Howard Named Ideal’s Product Manager For Hand Tool Line

Westley W. Howard has been appointed product manager for Ideal Industries Inc.’s hand tool line. With more than a decade of experience working for such companies as Lutron, Western Forge and Supra Products, Howard brings excellent marketing, technology and channel management leadership to Ideal. He will report to Business Unit Manager Bruce Hartranft. In his new position, Howard is responsible for coordinating the accelerated sales efforts for Ideal hand tools in the North American marketplace. Griffin will focus on managing the sales effort as well as providing direction and training on new products. He will additionally direct new promotional methods to target opportunities for maximizing brand recognition and market penetration. Howard joins Ideal from Lutron Electronics, where he served as retail marketing leader for the past two years. In this role, he was an integral part of developing and implementing multi-channel strategies to launch Lutron lighting control systems. Prior to Lutron, he gained product management experience at Western Forge as a national accounts/product development manager, and at Supra Products where he managed retail accounts such as Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ace and Menards.