Personnel

Pride-Softspikes – the company formed when Pride Manufacturing Co. LLC of Guilford acquired Softspikes – has named veteran Pride Golf Tee executive Bob Burr president and chief executive officer. Burr will oversee an entity that employs nearly 600 people at seven facilities throughout the United States and England. In addition to its flagship tee and cleat products, the Pride Golf Products Division will continue to market and sell a full line of golf accessories, including ball markers, divot repair tools, pencils, golf cleat accessories and a host of other products. In addition to directing the Pride-Softspikes golf business, Burr will also lead the company’s continued wood turnings operation, Pride Manufacturing Co., which manufactures more than 5000 custom hardwood turning products for the piano, furniture, hardware, household, toy, and craft and hobby industries. Burr replaces 22-year Pride veteran Randy Ellis, who became Pride’s president in 1996, and was the-fourth generation of the Pride family to run the business. Ellis will remain a member of the board of directors where he will focus on strategic direction for Pride-Softspikes, while working closely with Burr. Burr has spent the past 11 years with Pride, most recently as vice president of sales and marketing.

Wendi C. Abbott has joined Dragon Cement and Concrete as the quarry manager at the company’s Thomaston plant, New England’s only cement plant. She will oversee the mining operations, including mine planning, scheduling and optimization, along with the crushing and stripping operations. Abbott has nine years’ experience in the cement, copper and coal mining industries. She most recently served as quarry manager at an 8-million-ton-per-year operation in Colorado. A Thomaston resident, Abbott is a 1994 graduate of the University of Missouri-Rolla and a 2001 graduate of the Colorado School of Mines, where she received a degree in mining engineering.

McPhail Realty recently announced the addition of Vicki Stanley of Mattawamkeag to its team of real estate sales professionals serving consumers in the Greater Lincoln market area. Stanley has been in the real estate business for seven years.