Gates Announces North American Organizational Restructure

Gates has announced a management reorganization across its North American commercial business to better align resources with strategic growth initiatives. The changes include the promotions of key Gates personnel who will drive growth within the new structure.

The structure organizes core functional areas for North American business under the leadership of Lou Rosen, who was promoted to Gates president, North America. In this new role, Rosen will maintain responsibility for the North American industrial and automotive commercial replacement markets and assume a leadership role for the company’s first fit business. He will continue to be based in Denver, Colorado at the company’s global headquarters and will report to Grant Gawronski, EVP and chief commercial officer, Gates. Rosen joined Gates in December 2016 as the senior vice president of the North American aftermarket business responsible for both the industrial and automotive

segments. He brings over 25 years of career experience to his new role, positioning him well to lead the company’s North American business. Rosen holds a bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Hartford, a master’s of science in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and an MBA from University of Connecticut.

Scott Wright has been promoted to vice president, U.S. Industrial Replacement. Wright will be responsible for managing and driving growth for Gates U.S. industrial replacement business. He will report to Lou Rosen. Wright joined Gates in 1993 as a district sales manager, and has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility in sales and business development for the company’s industrial replacement division. In his prior role, Wright served as senior sales director, leading the U.S. industrial replacement sales team. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Central Michigan University.

Francois Godin has been promoted to vice president, U.S. automotive and canada replacement. In his new role, Godin will lead the company’s U.S. automotive and Canadian aftermarket business. He will be based in Denver, Colorado and report to Lou Rosen. In his prior role, Godin was the general manager for Gates Canada where he led the company’s Canadian automotive and industrial businesses. Godin brings over 20 years of management experience to his new role, providing a strong foundation to build upon. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in chemical engineering from McGill University, and an MBA from INSEAD.

Adam Cosmas has been appointed as executive global vice president. Cosmas will be responsible for leading revenue and profitability for the Global GPC aftermarket business to achieve Gates growth targets for this key customer group. He will be based out of Atlanta and will report to Francois Godin. Cosmas joined Gates in 2017 as a senior director, and has been promoted twice into positions of increasing responsibility over the past three years with the company. Most recently, he was vice president, sales and marketing, where he was responsible for increasing sales through organic growth and new product launches. Cosmas holds a bachelor's degree in marketing and business management from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Northern Illinois University. He has been certified as both a PMP (Project Management Professional) and ASE (Automotive Service Professional) Master Technician.

Colby Florea has been promoted to senior director, national sales for the company’s U.S. automotive replacement division. Florea will be responsible for the U.S. sales force supporting all customers, as well as traditional automotive and heavy-duty customer headquarters relationships. He will report to Francois Godin. Florea joined Gates in 2012 as a regional sales manager, responsible for the 10 western-most states in the U.S. In his prior role, he was director of sales-west, responsible for the sales force and customers in the western-most 28 states. Florea holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of San Diego, in San Diego, Calif. He is a graduate of Leadership 2.0 at Northwood University in Midland, Mich. and also serves in a volunteer capacity as vice-chair of the Auto Care Association’s Manufacturers Advisory Council.

Jasna Smiljcic has been promoted to sales director, Canada. In this role, Smiljcic will be responsible for industrial and automotive replacement field sales in Canada. She will continue to be based in the company’s Brantford, Ontario office and will report to Francois Godin. Smiljcic joined Gates in January 2019 as the industrial replacement sales director, Canada and brings over 20 years of experience in the industry to her new role. She has a teaching degree from the University of Banja Luka, Bosnia, a Canadian credit degree from Dun & Bradstreet, and a degree in business analysis from Humber College, in Toronto, Ontario.