People in the News March 2020

March 9, 2020
Rick Armenta
Rick Armenta

As part of a commitment to provide more support for its industry-leading PROTEC2 CLIQ locks and key systems, ABLOY USA hired sales engineer Rick Armenta. He has nearly 30 years of experience with various technologies and will report to Michael Woody, ABLOY’s Customer Service and CLIQ Competence Center Manager.

Armenta’s primary responsibility will be Sales Engineering and Design to support the new ABLOY U.S. Competence Center. Designed for the purpose of providing technical expertise, service and support for CLIQ technology, the service center will allow ABLOY to produce and program CLIQ products and fill orders in the United States for the first time. The U.S. Competence Center in Irving, Texas, is slated to open in March 2020.

“I have a knack for bridging sales with the production side of business,” Armenta says. “I have an understanding of both and can help with workflow and communications in both directions. This gives me a wealth of product knowledge that I bring to the table to support sales, dealers, distributors and end-users.”

LifeSafety Power, a leader in delivering intelligent networking power solutions to access control, physical security and loT applications, has promoted Matt Virga to Vice President of Sales, North America.

Since coming to LifeSafety Power in 2016 as Director of Sales for the Eastern Region, Virga has worked closely with stakeholders in the end-user and integrator communities, focusing on addressing current and trending power needs across all vertical markets. Virga has nearly three decades of experience in the physical security industry, holding key sales management positions at Sony and Pelco prior to joining LifeSafety Power.

Virga will report to John Olliver, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, who will continue to drive OEM and international business development. “Matt’s management and organizational skills will take LifeSafety Power to the next level in the company’s development,” said John Olliver. “He is recognized among his peers and the security industry at large as a dedicated leader and educator of the value of LifeSafety Power products. With Matt leading North American Sales, LifeSafety Power will continue to propel forward as an industry force in intelligent power solutions.”

VIZpin, designer and manufacturer of the VIZpin smartphone-based, Bluetooth-enabled access entry system, recently added Rui Manuel Barreira to its executive leadership team. Barreira joined the Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based company in the role of vice president of technology.

Barreira will be responsible for managing VIZpin’s global engineering and product teams, execute VIZpin’s product strategy and expand VIZpin’s patent portfolio. He also will develop and manage VIZpin’s API/SDK Developer Program and the associated partner relationships.

Before joining VIZpin, Barreira cofounded and served as CEO of motel.io, a global, scalable platform for testing software on mobile devices, and was Chief Digital Officer for Critical Software.

“Rui is a great addition to the leadership team,” says VIZpin President and CEO Paul Bodell. “His process-driven approach to product development, technology background and user-experience focus will ensure that VIZpin continues to lead the mobile-credential and Smartphone Access Control Markets.”