Hank Eisengrein, URC Regional Training Manager, East
If you ever have the pleasure of walking through the halls of CEDIA EXPO with Hank Eisengrein, you’ll likely have a tough time getting from point A to point B. That’s because so many people along the way know Hank and would like to spend a few minutes catching up with him. Hank happily handles his celebrity status in the industry with grace, aplomb and his signature good humor. When you talk to Hank, you walk away smarter for the experience, and with a smile on your face to boot.
"I remember several years ago, [URC Founder and CEO] Mr. Park called me the mayor of CEDIA," laughs Hank. "I’ve developed business relationships that also have led to personal friendships, and that is a very rewarding thing for me."
For all of this and more, Hank is our December 2010 URC Team Member of the Month.
Born and raised in URC’s home of Westchester County, Hank attended Tuckahoe High School and Syracuse University. "I was in the Newhouse School of Public Communication and wanted to be an illustration photographer," says Hank. "Instead, my journey led me into the world of consumer electronics, and I’ve never looked back."
Hank’s start in the electronics industry (or the "stereo" business in the parlance of the day) came way back in 1978, leading to stints over the years with JVC Company of America, Bose Corporation, and Vidikron of America. "Many of our URC partners, sales reps and dealers did business with me when I was national sales manager for Vidikron," says Hank. "Today, we can hold a high-quality video projector in one hand. Back then, three-tube CRT projectors were the size of a Smart car and weighed 350 pounds!"
Hank has seen it all firsthand, from Betamax to Google TV, and his experiences have made him the wise professional that he is today. "Times and technology have changed, but people have not," he says. "I’ve been a successful sales rep, a distributor salesperson and, way back, a retail salesperson. I’ve had a great career so far, and URC’s growth ensures me many more years in my business life."
Hank’s long and eventful career path led him to URC in July 2001, when the company was much smaller than it is today. He became one of the founding members of URC’s custom/professional products division. Hank started as a product manager, and held that position for a number of years. He then was promoted to national sales and training manager for URC’s custom professional product division, a key position that he again held for several years before his assignment to the newly-created job of national sales training manager for the division.
About a year ago, Hank was asked to move into URC’s TIER department; he is currently the training manager for URC’s Eastern Region and Canada, for both technical and sales. "Of course, growing up along with URC, my role is more diverse than just that job title," says Hank. "I’ve been involved with many aspects of URC’s business. Many people say ’Hank is the face of URC’ in the consumer electronics industry, due to the length of my tenure and my extensive travel supporting URC. I’ve had a great time doing many different things in marketing, public relations, media interviews, sales and, of course, training."
Hank should know: He’s seen URC as well as the custom industry endure, evolve and prosper through a decade of technological and business challenges. "I’ve watched proudly over the past nine years as URC has grown from a small company with a handful of employees into a world-class organization with many employees due to all of our hard work and the excellent products supplied by our engineering team and our ISO-certified factories," says Hank. "Without that support and, of course, Mr. Chang K. Park’s commitment to excellence, URC would not be where we are today. I’m most proud to work with the current team of talented professionals who are shaping URC for the future. I would be remiss if I did not pay tribute to two key members of URC at the time I arrived here: our late president, John Davis, and the late Fred Bolton, who was a true mentor to me back in the beginning. I miss them both but pray often for the time I spent with them."
Because the company is growing so quickly, and Hank spends so much time on the road, he’s always encountering fresh faces when he’s at URC HQ. "Everyone jokes that I wear my URC name tag when I’m in the office, since we have so many new team members at our company," he says.
Hank travels such a great deal in order to meet key customers and conduct training sessions. These days, he’s promoting URC’s Network products, as well as URC University. "No day at URC is the same for me, and I enjoy the challenge that working for URC brings," says Hank. "I am always planning for the future. As URC introduces new products, I am helping to develop concepts and methods to make those products successful. For everyone at URC, this is a very exciting time in our company history.
"I have the support of a group of true professionals in the TIER department that has helped make my job easier. I’m in constant communication with URC sales reps, distributors, other manufacturers, journalists and of course fellow URC employees. In fact, many times people at URC HQ think I have hidden microphones because I’m always up to date with the newest developments!"
The consummate "people person," Hank greatly enjoys his interactions with URC dealers. "I live to ’press the flesh’ with our loyal customers," he says. "I am most effective at relationship building, and over the past decade working for URC has given me the opportunity to meet many people who I would not have had the chance to meet. When we attend a big trade show or distributor event, I see dealers I trained when URC introduced the MX-700 Dual Remote system! Last month in a College Park, Md., training, a dealer said, ’I’ve been coming to your classes and selling URC products since you gave me a free MX-700 system eight years ago!’"
Hank has been married to his lovely wife Debbie for 26 years, and has two beautiful children: Nicole, a Loyola University (Md.) senior, and Jeremy, a junior at New Jersey’s West Morris Mendham High School. He divides his personal time between Brookside and Spring Lake, N.J., and has a passion for fine wine and gourmet food; he also cultivates interests in NHRA racing and fine automobiles.
Hank and his wife of 26 years, Debbie.
"I’ve had the good fortune to travel for pleasure as well as business," says Hank, but as many a road warrior can tell you, it’s tough to stay in shape when you’re logging so many miles and so many jam-packed days. Over the past year, Hank has taken steps to get healthier and more fit. "I’ve been on a plan to reduce my weight, which is tough for many people my age. But I’ve lost 33 pounds, which means I’ve gone from extremely fat to just fat, so that I can maintain my membership in good standing in the ’Fat Men of Hi-Fi League’," he jokes.
URC thanks Hank for his years of dedication, for his tireless evangelization of our company and our industry, for his incredible talents in building relationships, and for being one of the most interesting and engaging people in the CEDIA channel. Here’s to many more years of the same!
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