Who’s on the move: Scarpa boosts sales and marketing teams, Ruffwear and Columbia add in Europe, a national merchandiser expands to outdoor retail, and more …

• Scarpa North America, Boulder Colo., made several new hires and promotions to boost its sales and marketing teams. The company promoted dealer sales service rep Shunnie Chen to grassroots marketing coordinator, where she will oversee athlete sponsorship and support of Scarpa athletes, events and help manage promotional programs. It also hired Tristan Hobson as marketing coordinator, where she will create all of Scarpa North America’s creative assets, including catalogs, printed marketing materials and digital materials, as well as overseeing all photography needs. Hobson brings experience from working with the Lafuma Group and CAMP-USA, as well as an advertising degree from the University of Colorado. In sales service, Emily Voss moves into a role as dealer sales and service rep for territories east of the Rockies and in Canada. Joey Wolfe moves into the role as dealer sales and service rep for the Western United States. And Danielle Snyder, previously with Neptune Mountaineering, becomes a direct sales rep. Scarpa also hired Kaydee Harcourt as administrative assistant

• In-store merchandising service provider Market Connect Group (MCG), in Bloomfield, N.J., expanded its reach to the industry with the appointment of Sean Gavin as vice president of business development for sporting goods, outdoor and active lifestyle. Gavin previously worked with Franklin Retail Solutions and REI and has experience with sales and sales management, in-store merchandising and brand ambassador programs, brand marketing and public relations, client liaison, customer service, and staff training.

• Sierra Designs, in Boulder, Colo., hired Chase Schofield to the newly created position of product designer. Schofield will help with the recent Sierra Designs brand reboot in designing the next generation of tents, sleeping bags and packs from scratch.

• Sherpa Adventure Gear, in Kent, Wash., added two new U.S. sales teams. In the Southeast, Adventure Marketing Group’s team of Tom Hammond, Bo Boran, Alex Cavner and Annalee Woodie will support the brand in 11 coastal and Gulf states stretching from Virginia to Florida and west to Louisiana. Adventure Marketing Group has 14 years in the field as a sales team, and currently represents Oboz, Deuter, Leki, Adventure Medical Kits, Exped, Stanley, Western Mountaineering, MShades and Snow Peak. In the upper Midwest, Paul Gerten of Gerten Outdoors and his associate Charlie Anderson will cover Wisconsin, Michigan’s upper peninsula, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota and the Dakotas. Gerten Outdoors is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota and counts Alpina, Gregory Mountain Products, Nemo Equipment, Ruff Wear, Seal Skinz, Snow Peak and Zamberlan among its lines. The two new rep agencies joining Sherpa Adventure Gear are directed by Bill Chandler, who joined Sherpa the company in April as sales director for North America.

• First Descents, a Denver-based non-profit serving young-adult cancer patients and survivors outdoors, has tapped Backbone Media, in Carbondale, Colo. to direct its public relations strategy as it expands its programming within and outside the United States. Backbone also picked up Stio, in Jackson, Wyo., as a client, for which Nick Brosnan will handle public relations.

• Columbia Sportswear Co., in Portland, Ore., appointed Franco Fogliato as senior vice president of Europe, reporting directly to president and CEO Tim Boyle, effective Nov. 4, 2013. Fogliato will be responsible for establishing and executing sales, distribution and marketing strategies for the company’s Columbia Sportswear, Mountain Hardwear and Sorel brands, sold through more than 5,000 wholesale customers across Europe. For the past 10 years, Fogliato served as Billabong Group’s general manager of Europe and as a member of company’s executive board. In a related move, Doug Morse, who has served as interim general manager of the company’s Europe-direct business since February 2013, will work with Fogliato through the end of this year to ensure a smooth transition, and then relocate to the company’s Portland, Oregon headquarters in January 2014 to assume the newly created role of chief business development and strategic planning officer.

• Ruffwear, in Bend, Ore., has expanded its relationship with U.K.-based Accapi Group, led by Andrew Geere to increase distribution in Europe. Effective Dec. 2, 2013, Accapi will represent Ruffwear in Austria, Belgium, Channel Islands, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K.

• Gordini USA Inc., in Burlington, Vt., named Mike Fowler as its vice president of sales and marketing. Fowler will oversee the brands’ internal and external sales teams for Gordini, Drop, licensed product and private label businesses, inclusive of all marketing efforts, trade shows and product merchandising. Most recently, Fowler served as the director of sales for Manzella Productions.

Have any new hire or promotions news? Email us at news@snewsnet.com to get into next week’s Who’s On the Move column.