Marketing & Sales Executives of Detroit Recognize Top Business Professionals at Charity Gala

TROY, Mich., April 18 -- Two Platinum Recognition Awards will be given to a top sales and marketing individual and a team at the 14th Annual Marketing & Sales Executives of Detroit (MSED) Gala on May 5, 2006 at The Reserve in Birmingham, Mich.

The individual Platinum Recognition Award winner will be Scott Morrison, vice president of marketing for the Sircon Corporation, Okemos, Mich. The team Platinum Recognition Award will be awarded to the Plymouth, Mich.-based team at Freudenberg-NOK, which includes Tim Guzman, director of sales and marketing; Rich Hamed, account manager; Anthony Joquico, application engineer; and Dave Sakata, technology manager.

"Choosing the winners was very tough this year," said James Coleman, chairman of the MSED Platinum Awards and president of jhColeman LLC. "All of the applicants were very impressive, but the individual and team selections we made stood out with their creative, successful approaches to solving customer problems and reducing costs."

With over 20 years of experience, Morrison is responsible for managing Sircon Corp.'s branding, communications and marketing programs, as well as product management. Morrison's leadership helped the company in its re- branding initiative by coordinating both Sircon's in-house marketing and communications team with an outside branding firm, public relations firm and board of investors. By creating a distinct organizational formula and strategy, the company increased its bottom line sixteen percent overall in 2005.

The Freudenberg-NOK team of Guzman, Hamed, Joquico and Sakata used their vast experience and know-how to utilize a clean sheet approach to develop, design and create a "Best-in-Class" pinion seal design. The team was able to address all of its customer's wants and needs, while improving reliability, industry perception and industry warranty exposure for heavy duty axels. The team also succeeded in gaining significant market share gain of heavy duty pinion seals and increased sales from $1.5 million to $9 million since its introduction in April of 2005.

The Platinum Award winners were nominated for the awards by their peers and were evaluated by MSED judges. Factors considered included the nominees' track records in sales, utilizing new ideas or approaches, meeting challenges imaginatively, exhibiting exemplary teamwork and impacting a business or industry.

The MSED Platinum Awards are co-sponsored by Crain's Detroit Business, the weekly business publication covering southeast Michigan.

Also at the gala, the MSED Executive Leadership Award will be presented to Anne Stevens, executive vice president and chief executive officer of the Americas for Ford Motor Co., and Richard E. Blouse Jr., president and chief executive officer of The Detroit Regional Chapter.

Founded in 1988, the Marketing & Sales Executives of Detroit (MSED) is a non-profit organization for marketing and sales management professionals in southeastern Michigan. MSED provides members with an ongoing platform for idea exchange, professional development and new business opportunities. The organization conducts approximately 15 meetings, seminars and educational events each year for networking, professional development and scholarship fund-raising purposes.