conference and Annual Meeting March 17-19 in Jacksonville, Fla. The board also appointed a new president/CEO and chairman. Bob Merritt, CEM, the director of equipment at URS Corp.’s Energy and Construction Division, is the new president/CEO and AEMP Board chairman. He said his priorities for the coming year are to expand the AEMP footprint, enhance the association’s educational offerings and further its efforts in telematics. “Telematics is a big driver for me,” Merritt said. “This is important technology, but unfortunately there is still a lot of misunderstanding and mystery surrounding it. We need more training and experience with telematics so we can make it easier to use, so we get better information from its application and so we can better apply that information to benefit our companies.” Active AEMP members elected Thad Pirtle, CEM, the VP of equipment at Traylor Bros. Inc., as the 2013-14 chairman-elect, and Dave Gorski, CEM, the shop administrator at K-Five Constructions Co., as the new secretary/treasurer. AEMP members also elected three vice chairmen: Chris Ryan, CEM, the equipment manager at Boh Bros. Construction Co.; Warren Schmidt, CEM, the corporate equipment manager at Flatiron; and John Meese, the senior director of heavy equipment and disposal operations support at Waste Management. Member constituents in each fleet category elected five new directors of designated industries. Jason Ruggles, shop manager at Taylor Bros. Inc. is the new director of construction; Donald Lubinsky, CEM, the executive director of Pennsylvania Operation Lifesaver, is the director of governmental; Donald Gengelbach, CEM, the supervisor of Mulzer Crushed Stone, is the director of mining; John Shearer, VP of product support at James River Equipment Co., is the director of associates at large; and Dan Tidwell, senior VP of market development and construction media at Randall Reilly Publishing Co., is the director of strategic partners. Finally, the Board appointed 10 new members: Tom Bucklar, manager of equipment management, Caterpillar, Inc.; Roberto Bogdanoff, director Key account for customer support, Volvo Construction Equipment; Erik Wilde, VP of product marketing, Komatsu America Corp.; Randy Amarine, development manager, AT&T; Carl Porter, corporate business manager, John Deere Construction and Forestry; Alexis Smith, associate brand manager-HD, Castrol; Rod Sutton, editorial director, Construction Equipment magazine; Scott Walter, director of major accounts, IronPlanet; Dixon Linklater, manager of corporate accounts, CNH; and Joe Phelan, national accounts, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers. The AEMP Board comprises 22 members who represent companies within the equipment management industry. Each year the AEMP nominating committee selects individuals who have demonstrated continued support for AEMP initiatives to lead the Board. Members serve one-year terms.