Traci Dralle is the new president of Fillauer Companies Inc. and has responsibility for all of the Chattanooga-based orthotic and prosthetic device maker's business units.
Dralle, who joined Fillauer in November 2012 as director of marketing and was promoted to vice president in 2017, reports to Chief Executive Officer Michael Fillauer, the company said today.
"As Vice President, Traci has helped to lead Fillauer through two years of growth and innovation," said the CEO in a statement.
The company, which employs about 125 people in Chattanooga and 250 worldwide, said Dralle has been instrumental in uniting all of its subsidiaries together with a shared mission and common direction. Through her collaborative vision and marketing and sales leadership, Fillauer reached 300 percent growth in feet product sales from 2016 to 2018, the company said.
Also, Dralle secured the exclusive U.S. distribution of Fillauer's Taska Hand product in December 2017, and achieved 13.5 percent growth in top line sales in 2018.
"She has been instrumental in defining and implementing our new business strategy and forming and strengthening strategic partnerships as we embark on our second century as a leader in the orthotics and prosthetics industry," said the company's CEO. "Traci's outstanding performance and commitment to Fillauer have brought many achievements for our organization, and I am confident that her new role will lead to many more in the years to come."
Last year, the 104-year-old company was lauded for its innovation, winning the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce's Spirit of Innovation Award.
Started across from Erlanger hospital in 1914 but now with offices worldwide, the company was cited by the Chamber for its Nexo system, an upper extremity prosthesis that Fillauer says has drastically changed options available for patients, technicians and prosthetists.
Michael Fillauer is the fourth generation to lead the company.
In 2015, the company embarked on one of its biggest expansions in Chattanooga as it shifted a key division from California to its home town.
The business bolstered its workforce by up to 40 jobs and added manufacturing space near its Amnicola Highway headquarters in a multimillion-dollar project.