SANDY, Utah (BRAIN) — Reynolds Cycling said it has recently completed a phase of hires and restructuring of current staff.
The changes include the addition of Mike Riley as the company's new marketing coordinator. Riley joined the company on the first day of Interbike this year, after working the past nine and a half years at BikeSource. "Joining the team at Reynolds has been a huge steppingstone in my career — I can already tell I am going to learn an immense amount about our industry while working here. The team is great and I couldn't be more excited about my new role," Riley said.
James R. Farmer, Ph.D., joined Reynolds in August as director of engineering and recently switched roles to assume the position of director of technology and aerodynamics. In his new role, Farmer will focus his efforts on rim and wheel design using advanced CFD techniques and wind tunnel testing. "I can already tell Reynolds is a great fit for me—shortly after joining the team, a vacancy opened up that ultimately suits my background the best, designing rims and wheels with CFD and wind tunnel data — couldn't be happier in my new role," Farmer said.
Karsten Bench joined Reynolds in 2015 in its sales department. Bench recently was promoted to product support and service/warranty specialist for the domestic market. Before joining Reynolds, Bench worked in a number of bicycle shops in North Carolina as a mechanic and salesperson. "I really enjoyed the sales environment here at Reynolds, but I had to opportunity to move to a more product-oriented job and I couldn't more excited about my new position — the role suits me incredibly well," Bench said.
Colin Blanchard joined Reynolds in August as the company's newest inside sales specialist. Blanchard will assist all outside sales representatives with order placement along with shop and customer-direct communications. Blanchard began working in bicycle shops at age 15 and has been working in the industry ever since. In 2013, he became a wheel builder at Industry Nine Componentry. Blanchard went on to create the service and warranty department there and served as global director of service and warranty from 2015-16. "Given the overlap of Industry Nine and Reynolds, this move has been pretty seamless for me. The new environment is great, and I now feel I have a great opportunity to grow professionally here at Reynolds," Blanchard said.
AJ Ariss has recently moved from an inside sales position, where he worked with IBDs and smaller OEs fulfilling orders while also managing several outside territories with sales support, to the role of junior product manager. Now working under head engineer Todd Tanner, Ariss will assist nearly every department in seeing new product through its life cycle, from concept, to development, and eventually to a completed product. "I could not be more excited to have the opportunity to grow with a company like Reynolds. We are at the forefront of technological advancement, and with the guidance of Todd Tanner, I'll be able to learn the finite details that are necessary to develop and produce the nicest wheels available," Ariss said.
Lance Tolbert has recently accepted the role of global information systems manager. Tolbert's prior role at Reynolds was information systems manager. Now as global manager, Tolbert will assist the drive and development of online access worldwide to Reynolds Cycling product. Tolbert is also now responsible for keeping the company's worldwide network and security systems running to the best possible degree. "Moving to a global role here is a huge responsibility for me, one that I'm looking forward to. We have loyal customers around the globe, and I now have the means to make sure their access to our product is as easy and seamless as possible," Tolbert said.
Susan Rich has been hired as the company's engineering manager. "I'm so excited to be applying my skill set within the cycling world — composite engineering in this industry is experiencing such a boom right now, I'm very eager to be a part of it and showcase what Reynolds has to offer," Rich said.
