Noritz America has announced that Sunbelt Marketing Inc. will help cover the Southeast tankless water heater market, effective March 11, 2021. The master distributor and buy/sell manufacturer’s representative will work alongside Noritz’s sales team staff in that region.

Formed in 1976, Sunbelt Marketing is “a well-established leader among independent sales representatives in our industry,” noted Jason Fleming, executive vice president and general manager at Noritz America. “They have a special expertise in water heating, having worked with both storage-tank and tankless manufacturers over the years. Their in-depth product and application knowledge, and their numerous industry relationships will be an outstanding complement to our existing sales team in that part of the country.”

Representing the complete Noritz line of residential and commercial tankless water heaters and residential combination boilers, Sunbelt personnel will serve as a commission-based rep for the brand to the entire plumbing and heating chain of distribution, calling not only on wholesalers, but also contractors, builders, and inspectors, as well as specifying engineers.

Richard Goldsmith, marketing manager at Sunbelt Marketing added, “We are certainly excited to have this opportunity to keep promoting tankless technology in our region — one of the largest tankless markets in the country — working with a pioneer in the field and a prominent and focused player in the water heating industry. Like Noritz, we are dedicated to contributing to the growth of energy-efficient, hot-water solutions.”

A long-time member of the Association of Industry Manufacturers’ Representatives (AIM/R), Sunbelt Marketing is led by Tom Menefee, president. The employee-owned company has more than 160 associates, including 40 outside salespeople covering parts or all of 13 different states, from Virginia to Texas, for various plumbing, piping and HVAC manufacturers. The Sunbelt sales team has more than 250 years of combined industry experience.

With six different office-warehouse locations, Sunbelt maintains contractual, buy-sell relationships with numerous industry manufacturers, including NIBCO and IPS Corp. The company also serves a master distributor for a wide range of product categories, with major focus on piping products and HydraPro. These marketing activities currently extend into 30 different U.S. states. The agency’s home office and primary distribution center in metro Atlanta is equipped with a fully functional, live-burn training laboratory.