SOUTH JORDAN, UT -- Franchise Capital Corp., which recently acquired Aero Exhaust, Inc., has hired Leigh Van De Steeg to serve as new Aero regional sales manager. Van De Steeg’s territory will include Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Van De Steeg previously established an exhaust warehouse distribution company for Aero products in the territory he will oversee as regional sales manager. Since its inception in early 2004, Van De Steeg’s distribution business grew to have more than 200 supporting shops within its territory.

As regional sales manager, Van De Steeg will be responsible for interfacing with the major regional warehouse distributors for Aero products that operate within his territory, including Franks Supply Co. of Houston, TX; Wynne Exhaust of Wynne, AR; and Allied Exhaust, one of the largest independent warehouse distributors of automotive exhaust in the U.S. He will work directly with the distributors' in-house sales representatives, accompany them on visits to automotive repair and supply shops, and establish relationships with shop owners and operators.

He will also be responsible for establishing new distribution in the region for customer types that are not currently served by existing distributor relationships.

Van De Steeg will report to Aero's new national sales manager, Bill Franzke.

For more information about Aero Exhaust, go to: www.aeroexhaust.com.