Spyder Active Sports, Inc. made several internal executive changes and added experienced leaders. According to Spyder President Jake Jacobs, the new appointments strengthen an already dynamic team. “We have the most talented people in the industry working for us. The new structure ensures we're poised to successfully manage the growth we have been experiencing,” he said.
Cees DeWitte, formerly president of Spyder Europe, was promoted to executive vice president of global sales. DeWitte is leading the worldwide sales force from Spyder's corporate headquarters in Boulder, CO. Spyder's European business flourished under his guidance during the past five years. DeWitte's immediate goal is to build the internal sales team to manage worldwide growth.
Stemming from DeWitte's promotion from Spyder Europe, Christophe Weissenberger was placed as Director of Sales-Europe and is charged with driving European sales. For the past five years Weissenberger held the post of director of sales at Schoeffel.
Also at Spyder's Boulder headquarters, Jeff Sale, formerly strategic accounts manager at Salomon, joins Spyder as director of North American specialty sales. His ski industry experience in the specialty channel and with key accounts makes him a valuable addition to the sales team.
Joe Vernachio, previously VP of development and production, has been promoted to executive vice president of product. Joe has been with Spyder for 16 months. His 19-year career in the apparel industry includes posts at Nike, Patagonia, Calvin Klein and Roots. All product VPs and directors will report directly to Joe.
On the design front, Peter Valles joined Spyder as creative director. Peter has been with Spyder for six months and has already made a mark on the Venom freeski line. Peter comes by way of Nike and Abercrombie & Fitch. His progressive creative skills and past experience bring unique design and innovation to all Spyder brand categories.
Mike Hyp is Spyder's new director of graphic design-Venom and reports to Peter Valles. Mike is an experienced and talented graphic designer who most recently worked on the Merrill account at the design firm JDK.
