La Palina Cigars has announced that David Lampert has joined the company as its new director of sales, a position that he assumed as of this Monday.

Lampert, who was most recently the vp of sales for the Colibri Group, said that “it’s Chicago, it’s history and it’s an amazing opportunity,” referring both to the city that he will be based out of and that La Palina was originally founded in Chicago. “It’s a team of passionate professionals who live this industry. I love the story, the vision, and the commitment.”

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According to a press release issued by the company, Lampert will initially focus on bolstering the company’s sales efforts in the midwest and northeast territories.

The company also announced the hiring of two new regional sales managers, Frank Elam and Christopher Manso, both of whom were most recently in similar roles with Alec Bradley. Elam will cover the mid-Atlantic region between North Carolina and Delaware, while Manso will oversee the north-central region, which spans between Colorado and southern Indiana. Both have begun working the company within the past two weeks.

“The decision to go in-house was based on our analysis of the market opportunity, incremental growth of the brand, and our ability to contribute additional resources in these territories,” said Bill Paley, owner of La Palina Cigars.

An earlier version of this story had Mr. Elam’s first name as David when it is indeed Frank. We regret the error.

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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.