RAYMOND, Maine—Dielectric has appointed industry veteran Michael Sharpstene as national sales manager effective immediately. He will report to vice president of sales Jay Martin. In the new post, Sharpstene will oversee all Dielectric U.S. sales and business development responsibilities east of the Mississippi following the retirement of Christine Zuba. He will work closely with Zuba and her customers over the next six months to ensure a seamless transition.
Sharpstene joins Dielectric from SCMS, a manufacturer’s representative and solutions provider serving the global broadcast industry. His journey in the broadcast industry started at SCMS in 2010, where he was responsible for office management and the creation and launch of SCMS’ lucrative e-commerce site. These responsibilities led to more customer interactions over the years, which allowed Sharpstene to develop strong relationships with a wide range of SCMS customers, including broadcast engineers working for TV and radio stations and groups.
Sharpstene’s experience allows him to effectively leverage his existing industry relationships and develop new ones on behalf of Dielectric, while his knowledge of broadcast technology gained at SCMS provides him with the technical expertise required to help customers identify the right RF solutions, the company said.
“SCMS represents more than 400 manufacturers, which, along with my military experience that included working with RF and satellite equipment, has helped me establish a very strong understanding of the broadcast industry and its technology ecosystem,” said Sharpstene. “That experience, combined with my customer service skills, well-prepare me for the opportunity to help Dielectric’s radio and TV customers with the best solution while evaluating antennas, filters and other RF products for their broadcast systems.”
Sharpstene said that he is especially excited to introduce Dielectric’s more recent innovations in RF monitoring (RFHAWKEYE) and analytics (Apollo) to his customers, which he believes completely differentiates the company from competitors. “This is all about providing next-level information and peace of mind for broadcasters, and it’s something that many stations don’t have in their toolboxes today,” he said. “We see a lot of opportunity for this technology moving forward.”
“We thought long and hard about who could best fill Christine’s shoes following her retirement, and Michael quickly rose to the top of our list of candidates based on his diverse experiences gained over nearly 15 years at SCMS,” said Martin. “He joins Dielectric at a critical juncture for the broadcast industry where TV stations are starting to plan their future ATSC 3.0 network designs and radio stations are investing in higher efficiency RF systems that include next-generation antennas. We welcome Michael to the team and look forward to his contributions for years to come.”
