Mike Barnaba was a passionate medical salesperson and, later, a successful entrepreneur in the roofing business. “[H]e lived each and every day to its fullest,” says Kevin Davis, a medical products salesperson most recently with Propper Manufacturing – and Barnaba’s brother-in-law. “He never made excuses for yesterday or thought about tomorrow.” Barnaba died unexpectedly in November.
Born in 1960, Barnaba was raised in Baltimore County, Md. His father, Vince Barnaba, began his career in 1955 at Murray-Baumgartner Surgical Instrument Co., Baltimore, as that company’s first physician salesman, says Davis. When Murray-Baumgartner was acquired by Healthco, Vince Barnaba was named branch sales manager until the company was acquired by Foster Medical (now McKesson Medical-Surgical), at which point he was promoted to president of Foster/Murray-Baumgartner. Vince Barnaba retired in 1993, and he and wife, Pat, live in Towson, Md.
Customers came first
Mike Barnaba began his medical sales career at Foster/Murray-Baumgartner, where he worked in customer service from 1980 to 1984, says Davis. “My first impressions of Mike were very positive. I was amazed at how he accepted responsibility and always put his customers’ needs first, especially at his young age. He also had his own unique way of calming down even the most irate customer. I could tell by his passion to succeed that he was there to learn as much as possible, so he could start his career in medical sales.”
Barnaba left to take a position with Clay Adams (now Becton Dickinson). “He was instrumental in the success of Clay Adams’ new product launch of their QBC blood analyzer, and was among the company’s top salespeople,” says Davis.
In 1988, he and his older brother, Rick Barnaba, created Barnaba Associates, an independent rep firm. (Rick continues to work for GE Healthcare today.) In 1993, Mike and Rick joined Southern Sales Associates, an independent rep firm founded by Chris Kelly and Brian Taylor, who later founded Repertoire magazine.
“I first met Mike Barnaba when he was a high school kid working in the warehouse at Murray-Baumgartner,” says Taylor.
“Mike was such a personable young guy – always with a big smile on his face,” he continues. “He was the type of guy who made you want to be around him. It was years later that we added the ‘Barnaba Boys,’ as we called them, to our team at Southern Sales Associates. They covered the mid-Atlantic states for our rep group.
“Mike was very knowledgeable about the products, having grown up in the business and being grounded via his warehouse work, picking orders and such. He worked hard, and was a real professional in his approach to selling. He was a very good salesman.”
In 1995, after 15 years in medical sales, Barnaba went to work for a friend of his from high school in the roofing business, explains Davis. Before long, he was named president of National Roofing Co. in Baltimore. He played a major role in rehabbing structures following damaging Atlantic and Gulf State hurricanes in 2004 and 2005. “He was also proud to have replaced the roof on the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA Kennedy Space Center,” says Davis. In 2010, he left National Roofing and partnered with business contacts to form Roofing and Sustainable Systems in Baltimore. He served as the company’s president until his death.
“Mike used his experience in medical sales to make a successful transition into the roofing business,” says Davis. “He had an uncanny ability to think outside the box and go after contracts most roofing companies would ignore. His true specialty was estimating and negotiating government roofing maintenance contracts. He was old school when it came to contract negotiations, and believed a handshake truly meant something.”
Called from Sunday dinner
Davis recalls two incidents that reflect Barnaba’s commitment to serving his customers, even at a very young age.
In 1978, when Barnaba was a high-school senior, working part-time in the warehouse at Murray-Baumgartner, a blizzard struck the Baltimore region, making travel next to impossible, Davis says. “One of the customer service reps had a Jeep, and he picked up Mike and me and we got to work. Our main concern was to ensure that the hospitals that purchased IV solutions from us had enough inventory to get through the storm. We called our accounts, filled their orders and contacted the Maryland National Guard, who volunteered to deliver the products to the respective hospitals.”
Nine years later, “we were having a usual Sunday dinner at Vince’s house when Vince got a call from the purchasing manager at Franklin Square Hospital,” Davis continues. An Amtrak train had collided with a CSX freight train in Chase, Md., and the injured were being routed to Franklin Square. “Vince, Michael and I drove to the warehouse, loaded our cars with any products we deemed necessary for the possible variety of injuries they would be treating, and delivered them to the hospital before the first victim even arrived.”
Barnaba leaves behind his wife, Jane; and daughters Lauren, Lindsey and Lisa. His younger brother, Tom, works for biotechnology firm NanoEnTek Inc.
“Mike will be missed by his family and his many friends,” says Taylor. “He was a bright light that left us way too soon.”
My brother Mike loved to please people. Whether it was his passion for food, friends or work he strived to make people happy.