Furman

PETALUMA, Calif. — Jan. 11, 2011 — Panamax/Furman today announced that Dave Keller, the company's senior vice president of sales and marketing, has been named as chairman of the Manufacturer's Group (MG) of the Independent Professional Representatives Organization (IPRO), a non-profit professional sales representative organization. As chairman, Mr. Keller will lead IPRO-MG toward its goal of enhancing the independent representative and manufacturer relationship.

"The IPRO firmly believes that the future of selling upper-end goods through the CEDIA and InfoComm channels is strong, and the success of our efforts is largely dependent on the triangular relationship between the representative, manufacturer, and electronic systems contractor (ESC)," said David Thomas, president of IPRO and Momentum Group. "The IPRO-MG was specifically formed to increase the communication between the three parties, beginning with the representative and manufacturer. With mutually agreed upon expectations, our message to the ESC and eventually the consumer will be stronger; thereby generating more sales through these channels."

As the IPRO-MG chairman, one of Mr. Keller's priorities will be to help to develop a representative evaluation process where manufacturers can assess representatives and rate them on a number of different attributes, with the intention of making the organization stronger from a manufacturer's point a view. Representatives will also be able to identify the attributes of a good manufacturing partner. The goal is to let both sides know what is expected of each other, allowing them to improve the relationship.

"Dave Keller brings years of successful experience to the IPRO-MG. He is a recognized leader among both his peers as well as the representative and dealer community," added Thomas. "He has demonstrated an eager willingness to promote the working relationship between the manufacturer's representative and the manufacturer. This partnership promises to do much to clarify expectations and foster mutual understanding among both groups."

"It is a great honor to be named as chairman to the IPRO-MG, an organization that has been instrumental in promoting effective relationships between manufacturers and representatives in the market," said Keller. "I look forward to helping both sides work closely together to meet each other's expectations, which ultimately will benefit dealers and integrators and their customers."