HammerHead’s Jarrett Cowden Set to Retire

HammerHead Trenchless Equipment’s Jarrett Cowden, senior vice president of sales and marketing, has announced his retirement, effective at the end of July. Cowden, a veteran of the utility construction equipment industry has provided leadership since January 2007 to HammerHead Trenchless.

Cowden was previously vice president, sales and marketing at Vermeer Mfg., director of business development at Ingersoll Rand, director of marketing at Ditch Witch, (a division of the Charles Machine Works), director of sales at SherrillTree, and marketing representative for Exxon. He holds a BS and an MBA from Oklahoma State University and served as a company commander in the U.S. Army. He was also co-founder and president of Two Rivers Marketing Group.

“Replacing Jarrett’s leadership, experience, and presence will be challenging. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jarrett over several years, in different settings and he’s proven himself as a leader in our industry, who is well respected, a friend, and mentor with a unique ability to see well into the future regarding changes in our markets,” says Brian Metcalf, CEO of HammerHead Trenchless Equipment. “He is a very innovative and strategic marketing professional. Jarrett will remain close to the HammerHead family and I look forward to his continued friendship, support, and mentoring in the coming years.”

            Replacing Cowden is Paul Rogers, a 39-year-veteran of the trenchless industry. Jarrett will assist with the transition of sales responsibilities to Rogers and will focus on special projects until the end of July.

Rogers is a native of Oklahoma and a 1971 graduate of Oklahoma State University.  Rogers was employed by The Charles Machine Works Inc., manufacturer of Ditch Witch underground construction equipment, where he held various positions in both domestic and international marketing within that organization including director of sales worldwide.

In 1993, he purchased Ditch Witch equipment dealerships for Southern California. He owned and managed distribution for all of Southern California until he sold his dealerships in 2003.  Rogers has extensive knowledge in the installation of underground utilities using various trenchless methods including pipe bursting, pipe ramming and horizontal directional drilling. For the past two years, Rogers has been the global accounts manager and western regional sales manager for HammerHead. Rogers will lead the HammerHead sales team with more than 37 years of experience in the underground construction industry.