Kathryn Fitts and Dennis Smith are the new management team at Messe Frankfurt Inc. in Atlanta, GA, U.S., taking over from John Gallagher, who has decided to move into a different direction.

With immediate effect, Fitts and Smith have been appointed presidents. Fitts will concentrate on finance and administration, while Smith focuses on shows and operation. Fitts is responsible for the company’s finance, legal, human ressources and IT functions. Smith is responsible for Messe Frankfurt’s U.S. events and for key account management of U.S. customers taking part in trade fairs in Frankfurt and at the company’s other locations around the world.

Fitts, born in Munich, obtained an MBA in finance from Boston University and has over 30 years of experience in finance, accounting and administration. During her career, she has worked for companies such as Jim Beam Brands, Boy Scouts of America and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Smith has an MBA in international business and is regarded as a trade fair specialist. He has 21 years of experience in the international trade fair industry to his credit. During his career, he lived for over 15 years in Germany, the United Kingdom and Turkey, overseeing international events in a wide cross-section of sectors.

Messe Frankfurt Inc. Atlanta was founded in 1991 and is currently the largest subsidiary of any German trade fair company in North America, focusing mainly on textile, technical, automotive and recycling trade fairs. Its portfolio includes trade fairs such as Techtextil North America (with a symposium) in Atlanta and Las
Vegas, Texworld USA in New York, Texprocess Americas in Atlanta, Home Textiles Sourcing Expo in New York and the International Apparel Sourcing Show in New York.