Blacksmith Applications Appoints Michael Kosek as Senior Vice President of Sales

BOSTON, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Blacksmith Applications is pleased to announce it has appointed former Microsoft executive Michael Kosek as Senior Vice President of Sales. In his new role, Mr. Kosek will be responsible for account expansion and account management.

Mr. Kosek brings nearly 30 years of software industry experience, most recently as Vice President of Sales for the Online Marketing Group at Unica Corporation, where he was responsible for new business development and revenue growth of enterprise marketing management solutions. Prior to Unica, Mr. Kosek was Vice President and General Manager at Bottomline Technologies, where he was responsible for managing sales, product management and support. Mr. Kosek also spent 14 years at Microsoft Corporation in various management positions, including General Manager of New England and Eastern Region Technology Director, and has held technical, sales and sales management positions with Unisys, Ungermann-Bass and the New York State Education Department.

Mr. Kosek commented, "In today's economic environment, ensuring profitable performance is more important than ever. As companies seek solutions to evaluate the profitability of proposed pricing, promotions and trade spending programs, Blacksmith's offering is second to none. I am delighted to join Blacksmith and further strengthen the company's position as the leading provider of trade management solutions."

"Mike brings a wealth of technology sales best practices to Blacksmith," said Paul Wietecha, CEO. "Mike's leadership abilities will help our organization identify strategic opportunities, execute and grow our business. Mike's significant technology industry experience will be important as we seek to leverage the opportunity presented by manufacturers who want to manage their trade spending profitability and increase our leadership position in the marketplace."

About Blacksmith Applications

Blacksmith Applications enables organizations to confidently manage their trade spending and pricing initiatives profitably through software solutions and strategic consulting. Blacksmith specializes in solving the unique needs of foodservice manufacturers, while also meeting clients' needs for CPG and other lines of business. Clients rely on Blacksmith software and services to plan, execute, settle and analyze their trade spending and pricing programs. Blacksmith solutions enable profitable decision-making, provide insight into trade spend and promotion performance, facilitate customer and product profitability analysis and enable visibility and accountability through configurable workflow and approval settings. For more information, visit http://www.blacksmithapps.com.

SOURCE Blacksmith Applications