LEADERSHIP
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." ~John Quincy Adams |
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Ed Simons - President/Founder |
| Hired: 1979 as the founder of Safeware |
Ed Simons founded Safeware in 1979 with partner Stewart Smith. Although Stewart left the business some years later, Ed has stayed at the helm for over 30 years, building Safeware into the business it is today. Like most start-ups, Ed came into the business with no prior experience in safety, but saw a need and had an idea. With a background in banking, Ed's entrepreneurial spirit was the foundation of the business, and it continues to drive it still today. He has become a fixture in the safety industry and has sat (or sits) on numerous boards, committees and groups that shape the safety industry.
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| Life at Safeware: Ed loves the opportunities he has to be creative and entrepreneurial in our business. |
| Favorite Food: A salad made with home grown veggies, and homemade dressing, then of course - chocolate! |
| Life outside of Safeware: Ed balances work with a passion for family and organic gardening, often sharing some of what he has grown in his garden with the employees. |
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Anne Petrenko - Vice President |
| Hired: 1979 |
| Anne joined Safeware as the first employee hired in August of 1979. Since that time, she has held just about every position, and has done almost anything you can think of at Safeware, with the exception of outside sales. However, if you ask Ed Arthur, Vice President of Sales, she has been an integral part of our Sales effort her entire time with Safeware. |
| Life at Safeware: Anne's favorite part of working for Safeware is helping people. She is especially proud of being able to help out during emergency situations like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. |
| Favorite Food: Chocolate |
| Life outside of Safeware: When not working hard for Safeware, Anne enjoys horseback riding (Dressage) and searching the Maryland and Delaware beaches for sea glass. |
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Ed Arthur - Vice President, Sales and Marketing |
| Hired: 1984 |
| Ed Arthur joined Safeware as a young sales professional. Ed worked relentlessly growing not only Safeware's sales but also their Sales Team. As the VP of Sales and Marketing, Ed's passion for building strong customer relations is emphasized in every sales channel. |
| Life at Safeware: Ed's favorite product to sell is Gas Detection, because it is a application specific sale, and allows him to really get to know his customer before making a product recommendation. |
| Favorite Food: Bar-b-que (and Slurpees - Editor's note) |
| Life outside of Safeware: Ed enjoys as much time as possible with his family, as well as walking, running and watching college basketball. |
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Charles Radcliffe - Vice President |
| Hired: 1996 |
| As the VP of IT (among other things), Charles keeps our critical systems going, and our lines of communication open. Unlike the stereotypical IT guy, Charles is always willing to roll up his sleeves and get the job done, whatever it is. Over the years, he has been no stranger to many of the tasks involved in being a safety distributor, and has learned the business from the ground up. |
| Life at Safeware: Charles enjoys providing PPE to our customers because of the sense of purpose it brings, knowing this equipment protects the health and safety of workers. |
| Favorite Food: Spaghetti |
| Life outside of Safeware: An avid outdoorsman, Charles enjoys camping because if forces you to take only the essentials, reminding you that life only requires a few simple things. |
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Keith Hyatt, CPA - Vice President, Finance |
| Hired: 1999 |
| Keith joined Safeware with no experience in safety, but plenty in accounting. He plays a critical role in keeping Safeware going in the right direction, and financially strong. |
| Life at Safeware: Keith's favorite thing about working for Safeware is the people he works with - they are professional and dedicated to providing the best safety solutions to our customers. |
| Favorite Food: Sweets |
| Life outside of Safeware: Keith enjoys spending time boating with his family and friends and cheering for the Maryland Terps (Keith's alma mater) - Fear the Turtle! |
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Tommy Nairn - Director of Operations |
| Hired: 2003 |
| The most recent addition to our leadership team, Tommy brings a background in Law Enforcement and Logistics (previously with FedEx), to the Safeware Operations. Prior to becoming Director of Operations, Tommy made a big impact on various parts of Safeware working as Warehouse Manager, Technical Services Manager, and then Customer Service Manager. Tommy has taken the opportunity to learn the various parts of our business individually and now focuses on having them all work together. |
| Life at Safeware: Tommy enjoys the teamwork atmosphere that will do what it takes to help our customers. |
| Favorite Food: Crabs (Maryland blue crabs of course!) |
| Life outside Safeware: Tommy enjoys spending time with his family and coaching youth athletics. He must be pretty good at it - his daughter is an outstanding soccer player for Penn State. |
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