williamsburg blog

Golden Artist Colors Growing International Reach
with Hire of European Sales Manager

- Columbus, NY, March 15, 2011

Peter France recently joined Golden Artist Colors as European Sales Manager. In this newly created position, France will serve as the leading advocate for the GOLDEN and Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors brands in Europe.

Based in Belgium, France will act as the primary contact point with all territory distributors, sales staff and key retail accounts. Centrally located in the market territory, France will be critical in connecting the current customer base with the opening of the company's new European warehouse, which is designed to increase speed to market and customer access to a wide range of products and services.

As marketing liaison, he will be supporting the company's connection to the arts community and growing the educational resources, which have become a hallmark of Golden Artist Colors' marketing efforts.

Bill Hartman, Sales Director of Golden Artist Colors, shared, "We are very excited to welcome Peter to the Sales Team at GOLDEN. Peter will spearhead our plan to grow our art materials business and expand our customer base in this important market region. We have been diligent in our search for the right individual to fulfill this key position, and we believe that he is the ideal person to help us accomplish our strategic goals."

Prior to joining GOLDEN, France held a Sales Representative position for close to 20 years with a longtime GOLDEN customer, developing long-term relationships with customers in the Benelux. Fluent in four languages, France holds a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing from St. Eligius Institute, Antwerp, Belgium.

About Golden Artist Colors, Inc.
Located in its 100,000-square-foot facility in rural Columbus, N.Y., GOLDEN's 147 employees are committed to producing materials that encourage exploration of form and concept, while assuring archival integrity. GOLDEN takes pride in the fact that its Custom Lab is the only facility of its kind, dedicated to designing products to the specifications of individual artists. Developing paints to meet exacting criteria is the specialty of GOLDEN's custom operations. As a natural progression from its initiatives in the fine arts market, GOLDEN established Paintworks, the commercial paint and coatings division of Golden Artist Colors, Inc. It provides commercial and OEM clients with paint making technology, toll manufacturing and integrated solutions. GOLDEN Paintworks can design a full solution to a coatings project based on its expertise designing, manufacturing, marketing and selling high performance paints and coatings. The company also assists customers with complex production, packaging and regulatory issues. The company is not only committed to its customers and local community, but to its employee owners as well. In April 2010, GOLDEN employees became the majority owners of the company and in 2008, the company became a 100% Tobacco Free Campus for staff and visitors. In May 2010, Golden Artist Colors purchased Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors. For more information about Golden Artist Colors, Inc. and its comprehensive product offering, call 1-800-959-6543 or visit the company's Web site at www.goldenpaints.com. For more information about Williamsburg, go to www.williamsburgoils.com.