PLANO, TX, Aug. 29, 2005 -- Veteran sales executive George W. Douglass III has joined Datamatic Ltd. as vice president of its Water Division, the company announced Friday. In his new role, Douglass oversees all sales activities for the company's water utilities group. Texas-based Datamatic has been a leading supplier of enterprise meter reading solutions for water, gas and electric utilities since 1977.
"George is an accomplished executive with diverse experience and strong leadership skills," said Datamatic president and CEO Ken Kercher. "His success penetrating new markets and building international account relationships is especially valuable in the competitive AMR industry. We believe that George has both the strategic vision and tactical expertise to help us build upon the growth our water division has enjoyed."
The company has expanded its workforce by about 30% in the past year to keep up with demand for its products and services. Datamatic has created new alliances, introduced key products and attracted customers worldwide.
Douglass comes to Datamatic from the Thomas Group, a global management-consulting firm where he was a Senior Vice President responsible for new client generation in the commercial marketplace. His credentials include serving as vice president of national accounts for Candle Corp. and executive director at Boole & Babbage. He holds an MBA from the University of North Texas and a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Cincinnati.
"Datamatic has offered me a tremendous opportunity to contribute to the company's impressive growth path," stated Douglass. "I look forward to bringing my expertise to bear for the team so we can enhance company profitability. The AMR business is fascinating and I fully expect that the insights I've gained working with diverse technologies around the world will help take our sales organization to the next level."
Douglass' predecessor Bob Cofoid is now vice president of strategic accounts at Datamatic. Cofoid will help fulfill Datamatic's need for high level strategic sales and marketing.
"Based on Bob's achievements managing the Water Division, we asked him to facilitate sales of Datamatic products through water, gas and electric meter manufacturers," added Kercher. "He'll also be responsible for acquiring rights to sell these same water, gas and electric products by our direct sales teams. His mission is to develop major account sales that are considered strategic to our progress. We're counting on Bob in his new assignment to grow Datamatic through strategic channel relationships and direct sales efforts with targeted high level strategic accounts."
Both new positions were effective Aug. 1. The two men are based in Datamatic's headquarters in Plano, Texas.
Datamatic (www.datamatic.com) is a leader in utility data collection solutions. The company's innovative ideas virtually created an industry when it installed the first electronic meter reading system in 1980. For nearly a quarter of a century, Datamatic has been at the forefront in the design, implementation and support of advanced utility meter reading and field data collection solutions for water, gas and electric utilities.
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