In
John Knorr
Profile
John Knorr grew up on a small farm in Southwestern Pennsylvania. While neither parent was able to go to college, education was the priority in his family. John’s father worked for the Port Authority of Pittsburgh as a supervisor for the maintenance department for the city’s trolley systems. His father’s admiration of the engineers he worked with led John to pursue engineering as a major.
John chose WVU over other schools in Pennsylvania because WVU offered him a scholarship. The engineering presentation during his freshman year helped him choose IE as a career and his choice was reinforced by his uncle, a successful businessman he looked up to.
While in college John had two internships. After graduation John joined American Power Conversion (APC) where one of our alumni was part of the founding team. APC is a manufacturer of uninterruptible power supplies, electronic peripherals, and data center products.
John began his career at APC in sales and customer service. John rose up through various sales positions and by age 27 was a manager of a sales region.
At age 30, John was asked to take the lead on establishing global alliances. This was a risky career move which involved a lot of travel throughout the world. John is given credit for establishing the global alliance between APC and IBM.
At age 37, John was named Vice President of Field Sales. In this position, he had 120 people reporting to him and was responsible for 400 million in sales.
APC was acquired by Schneider Electric in 2007. John’s responsibility has continued to grow. John has used his IE degree to make APC’s sales efforts more effective and efficient. Currently John is Vice President of Global Strategic Accounts which is responsible for growing global alliances, partnerships, and emerging channels.
When asked about a critical point in his career, John recalls a decision he made at age 25. John was offered a position in product management. This was the customary position for someone with John’s experience. He decided instead to stay in sales. His continuing experience in sales gave him the background that shaped the rest of his career.
Bio
John Knorr started with APC in 1992, and held various positions, including: customer service representative, inside sales representative, district manager, enterprise account manager, and regional director. In 2002, John joined the APC Channels organization and focused on alliances. He was responsible for leading the team that created APC’s global alliance with IBM. In 2006, he become the Director of Enterprise Channels, and led a team that was responsible for APC’s electrical distribution and national VAR channels. APC was acquired by Schneider Electric in 2006. In 2007, he was promoted to Vice President of Schneider Electric’s NAM ITB Field Sales, where he was responsible for non-named endusers, project level partner engagement, electrical contractors, consulting engineers, and the creation of the Elite Datacenter Partner Program and the Leveraged Partner Sales Model. After that, he was tasked with creating and leading the newly formed North American Sales Excellence Team, which included leading the Inside Sales organization, Learning and Development, Sales Enablement, communication and company programs. In 2016, John was appointed Vice President of Global Strategic Accounts, which focuses on global alliances, partnerships and emerging channels.
John is a graduate from West Virginia University, and holds a degree in Industrial Engineering. He lives in Michigan with his wife and four children. He is actively involved in coaching youth baseball in the Ann Arbor area. His hobbies include golf, hunting and fishing.
