NewAge Industries welcomes three directors
Southampton, PA — As NewAge Industries has grown, so too has its need for additional personnel. The day-to-day tasks of operating a successful, growing business have warranted new positions at the company, which manufactures plastic and rubber tubing used in industries such as medical device, food and beverage, chemical, industrial, biopharm and pharmaceutical. NewAge also manufactures molded single-use tubing assemblies for the production of vaccines, including those developed for COVID-19.
Maurice LeCompte has joined NewAge as director of manufacturing development, and Sonia Schwantes takes on the role of director of product management, both new positions. Rick Zijadic is the company’s new director of manufacturing, a role that became available due to a retirement.
NewAge has been expanding over the past several years and launched three divisions: AdvantaPure®, Verigenics® and BrewSavor®. The company’s CEO and board of directors felt more leadership positions were necessary to help keep the company moving forward at a pace ahead of demand for its products.
“Sonia, Maurice and Rick bring a wealth of knowledge to NewAge,” noted Ken Baker, CEO. “They offer valuable input, and their experiences help us see things from a different perspective.”
Maurice LeCompte’s role as director of manufacturing development involves capital projects, expanding NewAge’s global manufacturing footprint, new process developments, and working with strategic partners to develop innovative technology opportunities. LeCompte brings to NewAge over 25 years of experience with injection molding operations and medical device manufacturing. His most recent role was that of director of quality assurance/capital projects leader, and he has held various operational leadership roles in the medical device, consumer products, pharmaceutical and aerospace industries.
Sonia Schwantes, director of product management, is responsible for developing strategic positioning and pricing for current and new products, product knowledge and requirements, and technical content. Schwantes will work closely with NewAge’s sales and engineering teams to incorporate market feedback into product development efforts and will utilize a variety of metrics to help set an overall product strategy for the company. Her 20 years of experience in product management include positions at medical and biotechnology companies.
Rick Zijadic, director of manufacturing, is coordinating and overseeing product manufacturing and organizing the development of new product manufacturing. Zijadic leads the manufacturing engineering team involved in process improvements and integrating new items into production, and is also responsible for capital projects as they relate to manufacturing. He will assist with continuous improvement initiatives, as well. Zijadic has over 30 years of knowledge and experience in medical device manufacturing operations, PVC and TPE compounding, and injection molding operations. He is an ISO 13485 certified quality auditor and a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
LeCompte, Schwantes and Zijadic are part of NewAge’s team leaders, a group which meets regularly to review successes and challenges, discuss business practices and strategies, and help plan the company’s future.
NewAge also recently hired a chief financial officer and a director of human resources, and continues to seek qualified candidates for its manufacturing, quality, sales and engineering teams.