AREA FOUR INDUSTRIES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Vice - President of Sales & Marketing
Adrian Forbes-Black is Vice-President of Sales & Marketing for TOMCAT & joined the company in 2017. Adrian is based at TOMCAT's west coast sales office & warehouse in Thousand Oaks, CA. As well as responsibility for sales & marketing of TOMCAT products, Adrian also has American market oversight over the other brands in the Area Four Industries group - James Thomas Engineering, MILOS, LITEC, EXE Technology, Mobiltechlifts, Xstage and Xtruss.
Born in the United Kingdom, Adrian has lived in California since 2006. Most recently he was Vice-President of Total Structures. Prior to that role, he held management positions at Columbus McKinnon, TOMCAT UK and Total Fabrications, with a total of over 25 years' experience in the entertainment technology industry. The joint recipient of the 2013 ESTA Frank Stewart Volunteer of the Year Award for his work on the ANSI E1.21 outdoor structure standard, Forbes-Black regularly contributes to other national standards relating to structures, truss, chain hoists, and other associated rigging equipment.
Adrian has performed training relating to truss, structures and electric chain hoists for almost 20 years.
Job Titles:
- North Eastern Sales Manager
Eric joined EPS in 2019, bringing 25 years in the entertainment business as a rigger, rigging trainer, inspector, and project manager. As Director of Installations and Show Support, he supports EPS' clients in this dual role by providing services for design, installations, and inspections of rigging systems, as well as providing training for individual professionals and workforces in need of continuing education.
Eric was a tenured Associate Professor at Penn State University where he was the head of the BFA and MFA in Scenic Technology for nine years. He is an ETCP Certified Rigger and Recognized Trainer and has done rigging training for more than ten years for clients such as Disney, Royal Caribbean, Cirque du Soleil, ETC, and IATSE.
Throughout his career, Eric has gained a broad range of experience in rigging and rigging design after working with companies like Flying by Foy, Cirque, Sapsis Rigging, and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
Job Titles:
- South Eastern Sales Manager
Clark-Reder Engineering, Inc., est. 2009 Principal and Co-Founder
Mr. Reder's personal design experience is in a wide variety of entertainment structures, such as performance and pavilion roof structures - both temporary and permanent, aluminum truss grids, temporary and permanent seating risers, sound delay and video wall support structures. Mr. Reder also has extensive experience in the design and analysis of complex aluminum structures.
In addition to his extensive experience with entertainment structures, Mr. Reder is an expert in the design of conventional building structures. He has personal design experience with structural steel, prestressed and post-tensioned concrete, masonry and wood framing.
Job Titles:
- Business Development Director
Keith has been a leading voice in the truss and rigging community for over 25 years, participating in the ESTA Technical Standards Program and conducting training classes worldwide.
He is an ETCP Certified Arena Rigger and an ETCP Recognized Trainer and currently the Business Development Director for Area Four Industries America. Area Four Industries collectively incorporates and manages the TOMCAT, James Thomas Engineering, Milos, EXE Technology, Prolyte, Litec and Mobiltechlifts product brands.
Mitch Clark was a true truss and staging pioneer in America and is an integral part of TOMCAT's spirit. The extraordinary solutions he created were able to convince The Rolling Stones, Cirque du Soleil and the Blue Man Group to speak about the advantages and features of TOMCAT products, and how they performed in truly demanding applications. Recognition from these iconic performers led to the iconic status the TOMCAT brand and its products enjoy to this day.