CONYERS, Ga. — Foodservice-equipment manufacturer Unified Brands has augmented its leadership team with the hiring of Ajay Kothari and Brent Barkley, as well as the promotion of Clay Thames.
Kothari’s role as senior director of Technology, with a decade of manufacturing and engineering experience, allows him to lead a research team of engineers towards continuous advances within the industry such as product enhancement and new product development.
Drawing on experience in sales, marketing and engineering roles, Barkley will become senior director of Strategic Brand Management for product lines Randell and Avtec, with a focus on design and manufacturing efficiencies, product line expansion and product positioning.
Thames, who boasts more than 20 years at Unified Brands, will continue fulfilling his current duties as product-line director for Cooking and Warewashing, while taking on the new appointment of senior director of Strategic Brand Management for Groen, Power Soak and CapKold.
“We are pleased to welcome Ajay and Brent to the Unified Brands family and to announce Clay’s well-deserved new position,” says Dave Herring, president, Unified Brands. “We are optimistic about our future in the commercial foodservice-equipment industry and are well-positioned for successful expansion of our product portfolio in our three centres of excellence in Michigan (custom manufacturing), Mississippi (production manufacturing) and Georgia (corporate training and culinary centre).”
