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The German diaries<br />
Continued from page 6<br />
From l to r: Jose Merino, Infiva; Frankie Jaen, Infiva; and<br />
Jesus Herrero, ElectroMec Corp., complete the Viega<br />
manufacturing & training tour.<br />
Circle 29 on Reader Reply Form on page 61<br />
Deep into my conversation with Mr. Schmierer, unbeknownst<br />
to me, two more guys had arrived. When I look<br />
over, one of the guys extends his hand for a shake and displays<br />
an infectious smile that only makes you want to smile<br />
with him. This is Frankie Jaen, Viega product manager for<br />
Infiva, an industrial distributor of products for total flow<br />
management located in Puerto Rico. He is by far the most<br />
outgoing person on the trip, a social entrepreneur, to say the<br />
least. Frankie is accompanied by his good friend, Jesus<br />
Herrero, ElectroMec Corp., a soft-spoken, “muy inteligente”<br />
engineer from Puerto Rico.<br />
Next to the group is a gentleman who introduces himself by<br />
the name of Mock. Now that’s an interesting name, I thought.<br />
Never heard that one before. But before I knew it, I figured it<br />
was just his Boston accent. His name is Mark Perrone, purchasing<br />
manager, of JC Cannistraro LLC. A huge Boston<br />
sports fan, he is one of the nicest, unassuming guys, who we<br />
later found out was celebrating his 50th birthday on the trip.<br />
Following Mark are two guys from Florida, Dick Smith,<br />
Nagelbush Mechanical Inc., Fort Lauderdale, and Mark<br />
Foster, regional vice president, plumbing/hvac, HD Supply,<br />
Orlando. Dick, to me, seems like the patriarch of the bunch,<br />
and he loves to mimic Mark from Boston’s accent. You<br />
instantly can see a bond forming between the two. Mark<br />
Foster is the consummate professional in everything that he<br />
does. It seems he is juggling work from a half a world away,<br />
taking in all the sites, nonetheless. His avidness for photography<br />
is evident, as he shares all his pics with the group. I think<br />
the trip is good for Mark; he can relax and enjoy everything<br />
even while still conducting important business.<br />
Joining us on the trip is Mark Evans, director of sales —<br />
Viega Canada out of Alberta. With three Mark’s on the trip,<br />
everyone calls him “Big Mark.” But nothing could be bigger<br />
than his heart of gold. When he returns from the Germany trip,<br />
he is going to surprise his daughter with a trip to Hawaii with<br />
his wife. Again, cool stuff.<br />
The last two to arrive are flying in from Montreal. Carl<br />
Beaudoin, director of operations, Groupe Beaudoin,<br />
Quebec City, who, it seems, cherishes his time with the<br />
group as much as he does his lone adventures.<br />
Accompanying Carl is Stan Katz, president, Rojec<br />
Page 46/<strong>Plumbing</strong> <strong>Engineer</strong> June 2009
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