Kuuts LLC has promoted Mari Navarro to be the company’s new vice president of sales and marketing.

Navarro joined the company in March 2015 as a sales and marketing executive focusing on the Florida market. Prior to that, she was the sales and marketing manager for Cuban Crafters Cigars in Miami, and her professional career also includes 13 years in the hospitality and travel industry and several years as a litigation paralegal.

While the company has not officially announced the promotion, Navarro has changed her LinkedIn page to reflect the new job title, and in a promotional email sent out for Abe Dababneh’s Kiss My Ash radio show aired on Feb. 6, she was mentioned as having been recently promoted to the position.

Navarro fills an opening in the company created when John Gonzalez, the former vice president and general manager, left Kuuts to become the vice president of sales for Gran Habano in early January.

After establishing itself in Europe and other international markets, Kuuts launched in the United States in the summer of 2013 and currently produces the Miró, Placeres Reserva and Tabacalera Zapata lines, as well as the eponymously named Kuuts line, which includes both a Nicaraguan wrapped version and Connecticut wrapped version.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.