Firestone Building Products promotes Jannasch.

Firestone Building Products promoted Jim Jannasch to director of product development. In his new role, Jannasch will manage the direction, strategic planning and implementation of product management at Firestone for its EPDM, TPO, insulation, metal and asphalt business units. Bill Tippins, who previously served as geomembrane business manager for Firestone Specialty Products, succeeds Jannasch as EPDM product manager for Firestone Building Products. Tippins will be responsible for researching market needs and directing planning and development.

"We congratulate Jim and Bill on their new roles within Firestone as they exemplify our commitment to providing customers with the highest quality products and accessories on the market," said John Geary, vice president of technology for Firestone. "Their expertise in product research and development is highly regarded within Firestone and throughout their industries."

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Jannasch joined Firestone as a senior engineering assistant in 1983 and quickly moved up to technical services supervisor. He was later promoted to engineering manager for EPDM and modified bitumen, before spending seven years as technical services manager. In 1999, Jannasch was promoted to EPDM product manager, and in recent years, has held the positions of single-ply product manager and product planning and deployment manager. Jannasch is currently the technical committee chairman for the EPDM Roofing Association. He holds a bachelor's of science degree in construction engineering and technology from Purdue University.

With more than 20 years of industry experience, Tippins' most recent position within Firestone Specialty Products included developing new commercial and industrial markets for the company's EPDM and polypropylene membranes. Previously, Tippins was the geomembrane product manager at GenFlex Roofing Systems, where he was responsible for the development, marketing and sales of their geomembranes. Tippins has a doctorate in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Georgia and a master's in business administration from the University of Houston.

Firestone also welcomed Rick Ruppert as the company's strategic account executive--specifier. In this newly created role, Ruppert will work closely with the specifying community, including architects, engineers and designers, to help them better understand the value of Firestone products and services. He will also coordinate efforts with Firestone's sales representatives and the national accounts team to build relationships with architectural firms throughout the country.