The Aga Foodservice Equipment division of the Aga Foodservice Group has announced the hire of Clifton Waters, a 20-year veteran in the foodservice equipment and supplies industry, as director of sales for the company's Western U.S. region. Waters, who joined AFE in early April, is based in Mesa, AZ, and reports to Mitch Cohen, the company's director of cooking system sales.

One of Waters' key responsibilities in his new position overseeing Western state sales for Victory, Infinity, Stellar and Eloma will be to "train, educate and generally develop our regional rep force," he stated. "Though Victory is a solidly established brand, known for its V2E values and ENERGY STAR^® Partner of the Year award, Infinity's fryers, Stellar's boilerless steamers and Eloma boilerless combi ovens are just now taking their place in the national market. That's why I'll be working with rep groups, specifying consultants and dealers to explain these products' attributes and the comparative advantages they offer in areas such as reliability, energy efficiency and life-cycle use costs."

For Waters, the goal of these product education and marketing efforts is both to build brand acceptance for Infinity, Stellar and Eloma, and generate new sales. He explained that he will be working with channel partners to introduce AFE's innovative product lines to chain-restaurant and large noncommercial operators.

"I think we have a compelling value proposition to communicate to these high-volume customers, who will be most able to attain significant energy- and water-use reductions by installing Infinity, Stellar and Eloma products," Waters pointed out. "Once specifiers and end-users have compared AFE models head to head with competitors' units, I believe they'll appreciate the operational benefits our technologies, build quality and energy-efficiency provide."

Thanks to his two decades of experience in foodservice equipment sales, Waters will be able to build on established relationships with consultants, dealers and reps across the Western U.S. as part of his AFE brand-promotion strategy. "I feel that forming strategic partnerships based on mutual trust, keeping promises and providing service 24/7 is the best way to create new sales and specifications," he explained. "That's one of the reasons I joined Aga, because executives such as Mitch and Mark Whalen share these principles and ensure that our products back our promises. I've been in this industry for a long time and it is important that we can feel proud of the products we sell."

"We believe that Cliff's product expertise, relationship-building skills and proven record of sales growth and successful product introductions make him an excellent addition to AFE's leadership team," noted Whalen, president of Victory Refrigeration and the AFE division. "His work with consultants, rep groups and dealers will be instrumental to increasing our companies' market penetration."

A native of Michigan, Waters entered the foodservice E&S industry in 1986, taking a job with a Midwestern manufacturers' rep firm. He shifted to the manufacturer side in 1988, joining a food-processor maker as sales manager, a position he held until 1999. During the past several years, Waters has held the posts of business manager and sales director for two first-tier hot-side manufacturers, gaining extensive product experience with fryers, steamers and ovens.

Waters currently resides in Phoenix, AZ, with his wife, Karen, and their two sons - CJ, 7, and Kyle, 2. When not on the job, Waters enjoys spending time power boating, camping and RV'ing with family and friends.