Kari Kohonen

Kari Kohonen joined Valin Corporation in 2008 when Valin acquired DR Shannon and has remained a cornerstone application and sales champion for the Refining Market Vertical for over 14 years. Kari has served in a variety of roles ranging from Technical Specialist, Account Manager, Sales Manager, and currently Director of Sales. However, Kari’s contributions outweigh the typical job requirements defined by his title and job description.

In 2019, Kari accepted the role of Director of Sales-Refining and Oil & Gas and began rebuilding and re-tooling the Valin Petroleum Refining team following a significant turnover in critical market areas. This required recruiting, onboarding, training, mentoring, and supporting a team of 6-7 sales resources spanning Washington, Oregon, California, and Utah. Throughout the various sales team changes, Kari remained the constant face of Valin for key refinery customers ensuring that they had a consistent experience. Activities included continued support and re-development of Valin’s Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) programs in Southern California and the Pacific Northwest while identifying other VMI opportunities.

In addition to Kari’s sales management responsibilities, Kari continued to secure new business for Valin as well as support the expansion of Valin’s Industrial Product portfolio to include additional suppliers for 2021. Kari also introduced Valin to a new instrumentation supplier identified through a sales call at a refinery in the Northwest. Year to date, this supplier has generated several hundred thousand in sales and is on track to do much more by the end of the year driven by the Process Heat sales team. Most notably, was Kari’s perseverance in driving not one, not two, but three significant corporate-level filtration bid opportunities. These multi-year bid opportunities are rare and need cross-department support of sales, pricing, and customer service, often requiring individuals to go above and beyond their own job duties.

Organizationally, Kari’s contributions have been seen in the areas of marketing, where he continues to collaborate to produce collateral, press releases, and white papers for Valin’s products and services. Commercially, Kari has acted as the central hub for all Refinery Specific Operational Level Agreements (OLA’s), in addition to serving as Valin’s authorized representative to the refineries for badge access. Kari has coordinated with our Analytics team, to develop the Refinery Specific Market Study to identify growth and service opportunities for Valin in refineries that we are not currently doing business. Kari has also offered mentorship, support, and guidance outside the core Refinery Group for the process control, filtration, and process heat teams.

Externally, Kari is regarded by suppliers as knowledgeable and responsible and often prioritizes Kari and Valin for opportunities they would prefer to be handled for their customer base. Kari constantly scans the market for available talent as well as potential acquisition opportunities. Perhaps Kari’s greatest contribution to Valin and the sales team is his energy, enthusiasm, passion, and optimism as it relates to Sales and providing solutions. Kari has never once hesitated to jump on a plane, adjust a schedule or ‘jump on a fire’ if it meant preserving Valin’s brand and relationships at the refineries and beyond. Kari serves as an example to all Valin employees of what it means to ‘Take Ownership Seriously’.