Water Well Journal
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/767379
Franklin Electric announced the appointment of Jonathan M. Grandon as chief adminis- trative officer and general counsel of the company. Grandon will be responsible for the com- pany's legal and human resource functions and will also play an integral role in leading various business development activities. Grandon had most recently been senior vice president, general counsel, and secre- tary of Biomet Inc. Grundfos has appointed Susan Carter as vice presi- dent of human resources for the Americas region where she will over- see all aspects of employee service and satisfaction. Carter has more than 25 years of human resources experience in industries rang- ing from manufacturing and transportation logistics to in- surance and consulting. SJE-Rhombus, a manufac- turer of pump control solu- tions for the water and wastewater industry, has named Loving and Associates Inc. as the new manufac- turer's representative for its standard control product line in New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. Loving and Associates was founded in 1976 as a manufacturer's rep to service wholesalers in the plumbing, irrigation, water well, indus- trial, and oil/gas industries in New Mexico, El Paso, and La Plata and Montezuma counties in southwestern Colorado. General Electric has merged its oil and gas divi- sion with Baker Hughes in the oilfield services industry as the companies seek to ride out the downturn. AMS Inc. is celebrating a milestone anniversary this year. Almost 75 years ago in the small town of American Falls, Idaho, Art Vollweiler had the philosophy that "everything was a work of Art" as he associated his name with everything he cre- ated. It meant everything he designed and built was made to last. Art's assurance in quality stood the test of time, and continues today with AMS' complete line of hand sampling equipment, augers, hammer driven samplers, specialty shovels, and acces- sory items. The then U.S. Soil Con- servation Service recognized Vollweiler's quality seal and commissioned him to design and build a soil sampling tool. The auger he built was so revolutionary the design is still used today. All of AMS' products are still hand crafted in American Falls. In 1980, Art's son Rick Vollweiler purchased AMS. He recognized the company's potential in the global market and grew the company from a successful local business to the global competitor it is today. In 1988, Art's grand- son Marc Chipps joined the family business. He worked his way through the ranks until becoming the president of AMS in 2002. The Ohio Water Well Asso- ciation presented Board Service awards to Franklin Electric field service engi- neer Bob McClain in Fort Recovery, Ohio, and Fred Schreiber, CWD/PI, owner of Fred's Water Service Inc. in Madison, Ohio. The Humani- tarian Award was given to Chelsey Crabtree and Jacob Crabtree, CWD/CVCLD, of Crabtree Drilling LLC in Springfield, Ohio. Chelsey and Jacob created Living Water for Haiti and drilled six wells there. Goulds Water Technology's new online four-module course on variable frequency drives is available at http:// goulds.com/e-learning/e- learning-course-descriptions. The free course gives students an introduction to VFDs and explores how they work through a virtual VFD system. Students learn the role each component plays in maintain- ing constant water pressure and the effect of motor speed on pump performance. They also examine VFD system types and how to properly select, size, start up, and troubleshoot a VFD system. Ervin M. Kraemer, founder and owner of AquaLocate/ PetroLocate, will retire from field work and focus almost entirely on equipment sales and providing presentations about its technology to groups around the world. Kraemer will soon outsource much if not all the field por- tion of his training program to qualified operators and limit his efforts to the class- room portion of training and the continued training sup- port AquaLocate offers all operators. Industry NEWSMAKERS APPOINTMENTS RETIREMENT AWARDS NEWS ON THE WEB BUSINESS GROWTH ANNIVERSARY Jonathan M. Grandon Ervin Kraemer Susan Carter From left to right: Marc Chipps, Art Vollweiler, and Rick Vollweiler. Donal "Don" Merritt Partridge Sr., a fourth-generation water well contractor with Partridge Well Drilling Co. Inc. in Jacksonville, Florida, passed away on November 13, 2016. He was 86. Partridge was president of the company for 44 years, from 1948 until his retirement in 1992. After retirement he still came in every Tuesday morning to ensure the legacy of Partridge Well Drilling, a company which began in 1892, was being carried out. He died doing what he loved best, working on his backhoe. Partridge was the grandfather of Merritt Partridge, CVCLD, vice president of Partridge Well Drilling, who serves on the NGWA Board of Directors. IN MEMORIAM Twitter @WaterWellJournl WWJ January 2017 47