INDIANAPOLIS – Gema USA Inc., a Graco Inc. company, announced that Mike Thies celebrated 35 years of service with the company. Thies is the Director of Engineering and Sales for Gema and responsible for managing the sales and engineering teams for the powder coating business covering the United States and Canada. Thies is a graduate of ITT Technical Institute, with a degree in electrical technology. Entering the finishing industry in 1986, Thies started his career at Gema as an electrical assembler, then moving throughout the company in a variety of positions including field service, engineering and sales.

Throughout his career, Thies has been an active participant within the powder coating industry. As a published author and speaker about powder coating, Thies actively presents at technical conferences. He is an active contributor within several organizations including the Gema representative on the National Fire Protection Association Chapter 33 committee, Powder Coating Institute technical committee, ASTM, and the pipe coating association, NAPCA. Thies’ engineering abilities has been rewarded with several U.S. patents. Gema congratulated Thies on his 35 years of service at the company.