Fred Dohn, CEO Americas, ARC International, has been elected to the board of directors of the International Housewares Association (IHA), the full-service trade association for the housewares industry.
Dohn’s three-year term begins Oct. 1, 2015 and end Sept. 30, 2018.
Also elected were new board officers:
- Chairman – Gary Seehoff, director and founder, Evriholder Products, LLC
- Vice Chairman/Chairman Elect – Gregory Cairo, president, Groupe SEB USA
- Treasurer – Brett Bradshaw, president, Bradshaw International, Inc.
All officers serve one-year terms from Oct. 1, 2015 to Sept. 30, 2016.
Retiring from the board is Keith Jaffee, chairman, O2 Cool. Re-appointed for a second three-year term were: Hildy Abrams, CEO, Gourmet Settings Inc., and Brett Bradshaw.
Dohn joined ARC International, a manufacturer and marketer of glass tableware, in 1987 and held various sales and marketing positions including Director of North American sales. In 2001, he was named CEO of North America. In 2003, Dohn moved to France to work at the parent company, running the global B2B business and joining the executive management team. In 2007, he returned to the U.S. as CEO of the Americas. In this capacity he has led a successful turnaround of the U.S. business. In January 2016, the U.S. facilities will be expanded for the third time in the last 5 years. The company’s brands include Luminarc, Cristal d’arques and Chef & Somellier. Dohn started in the housewares industry in 1980 with Wakefern Foods as a housewares buyer for ShopRite supermarkets.
Seehoff founded Evriholder Products in 1994 after inventing its first two products, Twirl A Tie® and Twirl A Belt®. He built the company into one of the largest distributors of housewares impulse products and programs, including kitchen, barware, cleaning, storage and bath & personal care categories. Prior to founding Evriholder, Seehoff was a partner and, for several years, managing partner at the consulting firm Duitch Franklin & Co., and before that was a manager at Touche Ross (now Deloitte & Touche) from 1984-87.
Cairo joined Groupe SEB USA as vice president of sales in August 2006, with responsibility for cookware and small domestic appliances for the Emeril, T-fal and WearEver brands. He was named president in January 2010 and currently oversees cookware and small domestic appliances for the All-Clad, IMUSA, KRUPS, Lagostina, Rowenta, T-fal and WearEver brands. Before joining Groupe SEB USA, Cairo served as the vice president for the Calphalon/WearEver Division of Newell Rubbermaid from 2000-04 and then with Global Home Products from 2004-06. He also serves on the board of the Cookware Manufacturers Association.
Bradshaw joined his family-owned company in 1994. A leading supplier of kitchen tools, bakeware and cookware marketed under the Good Cook, Betty Crocker, Bialetti and T-fal brands as well as various retailer private labels, the company was started in 1966 by brothers Doug and Ben Bradshaw and their father, Buzz. Before becoming the 4th generation in the family business, Bradshaw was a key account manager for Nestle from 1990-93.
Also serving on the IHA Board are: John (JC) Collins, president, global market and sales, Neatfreak; Evan Dash, CEO, StoreBound; Dave Elliott, general manager, KitchenAid Global Small Appliances and immediate past IHA chairman; Richard Joseph, managing director, Joseph Joseph; Robert Kay, chairman/CEO, Taylor Precision Products, Inc.; Anthony E. Kircher, president, Winix; Daniel Oehy, president, Swissmar; Alejandro Peña, president, USA, Jarden Consumer Solutions; Paul Rowan, co-founder, Umbra LLC; David Sabin, CEO, The Fuller Brush Company; Jenna Sellers Miller, president, Architec; Will Symonds, president, DKB Household USA Corp.; and Philippe Trudeau, president, Trudeau Corporation.
Serving on the executive committee of the board are Gary Seehoff, Gregory Cairo, Brett Bradshaw, David Elliott, Daniel Oehy and John (JC) Collins.
Editors: To download digital photos of the IHA Board of Directors, go to http://www.housewares.org/members/board.aspx
