Star brite has appointed Gregor Dornau as its new president following its acquisition by OneWater Marine/T-H Marine Supplies in August of this year. Since the close, Dornau has assembled a new leadership team from within the company, naming Erik Applegate as Executive Vice President; Eric Hahn, Senior Vice President of Sales; Derick Cote, Vice President of Product; and Kouri Carey, Vice President of Brand & Marketing.
Former CEO and President, Peter Dornau, is stepping into a Senior Consultant role primarily to the European division, while Marc Emmi—former Senior VP of Sales—joins him as a Senior Consultant to the Star brite sales team in lieu of retirement. Other senior members of the staff remain unchanged.
“I have always felt we have the best team in the entire marine industry, and a lot of our success is due to the outstanding work of this group leading our sales and marketing efforts,” said Gregor Dornau, President of Star brite. “When combined with our manufacturing team in Alabama, customer service, operations, and finance teams here in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, I am confident we will have a winning organization for many years to come.”
Gregor Dornau has grown up with Star brite, holding various roles over the course of over 35 years, the most recent being Executive Vice President, in which the company grew fourfold and launched multi-million-dollar brands such as Star Tron.
Erik Applegate has been a part of the Star brite family for ten years. With a degree in Marketing & Sales Management from the University of Central Florida, he began his career with Star brite as an intern and has worked his way up to managing major retail and distribution accounts nationwide. In the role of Executive Vice President, Erik will oversee all aspects of the company with a primary focus on Sales and Marketing.
Eric Hahn, a Star brite veteran of twelve years, will be moving into Marc Emmi’s former position of Senior Vice President of Sales. Eric will leverage his vast experience and network in both the marine and RV industries to manage all aspects of sales for the company, especially wholesale distributor relationships.
Derick Cote steps into the newly created role of Vice President of Product. With over ten years of sales experience at Star brite, Derick will continue to manage Star brite’s Automotive division and other long-term accounts while adding a new concentration on product development, pricing, and overall product lifecycle management.
Kouri Carey has overseen creative direction and marketing at Star brite for over five years and, in the role of Vice President of Brand & Marketing, will continue to establish Star brite and its family of brands as global leaders in the industry.
As part of the acquisition, the Star brite Europe division also sees changes. Dan Sullivan has been appointed Director of Business Development, working to grow and develop international business. Dan is a 28-year veteran of the Marine Industry and will work to develop relationships with Star brite dealers worldwide.
