Regional president Hartrampf to transition into direct sales development role; Degenhardt brings broad range of marketing, sales and operations experience
LONGMONT, Colo. (Feb. 12, 2020) — Deuter USA announces the promotion of Jonathan Degenhardt to Managing Director, Deuter USA, effective July 1, 2020. Degenhardt, who previously served as the U.S.-based senior marketing manager for Deuter and sister brand ORTOVOX, will transition into the leadership role currently held by Bill Hartrampf, who will stay with the company and build a new direct sales business unit for industrial and promotional products.
“Jonathan is the ideal leader to move our business forward in the United States. His experience as a marketing leader, sales operations team member and retailer has given Jonathan a uniquely rounded view on our industry and enables him to act as an empathetic partner to our internal teams as well as our wholesale partners and other vendors,” says Deuter CEO Martin Riebel. “Providing our employees opportunities to learn and grow in their careers is a key part of our company culture and we believe in investing in our internal talents and not in external solutions first.”
Prior to joining Deuter USA in May 2019, Degenhardt served as marketing director at La Sportiva USA for seven years. He previously filled a variety of sales operations, brand marketing and independent sales roles at brands including Movement Skis, Scarpa North America, and Trango. Degenhardt began his outdoor industry career on the sales floor, working with retailers including Neptune Mountaineering, Boulder Mountaineer and The Mountain Shop of Fort Collins.
Degenhardt holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish for the Professions, which emphasizes international business, localization and intercultural communication, from the University of Colorado. He lives in Louisville, Colorado, with his wife, Carrie, and their two-year-old daughter.
“Deuter and ORTOVOX are great brands that possess two of the most important assets in our category: best-in-class product and legitimate, market-shaping sustainability platforms,” says Degenhardt. “I have tremendous respect for and confidence in the U.S.-based teams at Deuter and ORTOVOX. With leadership from Deuter Sales Manager Scott Park and ORTOVOX Brand Manager Tom Mason, and backed by a global organization that is committed to long-term, sustainable growth in the U.S., a great deal of opportunity lies before us. I look forward to continuing to build on the momentum Deuter is experiencing in our core categories of hiking and family, and expanding our fanbase into new categories. Similarly, ORTOVOX is undergoing consistent, sharp growth year-over-year in Mountainwear and we will continue to create a framework that supports this category as well as the brand’s avalanche rescue products.”
Degenhardt will assume his new role on July 1, following a five-month transition period. Hartrampf, who was appointed president of Deuter USA in 2008, following 13 years as the company’s Germany-based global export manager, will take on a new role in the Longmont, Colorado, office, leading development of sales channels in the industrial and promotional products categories.
“These brands mean a great deal to me. I have been a member of the Deuter family since early in my career and I am very excited by the prospect of building new distribution categories for the brand in the U.S.,” says Hartrampf. “The enthusiasm and fresh ideas Jonathan has brought since his arrival have been felt throughout the company and his breadth of experience in our industry positions him well to lead across the organization. Deuter USA is in great hands as we embark on this transition.”
Please direct media inquiries to Emily Banks at emily.banks@rygr.us.
ABOUT ORTOVOX: ORTOVOX is a four-season mountain brand headquartered in Germany known as an expert in avalanche safety equipment and wool apparel designed specifically for ski touring, freeriding, mountaineering, alpine climbing and alpine touring. Since its founding in 1980, ORTOVOX has stood for a sophisticated approach to protection and comfort in the mountains, characterized by the responsible treatment of people and nature. As pioneers in avalanche safety, ORTOVOX has played a key role in the development of emergency equipment and targeted training measures for mountain sports, with protection as the brand’s most important value. This protective ethos extends to include safe and fair working conditions for its employees, setting the highest standards of animal welfare on the brand’s Tasmanian merino farms and ensuring environmentally friendly manufacturing of its products. www.ORTOVOX.com
ABOUT DEUTER: From backpacking to bike commuting, alpinism and travel, to child-carrying and family adventures, Deuter creates better and more comfortable packs for everyone and everywhere. With over 121 years of pack building experience, Deuter has played a vital role in shaping mountaineering history since its 1898 founding in Germany. Its values of sustainability, passion, family, pioneering and meisterlich—German for excellence at one’s craft—have driven Deuter to be a leading global backpack brand. From developing the first framed pack in 1930, to being the pack of choice for the first ascent of the north face of the Eiger by Anderl Heckmair in 1938, to inventing the original bike-specific backpack as well as the very first ventilated mesh back system in its Aircomfort packs, Deuter innovations have shaped the pack industry since the beginning. https://www.deuterusa.com/
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