MEET THE PHIPPS & BIRD TEAM . . .
Rules? There ain't no rules around here. We're trying to accomplish something!
- Thomas Edison

CUSTOMER SERVICE & PURCHASING
The person who is convinced that he CAN DO something is usually right. And so is the person who believes he cannot.
- Prairie Rambler

JEANNE GRAMMER joined us in May 2002 as our Administrative Services Coordinator.  She left us in July 2004 for greener pastures.  When they turned brown a couple of months later, Jeanne groveled, beseeched and begged us to take her back.  No, wait . . . WE groveled, beseeched and begged HER to come back.  She did, and we’re happy to have her!  Jeanne handles all your customer service needs:  Requests for product literature, entering purchase orders, checking stock status or expediting shipments.  Call her toll-free at 800/955-7621, extension 218.

 TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
- Anonymous

Technical Support inquiries are directed to KEVIN BYRD at 800/955-7621, extension 203. Kevin, our Manager of Engineering Services, joined us in April, 1988. He possesses a broad, general knowledge of all our products and can usually answer most technical questions. On the rare occasion he can't, he’ll at least make up something that sounds believable.  (We think he learned that during his years at Virginia Tech.  And if you catch yourself nodding off during one of Kevin’s Hokie stories, transfer to one of these guys . . .

GEORGE CATLIN, our Production Manager. George came to Phipps & Bird in November, 1983. A journeyman machinist by trade, George assumed production responsibilities in 1991. (And we assumed someone had actually promoted him!) Familiar with the manufacture of all of Phipps & Bird's products, George is a valuable Tech Support resource. When not on the shop floor, George can be found at the coffee pot mainlining Maxwell House or reached at extension 207.

The third member of the Tech Support team is KEN SATTERWHITE, our Electronics Shop Supervisor and elder statesman (having joined the team back in June, 1966). Ken knows how everything is wired up around here! He's pretty wired up himself! He's at extension 202!

 GENERAL MANAGEMENT
The secret of managing is to keep the five guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided.
- Casey Stengel

PAT SKAPERDAS is our corporate Executive Vice President, majority stockholder and Chargé D'Affairs (we always did want to have someone with that title on staff!).  In addition to doing director-level stuff, Pat handles all our bookkeeping, human resource and general administrative issues, and supervises the customer service and vendor relations functions.  In her spare time she does our website development and maintenance duties for www.phippsbird.com, www.intelitool.com and www.confastinc.com.  She is also in charge of the corporate fleet of aircraft, but since we haven’t acquired any aircraft yet, that part of the job is pretty easy.  Call her at extension 212.  

The individual charged with championing company philosophies, building corporate culture, maintaining the corps d'esprit, leading Phipps & Bird to new challenges and opportunities, and watering the plants is WES SKAPERDAS, our President & General Manager. Wes joined Phipps & Bird's former parent company, General Medical, in 1979 and has held the responsibility for managing the operation since 1984.  Before that, he pretty much wandered aimlessly through life.  Although we can't think of any specific reason you'd want to call him, (other than to take Pat's calls) he does have his very own extension: 201.

We are blessed with a talented, dedicated group of people who look forward to being of service to you. It is our sincere desire to make sure you're satisfied with the product you purchased and the service you received.

Please . . .
Don't hesitate to call for any reason. We want to hear your comments, complaints, critiques, suggestions, ideas, interesting stories, etc. If it's important enough for you to want to share, it's important enough for us to want to listen. We look forward to your call!