GU Energy Labs named Blair Clark president and COO, also making two key promotions to continue the brand’s growth and innovation as a leader in performance nutrition.
Clark joined GU as VP of sales in January, following a stint as senior VP of sales and marketing at Smith Optics. He also held leadership positions at Specialized Bicycles and as president of Giro. Clark has devoted enormous amounts of time and leadership to the outdoor and cycling communities and currently serves as chairperson of the Foundation Board for People for Bikes.
“Blair’s leadership and passion has been evident from the day he arrived here,” said Brian Vaughan, GU CEO, co-founder and owner. “His skill set, experience and values are exactly the right fit for the company as we move into the next stage of our growth in serving the needs of athletes around the world. I’m glad to welcome Blair to this new position and to thank our current President Tal Johnson for finding Blair and for his leadership during his tenure.”
Clark said GU will launch two new product categories at Outdoor Retailer and Interbike that will help athletes break through to new levels of performance.
“These are still the early days of GU’s growth and involvement in our endurance sports communities,” Clark said. “It’s an incredibly dedicated crew of athletes and professionals here. Brian Vaughan is a true nutrition-planning expert with multiple Leadville 100 races under his large belt buckle. Magdalena Boulet, our innovation VP, is an Olympic marathoner who just won Western States 100 – using nothing but GU Roctane drink. And Yuri Hauswald, our marketing manager for cycling, just won Dirty Kanza 200, in an epic sprint finish. I’m proud to be part of this team.”
In related news, Dan Coyle was promoted to senior VP, business operations, and Mackay Gibbs has been promoted to director of manufacturing and warehouse operations.
Coyle has more than 20 years of experience leading manufacturing and operations at Roseburg Forest Products, where he was chief information officer, and at Starbucks Coffee Company, where he was director of business systems and director of global manufacturing systems. Coyle has been with GU as VP of business and supply chain operations for the last two-plus years. His new role at GU is designed to bring the company’s operations and order fulfillment teams and activities into closer alignment.
Gibbs formerly served as manufacturing and warehouse manager and a contract procurement specialist at GU. Gibbs was also GM of merchandising company Cinder Block, Inc. and imports manager for Design Within Reach. She also founded and managed Manifesto Bikes, one of the East Bay’s leading bicycle retailers.
