October 21, 2014 – Following Tom Cromwell’s appointment to group president of Kohler Co.’s Power Group last month, the company has named Brian Melka president of Engines Americas.

Melka (in photo) assumes full responsibility for the engines business in the Americas region, where he will establish strategic direction, manage operational demands, drive growth and profitability objectives, and attract and develop talent, said the company. In addition, he will have worldwide responsibility for new product development, marketing and overall growth of the gasoline engines product lines.

He joined Kohler in 2013 as vice president.

Prior to Kohler, Melka served various senior roles at Rexnord Corp., where he was most recently vice-president of global mining and product management. Before joining Rexnord, he spent more than 12 years working for various Textron Inc. businesses, including Greenlee Textron and Jacobsen Textron.