Western Power Sports (WPS) recently hired Erik Lothian as the new regional sales manager to cover the Midwest for the company. Erik is an avid powersports enthusiast and brings over 15 years of motorcycle industry experience to the WPS team. Before coming to WPS, Erik was with Triumph Motorcycles America in various roles, including regional manager, eastern sales manager, and most recently, as its national sales manager. He also spent many years with Yamaha USA, in the Mid-South as a district sales manager.
Shawn Burnam has been promoted to helmet brand manager for WPS. This position was created to allow more direct involvement with the company’s helmet lines, which currently include FLY and Gmax. Burnam has been with WPS for about 11 years. He started as an inside sales representative and then became the outside sales representative for Eastern Idaho/Western Wyoming. After being a sales representative for 4 years, he left WPS to work for American Honda, but in 2004 he returned to be a regional sales manager for the northeast territory, and then most recently for the Midwest territory. Burnam has also spent a lot of time working closely with Gmax to help them develop their product line.
In February, Clayne Driever changes roles to become the new regional sales manager for the Northwest territory. Driever has been with WPS since 2007 and has been the regional sales manager for the Southeast territory since 2008. He said he is excited to be joining the Northwest sales team because the Northwest was the region he managed while he was at Suzuki. The company says Driever has been a valuable part of the sales department during his years at WPS and will use his knowledge and experience to continue to grow the Northwest region.
With Driever’s move to the Northwest territory, WPS has named Jim Chester as the new regional sales manager for the Southeast territory. Chester started racing motorcycles at the age of 16 and raced professionally, as a privateer, from 1986 until 1998. After racing Motocross, he changed gears and started racing Arenacross, which he did professionally until 2005. After experiencing several injuries during his racing career, Chester decided to calm things down by opening his own motorcycle and bicycle shop. He sold that business in 2007 and joined the WPS family as a sales rep in South Carolina. Chester still rides for fun, and remains very enthusiastic about the sport. He has built many solid relationships in the industry with dealerships in his territory as well as with other sales reps in his region. Chester will be based out of his home office in South Carolina.
For more information about Western Power Sports, visit www.wps-inc.com.
