James Bennett

Raymond Corp's vice president of sales and dealer development, James B Bennett III, has retired after 43 years in the materials handling industry.

Jim Malvaso, Raymond president and CEO, praised Bennett's dedication at the company.

"Jim took great pride in improving the effectiveness of sales force members by teaching, challenging and motivating them to exceed not only the customers' expectations but also their own."

Bennett was integral to the development and growth of Raymond's national and major account programs, working closely with the dealer network to facilitate and strengthen sales programs, Malvaso says.

Bennett joined Raymond in 1994 as vice president and general manager for Raymond subsidiary Dockstocker Corp, managing all aspects of design, development and marketing of Dockstocker products. Before joining Raymond, he spent 16 years in forklift sales.

His professional accreditations and affiliations include the International Materials Management Society (IMMS) professional certification in material handling; IMMS professional certification in material management; vice chairman of the Material Handling Industry of America from 1987 to 1990; president of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) in 1994; and vice president of ITA from 1988 to 1993.

At Raymond's dealer management meeting on 29 March, Bennett was honoured with a Circle of Excellence award acknowledging his career accomplishments.