Soft-Tex International, a maker of bedding and sleep accessories headquartered in Waterford, New York, has named Tom Gibbs interim chief executive officer following the resignation of Jeff Chilton in January. Gibbs, who joined Soft-Tex in 2012 as controller, previously was chief financial officer.
The company also has made 10 new hires across product development, operations, marketing, sales and finance.
Commenting on the changes in the CEO role, Bruce Roberston, a member of the Soft-Tex Board of Directors and a partner at Hudson Ferry Capital, which maintains an investment in Soft-Tex, said: “On behalf of the board and the employees of Soft-Tex, I want to thank Jeff for the tremendous leadership he provided Soft-Tex over the course of his eight-year tenure. I am excited about Soft-Tex’s future under Tom’s guidance and the upcoming launch of Soft-Tex’s new innovations like Reactex and many other new technologies.”
Gibbs added: “Soft-Tex is well-positioned to continue serving its industrywide base of customers, and we are confident in our team’s ability to maintain our growth trajectory. We remain unwaveringly committed to our strategic focus areas of new innovation, channel expansion and digital growth.”
In a news release, SoftTex said it has added 10 new positions in response to continued growth and its acquiring full ownership of Reactex technology intellectual property.
Mark Smiderle, the inventor of Reactex, has joined Soft-Tex as a consultant leading global innovation efforts and has been named to the company’s board of directors.
Gwen Furslew and Stephanie Shugart have joined Soft-Tex as product development managers, reporting to Erik Sanchez, vice president of sourcing and product development. Previously, Furslew was in product development and design at Design Weave and Duck River Textiles. Shugart has product development and merchandising experience in textiles with stints at Perfect Fit and Springs Global.
In operations, Brian Waghorn has been named director of engineering to support the creation of new production capabilities and other special projects related to the development of Reactex product lines. He reports to Michael Wilker, senior vice president of operations.
In marketing, Jennifer Hillman has joined the company in the new position of director of training and in-store marketing. She previously was vice president of training and development and director of key accounts at Protect-A-Bed. At Soft-Tex, she reports to Chris Marsh, chief marketing officer.
Wendi Hauck has joined the Soft-Tex graphic design department as graphic design manager supporting new packaging, store merchandising concepts and digital assets. Her background with in-house and agency work includes positions with Crayola and Red Devil. She also reports to Marsh.
Joel Blanton has joined the Soft-Tex digital marketing team as the video production coordinator and films, edits and produces Soft-Tex’s video content. He reports to Taylor Jones, director of digital marketing and e-commerce.
Julie Martinelli has joined the Soft-Tex marketing group as a marketing coordinator in charge of sample coordination, SKU creation and other special projects.
In sales, Alex Padovani has been named regional sales manager, reporting to Keith Bolton, senior vice president of sales. Most recently, Padovani had been the omni-assistant buyer of utility bedding at Macy’s.
In finance, Michael LaFreniere has been hired as controller. He previously was controller of the Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York.
In addition, Soft-Tex has promoted two executives and added responsibilities to one other job function.
Sales leader Bolton has added responsibilities for managing global sales efforts, overseeing all sales coordinators, managers and vice presidents across divisions.
Scott Thayer, who was promoted to Soft-Tex’s senior management team, is leading Reactex business development and commercialization of Reactex technology. He reports to Bolton.
Jones, the director of digital marketing and e-commerce, also has been promoted to the senior management team.
