Calico Coatings Is On The Move

Denver, NC (6/29/2015) – Calico is certainly on the move and going big. The company recently hired a new General Manager, new Chief Financial Officer and is looking to expand into Texas. "As a native of Texas and a lifelong racer, I live by the motto, ‘Go big or go home.' said Calico Coatings president, Tracy Trotter.

Russ Salerno is Calico's new General Manager. Salerno comes to Calico Coatings with a diverse background as an accomplished business consultant with more than 20 years of experience in organizational leadership and execution performance. In 1997 Salerno co-founded ExecuSource, an employee leasing company located in Charlotte, NC. Shortly thereafter, he embarked on a new adventure in NASCAR® serving as the Pit Crew Coach/Coordinator for Dale Jarrett and the #88 UPS Racing Team.

In 2006 Salerno's team-building, leadership and coaching experience continued when he took on a consulting role as a Process Design Consultant for Bank of America. With his Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Black Belt, Green Belt and Lean certifications, Russ has served as a consultant in sales performance, business process execution, change management, process design & innovation, strategic & financial planning, risk management & mitigation, personnel management and human resources.

"I'm honored to be here at Calico," said Salerno. "I've known Tracy for many years and we've often discussed the work I do and how it could positively impact Calico. The timing was finally right and I'm excited about the opportunity to serve as a part of the Calico Coatings team."

"We are expanding into new markets and looking to acquire other companies. One of the reasons we hired Russ was to help us with our future growth," said Calico President, Tracy Trotter. "We are excited to have Russ on our team and look forward to his contributions in helping us take the Calico organization to a new level."

Ambrose Kalmbach is Calico's new CFO. Kalmbach has spent the past 14 years serving as a split-time CFO for numerous companies in the Charlotte, NC area helping them manage their growth and finding creative solutions to their financial, managerial and strategic challenges.

Kalmbach's other accomplishments include creating, marketing and selling a community bank's cash management services to its small business customers. He was a team leader in the development of an automated, small business lending software system for First Union.

"Ambrose is already making a significant impact on how we manage the financial side of our business." said Trotter. "He understands how that empowers our company mission."

Kalmbach stated, "I am proud and excited to serve as Calico's CFO. The company is uniquely positioned to provide coating solutions for a wide variety of applications."

Since moving their operations to a new 20,000 sq. ft. location on Balsom Ridge Road in Denver, NC, Calico is now exploring opportunities to open a second facility in Trotter's home state of Texas. We want to be more accessible to our growing oil & gas and firearms customer base in the Texas region," said Trotter. "Plus, with the close ties I have in Texas business community, I've always wanted Calico to have a presence in the state."

Calico Coatings is a performance coatings applicator that works across numerous high-performance industries applying coatings that can withstand extreme pressure, reduce friction and wear and save fuel. Calico's arsenal of coatings include PECVD, DLC, PVD, TiN, ceramic, Teflon®, thermal, non-stick dry film lubricants and more. Calico serves the motorsports, petroleum, military and firearm industries.