Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/133302
INduSTRy SpOTlIghT Appointments Jonathan Yusen. Thomas Gibson. David Ramirez. Sean Hartnell. Jonathan Yusen has been promoted to Managing Director & President USA of William Grant & Sons, Ltd. Yusen joined the independent family-owned premium spirits company in 2007 as SVP/Marketing for the USA, adding Marketing responsibilities for Mexico and Canada in 2009, and the role of General Manager – Canada in 2012. Yusen assumes leadership of the U.S. business from Simon Hunt, who was recently promoted to the newly created Global Executive role of Chief Commercial Officer based at the company's U.K. headquarters. "I am truly honored to take on the role of Managing Director & President USA for William Grant & Sons," said Yusen. "As an organization, we've worked to build a strong foundation, a world class team and a culture that stays true to the ideals of our founder, the original pioneer William Grant, and his family who continue to guide the business today." 21st Century Spirits has appointed Thomas Gibson to Chief Operating Officer. Gibson's objectives are to maximize profitability, ensure production efficiency and quality, as well as costeffective management of all resources. He comes over 20 years of experience managing multiple distributors and brokers throughout the United States, including sales and management positions at Young's Market Company and Moët Hennessy USA. Gibson notes, "I am very excited to use my expertise in strategic sales and marketing plans to grow market share of the 21st Century Spirits portfolio." TY KU Premium Saké & Spirits has welcomed David Ramirez and Sean Hartnell to the brand. With 40+ years of combined experience, Ramirez and Hartnell join TY KU from The Patrón Spirits Company, where they both held the position of Vice President. Ramirez will be leading TY KU's sales efforts on the West Coast and Hartnell will lead sales efforts in the Central region. With a meteoric rise over the past ten years and its most successful first quarter in company history, Precept Wine's President and CEO, Andrew Browne, has announced three executive promotions. Kirk Brewer has been promoted to Chief Sales Officer spearheading sales, logistics and shipping. Reporting to Brewer are the national accounts sales team and Precept Wine's logistics manager. Alexandra Evans has been promoted to Chief Marketing Officer from her previous post as Senior VP - Marketing. Since Precept Wine's beginning in February 2003, Evans has led branding, creative direction and marketing on nearly every product in the Precept portfolio. Mark Harmann has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales – U.S. West and International. Harman originally joined Precept in September 2012 to manage sales in the Western U.S. and quickly proved invaluable with his network and experience. "Precept Wine is about people," said Browne. "The internal team allows our company to develop and grow new and existing relationships throughout the life of a wine: growers, wineries, distributors, accounts and consumers." Wirtz Beverage Group has announced a new National Leadership Team comprised of four company leaders, with dedicated areas of business affiliate teams in IL, IA, MN, NV and WI. Danny Wirtz, a fourth-generation leader in the family-owned and -operated company, assumes the Executive Vice President title, overseeing Wirtz Beverage's shared services, including finance, IT and talent management. Julian Burzynski assumes the Executive Vice President role, overseeing national sales and marketing. Ensuring an aligned route-to-market 10 / the tasting panel / june 2013 TP0613_001-41.indd 10 5/23/13 4:23 PM