Chris Calabro, a 30-year-plus veteran of the electrical, HVAC and fire safety industries, has joined Channel Marketing Group as a vice president. Calabro will be supporting clients in the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and fire safety industries.

Calabro started in electrical distribution as a technical specialist and in sales roles. He then transitioned to work with Invensys and Kidde, culminating in senior sales management and channel development roles supporting wholesale markets in the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, fire safety and power transmission industries.

At Kidde, Calabro was actively involved in the business integrations of Firex Safety, Badger Suppression, Edwards Signaling and Supra Key safe products into Kidde Fire & Safety. As a member of the leadership team, he helped Kidde expand its presence beyond the traditional “Big Box Retail” into electrical wholesale, small retail markets and HVAC distribution. Calabro designed and led the manufacturer rep integration process assimilating rep agencies with the “new” integrated business and new channels to market. He designed and implemented the Kidde National Builders Program resulting in significant Kidde market share growth, securing exclusive specifications at the top 10 largest national new homebuilders.

Calabro has built and led top performing sales teams. His experience and new business acumen across a multitude of businesses and channels to market bring a wealth of sales management and a diverse knowledge to Channel Marketing Group and its clients.

Calabro will be seeking to help manufacturers, distributors and manufacturer representatives accelerate their performance by bringing ideas that generate results as Channel Marketing Group expands into the plumbing and HVAC markets. He can be reached at ccalabro@channelmkt.com.