By Greg Hazley
Dorel Juvenile Group, a top maker of baby car seats and strollers, has created a new top public affairs post and tapped a former spokeswoman for the federal agency that oversees product safety as greater scrutiny is placed on the industry amid multiple recalls.
Dorel brands include Cosco Juvenile, Safety 1st, Maxi-Cosi, and Quinny. |
Julie Vallese, former public affairs director for the Consumer Product Safety Commission from 2005-09 and an ex-CNN journalist, has moved to Dorel in the new slot as VP of public affairs and strategic communications.
The hire follows Dorels’ recall of four million child car seats earlier this year – a move it fought for nearly a decade – as well as the recall of thousands of so-called drop-side cribs, a style blamed by the CPSC for the deaths of several infants over the past decade.
Vallese |
Dorel on Sept. 2 created the Dorel Technical Center for Child Safety, a multimillion-dollar development facility in Columbus, Ind., which the company is pitching as the first initiative in a $21M, three-year investment in the safety, design and manufacturing of its car seat products.
Infant carriers and cribs from various makers have been the subjects of several recalls by the CPSC in recent years.
In a statement, DJG USA President and CEO Dave Taylor said of Vallese hire: “Julie is a highly accomplished journalist and safety advocate and we are thrilled to have her expertise as we advance Dorel’s leadership position in juvenile products through consumer advocacy and education.”
She was an editor and correspondent in a decade at CNN.
DJG is part of Quebec-based Dorel Industries.
360 PR works with DJG.
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