ZEISS Announces Tom Andrews as Vice President – Sports Optics Division
NORTH CHESTERFIELD, VA., January 12, 2015 – (ArmsVault.com) – ZEISS Sports Optics has appointed Tom Andrews as its Vice President. In his new position, Andrews will lead the sales and marketing functions of the ZEISS Sports Optics activities in North America and he will play a key role in the company’s long-term strategic planning. Andrews will report to Jan Krieger, General Manager of the Consumer Optics Business in North America. ZEISS strongly believes in the North American market and values the development of its partnerships in the premium optics category.
“The ZEISS Sports Optics Team is comprised of experts within the Consumer Optics Business Group and Tom is a great addition to our team. He brings 25 plus years of extensive experience in the outdoor industry which will immediately benefit our customers and help grow our business,” said James A. Sharp, President of Board of Directors of Carl Zeiss SBE, LLC.
Prior to joining the ZEISS team, Andrews was the Thule, Inc. National Accounts Sales Manager where he led the strategic retail partnership efforts with many high profile and influential industry retailers. Additionally, Tom has worked at the national sales level with brands such as CamelBak, Yakima and Bell Sports, acquiring experience in a variety of outdoor channels and industries including the bicycle accessory, automotive aftermarket and the hunting and fishing markets. “We strongly believe Tom is bringing the right assets to the table to continue the growth of our stake in the outdoor business. His passion and experience make him perfect for us”, said Jan Krieger.
“ZEISS is a great brand, with a legacy of innovative excellence. I see a tremendous opportunity to grow the business utilizing our various levels of retail distribution network here in the U.S and Canada,” said Andrews. “My focus will be on significantly increasing our market presence by supporting our retail channels with aggressive marketing campaigns. I look forward to working with our retail partners and the entire ZEISS team to increase consumer demand for ZEISS high performance optics.”
About the ZEISS Group
ZEISS is an international leader in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. The more than 24,000 employees of ZEISS generated revenue of about 4.2 billion euros in fiscal year 2012/13. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. ZEISS has been contributing to technological progress for more than 160 years. ZEISS develops and produces solutions for the semiconductor, automotive and mechanical engineering industries, biomedical research and medical technology, as well as eyeglass lenses, camera and cine lenses, binoculars and planetariums. ZEISS is present in over 40 countries around the globe with more than 40 production facilities, around 50 sales and service locations and over 20 research and development sites. Carl Zeiss AG is fully owned by the Carl Zeiss Stiftung (Carl Zeiss Foundation).