Almo Professional A/V Rings in the New Year with New Hires
Distributor Adds Four New Business Development and Sales
Positions to Accommodate Partner Growth
Philadelphia, PA — January 25, 2012 — Almo Professional A/V, the nation’s fastest growing audiovisual distributor, is ringing in 2012 with the addition of four new industry professionals to its expanding business. Newly created positions focusing on sales in the Eastern, Southeastern and Midwest territories, and a technical business development manager have all been added with more hiring expected to take place throughout this year.
“Our business with our integrator partners has increased 51 percent year-over-year as we continue to grow our market share. It was important for us to expand our reach to make sure partners are covered in terms of products, sales and service,” said Sam Taylor, executive vice president and COO for Almo Professional A/V. “We’ve also added a third business development manager to help provide specific technical and sales support for all of the NEC products we offer.”
Almo Professional A/V continues to exceed business expectations two years after the division formed, having finished Q1 fiscal year 2012 up 70 percent in revenue from last year during this same time period. Almo Pro A/V’s growth results from the addition of powerful new vendor partners, its traveling E4 education and networking program, new distribution centers and, most notably, the hiring of new and experienced Pro A/V sales, consulting and business development professionals.
The following industry professionals have joined the Almo Professional A/V team:
• Russ Short, Business Development Manager
Based in Seattle, Russ focuses exclusively on supporting the NEC business in the areas of videowalls, new classroom tablet software, high lumen projector installations, content services and more. An industry veteran, Russ was Vice President of Sales at Electrograph Systems, Inc. Prior to Electrograph, Russ was the COO of Cinelight.
• Brian Forrester, Southeast Account Manager
Located in Florida, Brian is responsible for serving partners in Alabama, Caribbean, Florida, Georgia, Latin America, Mexico, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico and South Carolina. Brian was most recently an account manager at Sunbelt Software and has also held sales and business positions with Electrograph, Tech Data Corporation and NOBS Technologies.
• Colleen Eckles, Midwest Territory Manager
Based in Dallas, Colleen is in charge of assisting partners in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. She is CTS-certified and holds 20 years of experience in the AV industry at both the distributor and manufacturer levels, having worked with Telex, InView, Proxima, LG and Panasonic. Colleen also spent 10 years with Electrograph. as a Regional Sales Manager.
• Dee Richney, Sales Administrator Eastern Region
With a growing outbound sales force, the need exists for a seasoned administrator to support the team. Formerly with Electrograph for 21 years in support and service and most recently with Quality Kind Distributors, Dee provides inside support to the East coast sales team.
About Almo Professional A/V’s E4 AV Tour
Launched in December 2009, The E4 AV tour is a free, full-day program with an intense educational focus that allows partners to earn valuable InfoComm International CTS RUs while networking with the industry’s top manufacturers. Close to 4,000 attendees have experienced the benefits of the E4 events and, in the process, have earned nearly 2,750 InfoComm CTS RUs. For more information, go to
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About Almo Professional A/V
Almo Professional A/V is the nation’s fastest growing distributor serving the needs of professional audiovisual integrators, dealers and consultants. With a highly skilled sales team, reseller education programs, 10 distribution centers across the U.S. and product lines for the Pro A/V channel, Almo Professional A/V provides customers with the full distribution experience on a local and a personal level.
The Almo Professional A/V sales team is InfoComm-trained and the majority is CTS-certified. Almo Professional A/V has aligned with InfoComm International to offer courses worth CTS renewal units that enable partners to stay ahead. At the same time, the division works with industry vendors to bring live and online product training opportunities directly to channel partners.
Almo Professional A/V is a division of Almo Corp., the nation’s leading independent distributor of consumer electronics and major appliances. For more information about Almo Professional A/V, please call 410-560-2890 or go to
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