Category: People

The International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) has appointed Manoj Kochar to the position of chairman.

The founder and director of India-based Holoflex, Kochar will join current board members XiaoDong Liu, founder and CEO of Henan Province Wellking Technologies Co., in China; and Nuray Yilmaz of Turkey’s MTM Bilisim Arge Yazilim ve Guvenlik Teknolojileri San Ticaret.

Rohit Mistry of Holographic Security Marking Systems will remain as the IHMA’s Asia regional representative while Diana Newcombe of Pacific Holographics and Umendra Gupta of Holostik will cover the North America and the ASPA regions respectively.

The EU and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) will be represented by OpSec Security Group’s Paul Dunn, and Corinne Murcia Giudcelli from SURYS. System Intelligence Products’ Goran Milinovic remains as the Eastern Europe/Former Soviet Union and CIS representative.

“The IHMA is committed more than ever to promote the interests of the hologram industry and to provide valuable support and guidance to its members,” said Kochar.

“We see continuing growth this year for the technology, particularly in the China and East European markets, so having strong representation in those areas will secure new members and commercial opportunities.

“Elsewhere, hologram innovation continues to flourish, and it’s encouraging to see new ideas being generated by both established players and companies new to the arena.”

The IHMA comprises 100 of the world’s leading hologram companies and includes producers and converters of holograms for banknote security, anti-counterfeiting, brand protection, packaging, graphics and other commercial applications.

Tobias Mueller is the new marketing manager at Zanders, a German manufacturer of specialty papers and boards for labels, packaging and graphical applications.

Previously, Mueller led the strategy and online marketing units as a partner in the marketing agency Ziegs Plus Mueller.

Founded by Johann Wilhelm Zanders in Bergisch Gladbach in 1829, Zanders still operates the Gohrsmuehle paper mill today with around 480 employees.

Its product range includes high-gloss finished label papers and premium board grades forming part of the traditional Chromolux brand, as well as the superb Zanpaper assortment which provides grades with a particularly smooth and natural surface respectively.

General Cigar, Cigars International, STG Lane and STG Canada will intensify their collaboration on Jan. 1.

Craig Reynolds, executive vice president for Scandinavian Tobacco Group in North America, will lead the North American cluster.

“We are leading in handmade cigars, pipe tobacco and fine cut in the U.S. In every one of our business entities, we have specialized in bringing either handmade cigars or pipe tobacco and fine cut to specific customer segments,” says Reynolds.

“Advancing our collaboration between entities allow us to bring products from across our tobacco categories to all our customers. We believe that this will benefit our customers and drive further growth for our business in the U.S..”

“Craig Reynolds has successfully led our entire global handmade cigars business,” says Niels Frederiksen, CEO of Scandinavian Tobacco Group. “Today, the handmade cigar category is a growth engine in our business and accounts for more than one-fourth of our net sales and profit. We want to reinforce this development by extending Craig Reynolds’ leadership to our entire North American business.”

General Cigars holds a leading position in the U.S. market for handmade cigars. Cigars International has built a market-leading position in online and catalogue sales of handmade cigars and pipe tobacco to consumers in the U.S. STG Lane is the leading manufacturer of fine cut and traditional pipe tobacco in the U.S. STG Canada is leading in cigars and pipe tobacco in Canada.

The four entities continue to be run as separate, stand-alone businesses.

Vapor Corp. has appointed John A. Ollet to serve as its new chief financial officer.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome John to the Vapor executive team,” said Jeffrey Holman, CEO of Vapor.

“He brings the financial experience Vapor needs as we continue to advance our growth and acquisition strategy. This is an exciting stage in our company’s growth and John’s strong public company experience makes him ideal for our organization.”

Ollet previously served as executive vice president-finance for Systemax, North America Technology Division from 2006 to 2016.

His prior chief financial officer experience also includes serving as vice president and chief financial officer of Arrow Cargo Holdings, an airline logistics company, and VP finance/CFO – The Americas – Cargo Division, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Paul Marshall has joined Nerudia as regulatory principal to support customers with medicinal, pre-market tobacco application and Tobacco Product Directive projects.

A former senior pharmaceutical assessor for nicotine and CNS-related products at the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Marshall will report to Rob Burton, Nerudia head of consultancy and compliance.

Marshall is an experienced regulatory scientist with a broad knowledge of regulatory strategy, chemistry, manufacturing and controls CMC) and drug development. During his 11 years’ service at the MHRA he assessed more than 400 marketing-authorization (MA) applications and 1,000 MA variations covering all dosage forms and regulatory submission routes. He has also been involved in more than 40 formal scientific and regulatory advice meetings with companies developing products.

Marshall has held positions on international committees and working groups, including representing the EU on the International Generic Drug Regulators Program Working Group on Active Substance Master Files, and chairing the European regulatory agencies (CMD/CHMP) working group on ASMFs.

He was a member of the Technical Advice Board, Inspection ad hoc Committee and Expert Assessor for the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare chemical certification scheme.

He also has a proven track record in managing and developing products, resulting in the successful approval and launch of pharmaceutical products in global markets.

A registered U.K. pharmacist and member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Marshall contributed to the MHRA licensing procedure for electronic cigarettes and other nicotine containing products. He is the Chair of the British Standards Institute Electronic Cigarettes and E-liquids committee and member of European Committee for Standardization TC/437 Working Group 4 on requirements and test methods for emissions from electronic cigarettes and e-liquids.

“We have created one of the largest teams of regulatory and scientific experts in nicotine-containing products in the world, which we will continue to strengthen by appointing top class experts,” said Burton. “We are therefore delighted that Paul has joined Nerudia and it’s a real coup for us to add such a seasoned regulator to our team”.

Thomas C. Wajnert will retire as a Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) board director on Dec. 31.

Wajnert also will retire as non-executive chairman, effective Dec. 31, and Susan M. Cameron, currently RAI’s president and CEO, will become executive chairman on Jan. 1, 2017. She will serve as executive chairman until May 1, when she is expected to become the non-executive chairman.

Lionel L. Nowell III, a member of the RAI board since 2007, has been elected lead director, effective Jan. 1, when Cameron assumes the role of executive chairman. Nowell is a retired senior vice president and treasurer of PepsiCo, and also serves on the boards of directors of American Electric Power Co. and Bank of America Corp.

Wajnert has served as RAI’s non-executive chairman since 2010 and on the board of RAI since 2004, including as lead director from 2008 to 2010. He also served on the board of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings, Inc. from 1999 to 2004.

“Following the natural progression of succession, this is the right time for this transition,” Wajnert said. “Susan brings extraordinary perspective and insight to her new role following her career-long involvement with the tobacco industry, and her previous service as this board’s chair from 2006 to 2010. Her vision and leadership in RAI’s transformation journey have been an inspiration for us all.”

Cameron praised Wajnert’s service to the company. “We can’t thank Tom enough for his strong leadership, steady guidance and commitment to returning value to our shareholders. We wish him well in his retirement.”

Colin Hose, global business relationship manager for Alliance One International (AOI), will retire in April after 42 years of service.

Hose joined Andrew Chalmers International in 1975 as a trainee tobacco buyer. In 1979, Andrew Chalmers was taken over by Standard Commercial.

Hose took on several buying/operational roles, including the responsibility for the group’s sales of dark fired tobaccos.

In 1995, he was appointed chairman of Standard Commercial Tobacco Co. (U.K.).  Also in 1995, Hose became the company’s global business relationship manager for British American Tobacco. He continued in that role after the formation of AOI in 2005.

In addition to managing the BAT account, Hose coordinated Philitab’s global sales efforts on behalf of the company.