Pristiva hires national sales manager

partners with five manufacturer rep groups

-- Casual Living, 7/1/2009 3:00:00 PM

Michael Ross was named national sales manager of Pristiva, a subsidiary of Compass Minerals exclusively focused on the salt water pool market.

Pristiva also partnered with the following five manufacturer representative groups to sell its advanced two-step system for salt water pools: Blake Sales Associates, Western region; Reeder & Vermaat, North Central region; Duhammel & Associates, South Central region; Bierman Sales Associates, Southeast, and Waterlines, Northeast.

Ross will oversee sales in Florida. As national sales manager, Ross will be responsible for sales of Pristiva products to professional trade channels, which includes oversight of manufacturer rep groups as well as national accounts and distributors. He brings more than 20 years of sales experience in the pool and spa industry.

“Michael Ross comes to Pristiva with outstanding knowledge of the pool trade channels, a great track record of increasing sales and market share, and a strong focus on results,” said Bob Harper, Pristiva general manager. “We’re excited to add him to our team, and we believe his leadership and expertise will help us quickly penetrate the market with our breakthrough Pristiva product line.” 

Ross began his career at Bicknell (now SCP) in 1975. In 1986 he joined BioLab, where he managed several territories for the BioGuard dealer direct division and later became national account manager for BioGuard’s distributor products division. Today, Ross is returning to the pool industry after two years with Lanxess Corp. (formerly Bayer) in a technical sales role. 

“Pristiva-brand products are unique in the marketplace because they have been designed specifically for salt water pools, and they have the potential to improve profits for distributors and retailers,” Ross said. “I look forward to building a strong trade distribution network to make Pristiva available to builders, service technicians and pool retailers nationwide.”  

For more information, visit www.pristiva.net.