Byrne Mexico’s General Manager, Jorge Angulo, retires after 18 years.
When a company feels more like a family, it’s hard to say goodbye to one of your own. Especially if that individual is someone as outstanding as Jorge.
Jorge Angulo served as a member of Byrne’s leadership team for 18 years and most recently held the position of VP of Operations for Byrne México. In fact, Jorge was Byrne’s first international employee!
Jorge’s Byrne story began nearly two decades ago. At that time, he was already a seasoned furniture industry pro with a background in architecture. The year was 2006 and an expanding Byrne Electrical was setting its sights on becoming a global player. Jorge was the man to help make that happen.
He was hired by Byrne’s U.S. leadership team to establish the Byrne México operation—working from the basement of his home with just one other employee and a handful of customers. For the next ten years, he held the title of Director of Operations, Latin America, wearing many hats and growing the enterprise from 3 to 12 employees.
Then in 2016, Jorge became Vice President of Operations, Latin America, and under his leadership Byrne’s presence continued to flourish, growing the team up to 85 employees. From 2015 to 2019, he also ran Byrne’s new Brazil office, acting as General Manager.
During Jorge’s tenure, Byrne underwent its share of pivotal changes in the region too.
In 2017, he led Byrne México through the critical transformation from distributor to manufacturer, and to this date, the Byrne México Production Facility (BESM) continues to operate two plants there. With three plants already in Michigan—two in Rockford and one in Lakeview —these were now considered Byrne plants #4 and #5. The new manufacturing presence even allowed BESM to produce its own product lines called “Hecho in México” (Made in México).
Through all those years of Byrne’s evolution and advancement, Jorge is recognized for his tireless work ethic and warm demeanor, acting as a caring and trusted mentor to many employees. A true industry expert, his clients would tell you that his honorability, passion for the company and product knowledge were unmatched. One customer was quoted as saying, “Jorge, there’s no doubt (that) the excellent service and support that the Byrne team brings is your doing!”
With Jorge’s departure, Jose Riba and Elena Rivas—Byrne México’s Sales Director and Marketing Manager, respectively—have stepped up to lead Latin American strategies for the company.
Byrne’s CEO, Dan Byrne, may have said it best as he wished Jorge good fortune in his well-earned retirement. “The incredible opportunities that all of Jorge’s talents and hard work created for the Byrne brand are the reason our company can truly claim the phrase “Local Partner/Global Value” with pride today.
