Rocky Brands' Blueprint For Growth Drives New Hires, Promotions

NELSONVILLE, Ohio, July 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In alignment with its Blueprint for Growth, Rocky Brands (NASDAQ: RCKY) has made several hires and promotions to enhance its family of footwear and apparel brands, Rocky®, Durango®, Georgia Boot® and Creative Recreation®.

"Every associate at Rocky Brands has goals and deliverables relating back to our Blueprint for Growth, which serves as a map for our business," said David Sharp, Rocky Brands' CEO. "These strategic hires and promotions strengthen our ability to meet those benchmarks."

With a focus on quality enhancement, on-time delivery and pricing management, Giles Coulson has joined the company as Vice President & General Manager of Asia Operations. Coulson has 26 years of footwear experience with brands such as Dr. Martens and Clarks International, and more than 16 years working in Thailand, Korea and China. He will lead on-the-ground sourcing efforts in Asia from Rocky Brands' Dongguan, China office.

In an effort to foster customer intimacy and affinity, the responsibilities of Jeff Stern, Senior Vice President of Rocky and Georgia Wholesale, have expanded to include all US Wholesale Sales, which includes all functional and lifestyle product lines. During Stern's five-year tenure with Rocky Brands he has held various leadership roles in segments including Rocky Duty, Commercial Military, 4EurSole and S2V Extreme, as well as Key Accounts. Stern holds a BS from Marietta College and an MBA from Ohio University. 

As a part of this realignment, the following changes have been made to align the sales management team with the new sales structure. Charged with driving growth through profitable sales, Mark Dean has been promoted to Vice President of Commercial Military Division. Dean joined Rocky Brands in 2009 and has worked in the Commercial Military division since 2010. Dean's duties included Director of Government and Military Sales, assisting the team in driving sales from $8 Million in 2010 to $20 Million in 2013. Dean completed more than 20 years of Distinguished Military Service, retiring in 2007 from Ohio University Army ROTC, having held positions with Infantry, Military Intelligence and US Army Aviation. 

Also tasked with driving business to new customers in new channels and improving core business, Cory Haberman has been hired as Vice President of Georgia Boot. Haberman will build on the successes of the Georgia Boot sales force, driving both corporate and divisional goals while working with Marketing and Product Development to strengthen all aspects of the Georgia Boot product offering and value proposition. He comes to Rocky Brands from Wolverine Worldwide, where he was the Vice President of Global Product Development.

Consistent with the Blueprint's goals to drive business to new customers in new channels and improve core business, Jeremy Weiss has been hired as National Sales Manager for Durango's Western and City divisions. Prior to joining Rocky Brands, he was Vice President of Sales at Miller International, working with prominent western brands Cinch and Cruel Girl. 

Also in line with restructuring the sales force, the Rocky Western division created a new sales team, under the leadership of Chris Lorenzo, who has worked in both marketing and sales roles during his 10 years with Rocky Brands.

In an effort to arm the sales force with innovative new products, Mike Roundhouse has been promoted to Director of Product Development. Roundhouse joined Rocky Brands in 2005 and received an MBA from Ohio University in 2012. He will continue to lead the footwear and apparel development teams as they infuse the voice of the consumer into products across all brands.

For more information, visit www.RockyBrands.com.

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SOURCE Rocky Brands