William Sims, president and COO of Color Kinetics, said: "We're extremely pleased to welcome Bill, whose considerable industry background includes strong leadership within both manufacturing and distribution roles, and combines the sales, management and technical expertise required to grow Color Kinetics' direct and channel sales efforts."
Groener most recently served as group vice-president for Production Resource Group (PRG), with responsibility for sales, operations, finance and administration across three of the company's subsidiaries. His 30+ year career includes senior management and business development positions at established entertainment lighting and technology companies, such as Strand Lighting, Barbizon, and Elliptipar.
Complementing his sales and operational expertise, Groener has in-depth experience in entertainment lighting design and production, and served as show lighting designer for Walt Disney Imagineering.After receiving both undergraduate and graduate degrees in theatre design and technology from the University of California at Santa Barbara, he spent the first 10 years working in a variety of lighting design and production roles. These included a faculty position at Williams College and theme park design assignments for WED (now Walt Disney Imagineering).
In 1984, Groener began a series of business development and management roles at major entertainment technology companies, serving as executive vice president/general manager of Strand Lighting, national sales and marketing manager at Elliptipar, manager of Barbizon's NY based System Sales Group, and manager of the systems installation group at Production Arts NY/NJ. During this time, he also established and managed his own manufacturer's rep agency in New York.
Following PRG's acquisition of Production Arts in 1998, Groener was given responsibility for all of PRG's systems installation business. In 2001, he was named general manager of PRG's New Jersey office, and in 2002, was named group vice president of PRG's Northeast Region.
Throughout his career, Groener has been actively involved in the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT), and the Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA). For ESTA, he has been a member of the Executive Board and served as the Chairman of its Technical Standards Committee for five years. In 2002, Groener was awarded the Eva Swan Award, which is presented to a member who has: put forth exceptional efforts in time, expertise, and personal resources on behalf of ESTA.
With his departure, Groener received the personal thanks of Jere Harris, PRG's chairman and CEO, for his many years of service to the company. "During his six years of employment by PRG, Bill made a tremendous contribution to the company in a variety of leadership roles," Harris stated. "We wish him the very best of success with his new opportunity and look forward to continuing to work with him as an important PRG supplier."
(Lee Baldock)
