YORK, PA. – Food packaging machinery manufacturer JLS Automation announced it hired Michael Cothran to become its regional sales manager in the Southeast.

Per JLS, Cothran will support and grow the company’s sales in the region and report to John Kertesz, director of sales for JLS in the South.

“Michael is a driven sales engineer,” Kertesz said. “His industry experience in applications engineering, especially with secondary packaging, will certainly be an asset to our team as we continue to look for new opportunities.”

Most recently a regional sales manager for BluePrint Automation, Cothran’s experience in sales and engineering over the past several years includes time as a product development engineer at Nomaco. He earned bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering and Spanish language from North Carolina State University.

JLS designs hygienic packaging solutions, with custom robotic solutions for the food packaging industry.