John Kermet
has been promoted to the position of chief operating officer at
Seakeeper, according to Seakeeper co-founder and CEO Shep McKenney. Kermet previously served as vice president of
sales, marketing and service for the California, Md.-based manufacturer of gyro
stabilization systems.
Kermet
joined Seakeeper in 2008 as vice president of sales and marketing and was
charged with commercializing the fledgling product worldwide. Soon after, all
field service responsibilities were assigned to him. Kermet's extensive
technical experience, product knowledge and customer relationships have him well
positioned to help lead Seakeeper to the next levels of growth, the company
says.
"John
has demonstrated his professionalism and commitment to Seakeeper in managing
our worldwide sales and service network and directing multiple company
initiatives,” McKenney
said in a Seakeeper press release. “He
understands the market and needs of our customers, our products and technology
portfolio, and our organization's tremendous growth potential. He enjoys the
respect of our people and is a pleasure to work with. I am excited about our
future with John at the helm. He is the
right person for this job.”
“Seakeeper's
continued success, in a really tough economy, is a testament to the product and
company behind it,” Kermet said. “As we push to the next phase of our growth, I
look forward to the opportunity of leading Seakeeper to our goal of becoming
the world's leading supplier of gyro stabilization systems. We have a
phenomenal team in place, tremendous development initiatives, and a product
that really is changing boating forever."
Kermet
graduated from the University of Massachusetts Lowell with a B.S. in mechanical
engineering, and held sales and engineering roles in plastics and manufacturing. He co-founded a specialty packaging equipment
company and oversaw its sales and marketing for 12 years before joining
Seakeeper.