Elan, a diversified sporting goods company based in Begunje, Slovenia, appointed Jeff Mechura as director of brand development, effective immediately. He will be initially focused on North America.

The new director comes to Elan after 20 years with K2 Sports, where he held various management and director roles in marketing and product management, most recently being the VP of Global Marketing.

Mechura will lead Elan’s brand development, marketing initiatives and future product collections. He will work closely with Gary Fleming, president of Elan U.S., and Primoz Plestenjak, president of Elan Canada.

Leon Korosec, director of Elan’s Winter Sports Division, commented, “Jeff’s global brand and marketing experience, coupled with his knowledge of the North American market, will be instrumental in enabling the strengthened Elan team to aggressively pursue market opportunities and deploy our reinvigorated brand strategy with focus and determination.”

Founded in 1945, Elan was purchased in 2015 by a group of private international investors. Elan’s four main divisions are: sporting equipment, high-performance racing and leisure sail boats, technical components utilized in renewable energy and other specialty industries and engineering solutions for arena and stadium projects.