Bradley Austin named Harmon president

Harmon Inc., Minneapolis, one of the largest U.S. full-service building glass installation, maintenance and renovation companies, today announced its new president, Bradley J. Austin, previously senior vice president, sales and marketing for Viracon, a leading fabricator of coated, high-performance architectural glass for global markets. Austin reports to Russell Huffer, chairman and chief executive officer of Apogee Enterprises, parent company of both Harmon, Inc. and Viracon. “Brad brings more than 30 years commercial construction expertise to Harmon,” said Huffer. “He is a well-respected architectural glass industry leader, who has been instrumental in Viracon’s growth and positioning as the leading value-added glass fabricator. His industry expertise will contribute to Harmon’s competitiveness, especially in the energy-efficient green building sector, and he is a motivating manager who will help Harmon weather today’s challenging markets and grow and thrive when our markets rebound. He will focus on leveraging Harmon resources and Apogee synergies within the commercial construction industry.” Austin’s leadership team at Harmon includes Chad Hoffmann, vice president, operations, and Robby Sauls, vice president, contract sales. Austin joined Viracon in 1978 and has spent his career helping the organization better meet customer glass needs. He started in field sales working directly with customers on design assistance, budget and return on investment costing, specification writing and as the liaison between the architect, Viracon and the glazing contractor. In 1985, Austin was named director of architectural sales, where he was responsible for the inside sales and technical service departments. He was later named vice president and general manager of Marcon Coatings, another Apogee company, for 18 months before returning to Viracon to lead domestic, international field and inside sales, as well as marketing, technical services and research and development as senior vice president. Austin holds a bachelors degree in economics and business from Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minn. He has completed advanced training in coatings technology with Airco; sales and management training with Xerox school; attended the Minnesota Management Institute with the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management; and completed course work at the University of Michigan. He has also completed the Apogee Lean Six Sigma Champion, Green Belt and Black Belt training. In addition, Austin was on the Glass Association of North America board from 2005 to 2010, serving as president from 2008 to 2009 and immediate past president from 2009 to 2010. For more information on Harmon, call 763-287-4900 or visit http://www.harmoninc.com.