Joe O'Brien has been named the president of Zep East, one of eight market-facing businesses that Zep Inc. recently formed to achieve profitable growth by creating customer-focused organizations.

Before joining Zep, Mr. O'Brien was vice president of sales and marketing at Atlas Paper Mills, an away-from-home paper manufacturer and converter. Prior to his leadership role at Atlas, he worked for Johnson Diversey Inc., from 1995 to 2007 in a variety of sales management positions, each bearing increasing responsibility. His most recent position at JDI was vice president of sales and marketing effectiveness, North America. Before that, he worked for Proctor & Gamble for 11 years in several sales and management positions for the company's commercial division, focused primarily in the food service and lodging sectors.