SAN FRANCISCO - Connell Brothers, a marketer and distributor of specialty chemicals and ingredients in Asia-Pacific, has named Azita Owlia President of Connell Brothers, which is a Wilbur-Ellis company. Owlia was promoted from Vice President to President upon Ted Eliot's retirement at the end of 2015.

During Owlia's tenure as Vice President of North Asia, she developed and implemented a multi-year growth strategy for the region. This included both a new structure for business development efforts to accelerate new sales, as well as refocusing on core strategic segments. In her new role, Owlia will spearhead the next phase of growth for Connell Brothers throughout Asia-Pacific and across all segments, including coatings and ink, construction, food ingredients and nutrition, personal and home care, pharma ingredients, and plastics. She will also manage Connell Brothers' supply chain operations and continue to build on its reputation for quality and safety.