New Carotek Team Members - Q3 2023

Arthur Louk recently came on board as an Account Manager in the Western North Carolina Region. Arthur will be responsible for customers interested in Carotek Valves.

Arthur lives in Waynesville, NC with his wife Dawn. They have three adult children, two boys and a girl. He is originally from Mill Creek, WV. Arthur earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Embry - Riddle Aeronautical University. After that he joined the Army and served for four years, thank you for your service to our great country Arthur! He worked for IBM as a robotics technician, and then Piedmont Instrument and Controls for ten years. In 2002 he and a partner started Smoky Mountain Valve & Services, he left business ownership behind to come work for Carotek.

In his free time Arthur enjoys fishing, boating, and camping. He is looking forward to working on a team, and is excited to be at Carotek as he has been familiar with us for over twenty years.

Brantley joined Carotek as an Account Manager in the Augusta, GA territory. Brantley will be responsible for assisting customers in Eastern Georgia with Carotek Mechanical equipment products.

Brantley is originally from Sumter, SC, and has lived in Augusta, GA for the past four years. He and his wife Marianne have three kids. Ella, 15, Will, 14, and Anna, nine years old. Also a fur child, a Golden Doodle named Maggy. All three are keeping him busy with sports and other extracurricular activities. After high school, Brantley went into the Air Force, eventually retiring after 20 years as a Sr. Master Sergeant. While in the Air Force Brantley held positions including Civil Engineer Support Systems Superintendent, Human Resources Manager, and Director of Infrastructure Operations. He and his family lived all over the country during this time. Brantley holds two Associate’s degrees, one in Electrical and Mechanical Technology, the other in Human Resources Management. Also a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland in Management Studies and an MBA from Liberty University. Post Air Force he held positions as a project manager for Total Comfort Solutions and Outside Sales for Safety-Kleen.

Hobbies of his include fishing, golfing, and doing anything outside.

Kirk joined Carotek in late September as an Account Manager in the Greenville/Spartanburg area. Kirk will be responsible for assisting customers in North Carolina and South Carolina with Carotek Mechanical equipment products.

Kirk grew up in Cheraw, SC. He now lives in Fort Mill but will soon be relocating to the Greenville, SC area. His wife Brittany and he have three children, a nine year old girl named Ansley, a seven year old girl named Scarlett, and a four year old boy named Clark. Kirk attended undergrad at Winthrop University where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. He also recently earned his MBA from Western Governors University.

He has worked at Catalent Pharma Solutions for six years as a chemist, working with both mechanical and instrumentation products, from there he went on to work five years in Analytical Instrumentation for Nutramax laboratories, and most recently was a R&D Chemist with Bona US. In one form or another, and on a much smaller scale, Kirk worked with Instrumentation, Pumps, Valves, and other Mechanical Equipment. Working and negotiating with suppliers and distributors developed his passion for sales, so much so that he went back to school to study business to prepare for a career in technical sales.

In his free time Kirk enjoys, swimming, biking, and running, he ties them all together by participating in triathlons. He is a big Clemson Tigers football fan, and enjoys audio books. Mainly anything sales related, most recently he listed to the Four Disciplines of Execution.

Griffin Evans recently started in the Business Development Center as an Account Manager in Training.

Griffin grew up in Marion, NC .He attended Appalachian State University and earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in Biology, specializing in Cellular and Molecular Science. His goal at this time was to get into pharmaceutical sales.

Hobbies of his include anything related to sports, working out, and is looking forward to running the Novant Thanksgiving Marathon here in Charlotte. He enjoys cheering on his Mountaineers, and is a Bills fan

Owen Tumperi recently started in the Business Development Center as an Account Manager in Training.

Owen grew up in Decatur, GA, just outside Atlanta. Owen attended Clemson University where he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering. During high school and college he worked as a soccer referee, Veterinary Hospital Assistant, as a Technician at a restoration shop where he worked on antique British cars, and managed California Gold Car Wash in Decatur. Owen comes from a long line of engineers, his two older b rothers are engineers, his aunt was an engineer and a positive influence on his decision to pursue technical sales, and his father worked for IBM.

His hobbies include volunteering and mentoring youth at various local organizations, coaching an under 10 t eam in soccer, watching and playing sports, fishing, golfing (currently working on shortening his backswing), and watching/attending Clemson Tigers football, Atlanta Braves games, and his 2 - 0 Atlanta Falcons.

Eric Wilson recently started in the Business Development Center as an Account Manager in Training.

Eric was born and raised in Marietta, GA. He recently moved to Charlotte from Jacksonville, F L. Eric attended college at Kennesaw State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Sci ence degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering. He also obtained his Six Sigma Greenbelt Certification. Towards the end of his college career he moved into operations and project management with an Atlanta based research firm. Using his experience in research, he started Noble Grey Research, after selling that business he moved on to an operations management role with Fultech Solutions. All of his experience involved sales in some aspect, his goal was to eventually break in to technical/industrial sa les.

Eric enjoys playing tennis, soccer, and golfing, the jury is still out on his swing. A fun fact about Eric is that he enjoys scuba diving, having dove down to depths of eighty feet!

Dale recently started with us as an Account Manager in Tennessee. He is responsible for assisating customers in Eastern Tennessee with Carotek equipment including instrumentation, valves, and services

Originally from Chattanooga, Dale now lives in Mt. Juliet with his wife Heather, and their two boys, Daniel, five, and Luke, two. He attended the University of Tennessee – Chattanooga, earning his Bachelors of Science Degree in Criminal Justice. After gr aduation Dale started his career in sales at Russell Stover Candies in Nashville. After three years their Dale decided to put his education to good use and joined the Metro Nashville Police Department. He served in that role for over five years receiving numerous awards for leadership and exemplary service. The birth of his son led Dale to rethink his career choice, so he returned to the sales world where he joined Cintas and rose to the position of Service Manager. Dale’s interest in technical sales is in his genes, as his father Dan has been an Account Manager with Carotek for over 11 years.

When not running his oldest to hockey or soccer practice Dale enjoys spending time with his family, which usually includes doing anything outside, especially goi ng on walks and hikes. If you spend any time with him you’ll quickly see his passion is hockey. He is a huge Nashville Predators fan, and still plays ice hockey today on a weekly basis.

Pratana Muong recently started as an Inside Sales Representative in the Valves Division. Pratana is responsible for providing outstanding service to our customers and support to the outside sales staff. He assists customers by answering questions and resolving complex problems related to replacement, spare, or new equipment, packages or systems for the Valves Division.

Pratana brings with him over ten years of experience in the customer service and sales arena. Prior positions include Branch Manager with Enterprise Holdings, Lead Sales Representat ive with Liberty Mutual, and Financial Advisement roles at Wells Fargo and Fifth Third Bank. His experience building and maintaining relationships with customers and providing exemplary customer service will serve him well his role here at Carotek.

Born in Cambodia, Pratana came to the United States at an early age and spent his childhood years in Long Beach, California. He moved across country to attend school at Western Carolina University, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in Communication, con centrating in Public Relations/Broadcast Sales with a minor in Marketing. He also is working on a certification in Consultative Sales and holds Producer licenses in Annuity, Life, Property, Casualty, and is a Public Notary.

Pratana resides in Concord, N C with his wife Jessica and their four kids, one girl, three boys. Gabby, 21, Seyha 12, Cylar 7, and Myles age 6. When not at Soccer or Baseball practice with the kids, Pratana enjoys doing anything outdoors, camping, fishing, hiking, cooking is a passio n of his, with Pho or Chinese Ribs as his specialty. He is also involved in his church through outreach for the homeless, men’s group, and being the sound tech during services. Sports is also an interest of his, the Lakers and the 49ers are his teams.

Introducing our new Account Manager in the Macon, GA region, Kerry Ayres. Kerry is from Mableton, GA and has lived in the Macon area for the last 20 years. His wife Rachel and he have two girls, eight year old Audrey, and six year old Spen cer - Grace. Kerry and his wife met at Mercer University, which is where Kerry received his degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Kerry brings with him a wealth of knowledge in the process equipment field. In this role he’ll be responsible for selling all product lines but his bread and butter is in mechanical equipment, specializing in pumps. He spent four years at GPM Industries as an Application Engineer, close to ten years at Verder Inc. as a sales manager, and most recently was at Ingersoll Rand as a Product Manager.

When not taking his daughters to karate, ballet, theater or gymnastics, Kerry enjoys hiking, camping, and anything outdoors related. He tries to attend an F3 workout as often as possible, and is active in his church with the audio and visual responsibilities.