- Harman Professional has revealed a focused new business strategy to better serve customers in the transportation, themed entertainment, education and hospitality project markets, and has made three new executive appointments.
- The company has appointed Van Williamson as business development manager to lead the program.
- In addition, Harman named Anton Pukshansky to the position of territory sales manager for southern California and southern Nevada with responsibility for Harman Professional’s sales operations in that region, as well as Jim Ure to the position of business development manager, Installed Sound.
- Williamson has recruited experts from each sector to ensure the highest levels of empathy, engagement and understanding. According to Williamson, Harman Professional’s strategy is to couple its proven leadership in acoustic and electronic systems design to offer specialized audio systems based on key customer input and established best practices in each sector.
- “The audio and information needs of hospitality professionals and education professionals, for example, will differ considerably. Our experience is that specialized systems can significantly increase end-user gains in operational effectiveness,” Williamson said. “And by effectiveness we mean more than just intelligibility or acoustical performance, which our customers have already come to expect from Harman’s professional-grade audio systems — we also pay considerable attention to workflow, atmospherics, interoperability, control, aesthetics and, of course, cost. I am very pleased to lead this exciting initiative and look forward to working with our team and our customers to make better sound more pervasive in all of the markets we’re focusing on.”
- Harman Professional initially focused on the transportation sector as a pilot project in 2010, and partnered with airport sector leader, Com-Net, to design and offer the specialized IDX Message Delivery System that merges Harman audio components from JBL, Crown and BSS with Com-Net operator control software and digital signage technology. IDX, which provides unified audio and video messaging with better integration and control, has already gained strong traction in the transportation market with key contracts awarded internationally at major airports and rail stations.
- Recognizing that excellent technology needs to be coupled with excellent market specialists, Williamson has hired proven experts for each sector: John Goodrich leads the transportation sector, Michael Kurcab leads the hospitality sector, Mark Henkin leads education, and Martin Collins leads themed entertainment.
- Harman Professional has also appointed Anton Pukshansky to the position of territory sales manager for southern California and southern Nevada, and Jim Ure to the position of business development manager, Installed Sound.
- Based at Harman Professional headquarters in Northridge, CA, Pukshansky will work closely with Harman’s manufacturer’s reps and dealers, and will report directly to Mark Posgay, senior director, U.S. Sales, Harman Professional.
- “Anton Pukshansky is an advocate for our customers, an advocate for our technologies and, above all, an advocate for excellent sound,” Posgay said. "I am very pleased that he has elected to join our team and am deeply confident that he will make a valuable contribution to our customers, channel partners and our reps in addition to driving strong growth for Harman Professional in southern California and southern Nevada."
- Posgay also noted Ure’s deep experience in systems design and dealer support.
- “Jim Ure knows how systems work and how the channel works so he’s uniquely qualified to provide our rep firms, dealers and consultant partners with depth and valuable support,” Posgay said. “Jim’s experience will be a winning asset to these constituent groups but also to me and his other colleagues in the U.S. Regional Sales Office (RSO) organization.”
