Four Promoted at Spartan Chemical

Spartan Chemical Company recently had a variety of promotions. John Swigart was named president. He began his career with Spartan Chemical in 1999, working in various areas in the plant, and then became an area sales representative working with distributors in and around Tennessee.In January 2001, Swigart was promoted to the position of distributor relations manager.In October 2005, he was promoted to the position of vice president; in April of 2009, he was promoted to executive vice president.

In his new position as president of Spartan Chemical, Swigart will continue to work closely with corporate management, with US distributor relations, and will actively participate in sales conventions, trade shows and industry organizations.In the international field, he will also serve as president of Spartan’s wholly owned subsidiary, Spartan do Brasil, as well as work closely with Spartan’s other South American affiliates.

Jim Lenardson has been promoted to the position of corporate executive vice president. He began his career at Spartan Chemical in January of 1976, working in the plant as a production worker. Throughout his years at Spartan, “JR” has always worked in operations. His career evolved through promotions to the positions of operations manager, and then to the position of vice president of operations.In April of 2009, Lenardson was promoted to executive vice president of operations.

Dave Reed has been promoted to vice president, national accounts. He was hired at Spartan in May of 1988 as a divisional manager for the Northeast, Southwest and Pacific Northwest divisions.In June of 1990, Reed transferred to Cincinnati as vice president of Spartan’s distributor operation, The Seybold Company.In September of 2004, he was promoted to the home office to manage a relatively new sales segment as national accounts manager.Reed has been promoted to vice president, national accounts, and will continue to assist in developing national account markets and businesses.

Don Papenfus has been promoted to vice president, operations. He began his career with Spartan Chemical in September of 1985 as a production worker in the plant.In 1987, Papenfus was promoted to 2nd shift supervisor—which was the startup of the company’s 2nd shift operation.In 1993, he was promoted to 1st shift supervisor, and to the position of plant manager in 2002.In March of 2006, Papenfus was promoted to the position of operations manager, overseeing the plant and the traffic department.As vice president of operations, he will oversee the plant operations.