President
Blake Sales Associates
Mike Ramey, president of manufacturers’ representative firm Blake Sales Associates, passed away from cancer Jan 9. He was a month shy of his 65th birthday.
Though he had been battling the disease more than two years, the timing of his death was unexpected, said John Grucky, co-owner of the Vista, Calif.-based company.
Grucky now is president of the firm.
Ramey had served as the manager and face of the company — one of the industry’s largest manufacturers rep firms — after its founder and namesake, Bob Blake, passed away in 2001.
He entered the industry in 1982 when, as a gym employee selling memberships, he impressed a prospective customer. That person happened to be the sales manager of equipment manufacturer Polaris. After hearing Ramey’s presentation, the inquiring customer told him about an opportunity and suggested he apply. Ramey did, and a new career was started. At Polaris, he answered to Blake. Grucky joined Polaris the following year.
Save for a brief stint in retail and pool construction, Ramey stayed with Polaris until 1986, a month after Blake had left and begun his manufacturers rep firm.
“He loved the industry and enjoyed the people tremendously,” said Grucky, who came on board with Blake Sales in 1987.
When Ramey took the reins of the company, Grucky said, he fit the role and was able to navigate a seamless transition. “What he brought to the table was organization, enthusiasm, a passion for what he did — all the things you’d like to see in a leader,” Grucky said.
Grucky credits Ramey’s strengths with getting Blake Sales through the Great Recession. “He was very detail-oriented,” Grucky said. “There wasn’t much of anything that slipped through the cracks.”
As the face of the company, Ramey drew customers with his integrity and positive attitude, Grucky added. “He was ethical and honest. His word was his bond. He had a can-do attitude, was very positive.”
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ramey served on the board of directors for the San Diego chapter of the National Spa & Pool Institute, one of the precursors to the current national organization, the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance. He served a two-year term as chapter president beginning in 2001. In 2003, he began service on NSPI’s Manufacturers Agent Council, for which he served as secretary, vice chairman and, from 2009 to 2010, its chairman.
Ramey’s territories will transition to associates familiar with those areas.
