Tyrolit Inc., a manufacturer of grinding, cut-off, sawing and drilling tools, recently announced the appointment of Chip Storie (pictured) to the position of president and CEO of the North American division. Storie obtained his MBA and bachelor's degree in engineering from Tennessee Technological University. He began his career with Cincinnati Milacron's Machine Tool Group in 1988 in various roles including marketing operations, product management, product development, project management and sales.

Storie has served on the board of directors for the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield, U.K., and is a past chairman and current member of the Materials Processing Equipment Technical Advisory Committee (MPETAC).  Storie has also served on the Government Relations Committee for the Association of Manufacturing Technology (AMT).

Additionally, William Bennett was appointed to the position of national distribution sales manager in September. He brings 29 years of abrasive experience to the role, including his recent position as a territory sales manager for the Midwest region.  

"Bill will be focused on defining and developing strong, long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with our key distribution partners in the United States with the focus on profitable sales growth," says Jason Melcher, vice president of marketing, North America.

David Diedrich has been brought onboard by Tyrolit, Inc., as superabrasive key account sales manager of the North American division as of November 3.

Diedrich has 20 years of experience in technical sales and management for the abrasive industry. He previously worked as sales and marketing manager for the National Research Company. In this position he contributed to a new business model that brought sales up 23 percent in 18 months, and he helped grow product sales 121 percent. He has held positions with General Electric and the Norton Company.

For Tyrolit, Diedrich will focus on sales growth by defining and promoting mutually beneficial relations with key superabrasive accounts in the United States. He will work with the rest of Tyrolit's superabrasive staff at the Oak Park, Michigan facility.