MGP INGREDIENTS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Vice President of Information Technology
Amel Pasagic serves as the Chief Information Officer at MGP Ingredients, with responsibility for IT strategy and organization. He joined MGP as Vice President, Information Technology, when the company acquired Luxco, Inc., and its affiliated companies in April 2021. He was appointed to the newly created role of Chief Information Officer for MGP in July 2021. In this CIO role, Amel will report directly to Dave Colo, President and CEO and will have responsibility for the Company's overall IT strategy and organization.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Vice President of Finance
Brandon Gall has served as Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer since April 2019. Since joining the Company in 2012, Gall has advanced through a steady progression of leadership roles, including Director of Financial Planning & Analysis, Director of Supply Chain Finance, Director of Business Development and most recently, Corporate Controller.
Prior to joining MGP, Mr. Gall had worked for Errand Solutions, Chicago, as director of finance and human resources. He also served as a summer associate at GRI, a private equity fund located in Baltimore, Md., in 2010. There he led efforts in identifying, evaluating and executing new investments and monitoring existing portfolio companies' performance.
From 2005 to 2010, Mr. Gall was employed by Credit Suisse Securities in Chicago, where he served in various analyst and associate roles. At Credit Suisse he earned numerous securities licenses including the Series 7, Series 63, and Series 66 licenses.
Mr. Gall holds a bachelor's degree of business administration from Miami University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He is also a certified CPA.
Curtis Landherr - Chief Legal Officer, Secretary, VP
Job Titles:
- Chief Legal Officer
- Corporate Secretary
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Vice President
- Contributor
Curtis Landherr is Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at MGP Ingredients, Inc., where he has led the legal department since joining the company in October 2022.
In his over 25 years as a lawyer, Mr. Landherr has enjoyed a wide-ranging career. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and began his legal career at a litigation firm in Kansas City, Mo., where he specialized in product liability defense and other commercial litigation. Feeling the draw of a hands-on business practice, he shifted to an in-house legal career and has held senior corporate counsel roles for large, multi-national corporations, including seven years with Olathe, Kan.-based Garmin, where he provided legal support for the aviation group. He also served as SVP & General Counsel for Cirrus Aircraft in Duluth, Minnesota, beginning in 2014, where he created, managed and grew the company's first internal legal department.
Mr. Landherr has been an active contributor to the corporate legal profession and served as the President of the Mid-America Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel in 2007.
He also is active in the community. Mr. Landherr proudly served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City for five years, including a term as Board President, before moving to Duluth. In 2020, he completed three years' service as a board member of the Zeitgeist Foundation in Duluth.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- President of Branded Spirits and COO
David Bratcher serves as President of Branded Spirits at MGP. He joined MGP following the Company's April 2021 acquisition of Luxco, Inc. Luxco now operates as MGP's Brands Division. In July 2021 he was appointed to the role of Chief Operating Officer for MGP. In this COO role, David will continue to report directly to Dave Colo, President and CEO, and will assist Colo with the management of the overall MGP business.
As President of Branded Spirits, David oversees the Company's extensive and award-winning spirits portfolio that includes numerous well-known brands from its six distilleries. Prior to the 2021 merger, David served in several leadership roles at Luxco since his hire in 1998 as Director of Operations. He most recently served as President of Luxco, a title he held since 2013.
Before joining Luxco, David served in financial and operational roles for a number of consumer product companies, including serving five years as Controller and then Director of Operations for the international spirits company Allied Domecq, the second-largest spirits company in the world at the time.
David received his bachelor's degree in business administration and management from the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas. He earned his master's degree in business administration and his doctorate in management and business administration from Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri.
David Colo - CEO, COO, President
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Chief Operating Officer
- Director
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- President
- Member of the MGP Board of Directors
Mr. Colo joined MGP as president and chief operating officer in late March 2020 as part of the succession plan for former Chief Executive Officer Gus Griffin's retirement. Mr. Colo, a member of the MGP board of directors since 2015, assumed the role of president and chief executive officer on June 1, 2020.
He has more than 30 years of leadership experience in general management, operations and supply chain management within the food industry.
Mr. Colo has been a director since August 2015. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of SunOpta, Inc., Toronto, from February 2017 to February 2019. He had been Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Diamond Foods, Inc., San Francisco, since June 2013 and was Executive Vice President of Global Operations and Supply Chain at Diamond Foods for a year prior to that.
Before joining Diamond Foods, Mr. Colo spent approximately three years as an independent industry consultant, focusing on organizational optimization and planning. From 2005 to 2009, he held leadership positions in the consumer products division of ConAgra Foods, Inc., including roles as Senior Vice President of Sales and Operations Planning, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Manufacturing and Senior Vice President of Operations. From 2003 to 2005, he served as President of ConAgra Food Ingredients.
Mr. Colo had previously served for several years with Nestle-Purina Pet Care Company in roles of increasing responsibility, including Vice President of Supply for the company's Golden Products Division, and Vice President of Store Brands and Venture Development. He also served for two years as President of the American Dehydrated Onion and Garlic Association.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Quality and Compliance
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Mr. Lux joined the board June 2021. He served in leadership roles at Luxco, Inc., a leading branded beverage and alcohol company, from 1991 until March 2021, including as President and then later as Chairman & CEO, from 2005 until March 2021, before it was acquired by MGP on April 1, 2021. He also served as Chairman and CEO of Luxco-affiliated companies Limestone Branch Distillery, LLC, and Lux Row Distillers LLC, before the acquisition. During his tenure with Luxco, Mr. Lux was active in industry organizations including the American Distilled Products Association; The National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (Industry Advisory Committee) and The Kentucky Distillers Association.
He is a member of The St. Louis Regional Business Council (RBC). Donn's philanthropic activities include serving on the boards of Social Venture Partners (RBC), the University City Children's Center, The Michele & Donn Lux Charitable Foundation, The Legacy Ice Foundation, the St. Louis Blues for Kids Foundation and serving as a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight Central Wing and the Veteran's Airlift Command.
Job Titles:
- Chief Human Resources Officer
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Vice President
Erika Lapish serves as the Chief Human Resources Officer at MGP Ingredients, with responsibility for the human resources strategy and implementation company wide. She joined MGP as Vice President, Human Resources, in May 2021. She brings more than 20 years in global HR management at manufacturing and healthcare organizations.
Skilled in process improvement and change management, Ms. Lapish has guided the integration and significant scale-up of multiple workforces resulting from organic new-business growth and mergers-and-acquisitions. Her expertise includes leadership development, succession planning and organizational design as well as employee relations and negotiating collective bargaining agreements.
Most recently, she was Vice President of Human Resources for R1 RCM - Central Operations. She held a similar role with Benteler Automotive after serving as Director of Employee Relations and Talent Management at Masco Corporation. Prior, she spent ten years with United Technologies Corporation in roles of increasing responsibility across their Military and Commercial segments, with both domestic and international leadership assignments.
Ms. Lapish is an Emerging Leader Graduate of the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. She attended Michigan State University, where she received a Master of Science degree in Labor and Industrial Relations, Human Resources; and a Bachelor of Science in Business and Environmental Studies.
Job Titles:
- Marketing Director
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Vice President of Marketing
Fletcher Buchman is Vice President of Marketing at MGP Ingredients. He joined the company with the April 2021 acquisition of Luxco, Inc., where he served as Marketing Director beginning in 2018. Mr. Buchman assumed his new role leading marketing for MGP's Branded Spirits, Sourced Alcohol and Ingredient Solutions segments in October 2021.
As Marketing Director, Mr. Buchman oversaw the entire Luxco portfolio of brands including Ezra Brooks, Rebel, Yellowstone, El Mayor, Everclear Grain Alcohol, Saint Brendan's and The Quiet Man Irish Whiskey. He was recruited in 2014 as Brand Manager to lead strategic development and execution of brand positioning and communication for Luxco's whiskey brands. In that role, he launched 13 brands.
Prior, he spent more than a decade with Anheuser-Busch InBev, beginning in the Field Media Group as an account executive managing local media buying for Anheuser-Busch wholesalers in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. He later was promoted to manager of media planning, working directly with brand marketing teams, and then promoted to manager of national print and digital media for the Anheuser-Busch portfolio in North America. Ultimately, he was promoted to associate brand manager for the Shock Top brand.
Before his work in the beverage alcohol industry, Mr. Buchman was a media planner and buyer for corporate and political clients. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Maryland in College Park.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
- Member of Human Resources / Compensation Committee
Ms. Seaberg has been Chairman of the Board since December 2014 and a Board member since 2009. She is a member of the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee. Karen serves on the Heartland chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Kansas City Chapter of Women Corporate Directors. She has been an executive travel agent and minority owner of Travel Center of Atchison for 31 years.
Ms. Seaberg is active in civic affairs at both the local and national level. She was instrumental in the creation of a $4.2 million Riverfront Park in Atchison, Kansas, in 2004 and was the Kansas Governor's Chair for the national Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration in 2002-2006, bringing one of 15 national events to Atchison, Leavenworth and Kansas City in 2004. She also served on the Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Foundation Board, a national not-for-profit based in Great Falls, Montana, from 2003 to 2007 and was its president from 2007 to 2008. Karen has been the Chair of the annual Amelia Earhart Festival since 1997, which brings over 30,000 people to Atchison every year in July.
Ms. Seaberg served on the Atchison Hospital Board from 1990 to 2004, and presently serves as Vice President on the Board of the Cray Medical Research Organization at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas. In addition, she is a Board member of the national Lewis & Clark Trust and Chair of the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation. In 2015 she was the recipient of the Hall of Fame award from the Atchison Area Chamber of Commerce and the Vision of Excellence award from the Santa Fe Depot Trustees in Atchison.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
- Member of Human Resources / Compensation Committee
Mr. Rauckman joined the board in June 2021. He is a financial consultant at Rauckman Advisors, LLC, founded in November 2017. He served as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Garmin Ltd. from January 1999 until December 2014 before taking early retirement. During his tenure at Garmin, he was named CFO of the Year by the Kansas City Business Journal in 2008. He currently serves as a board member and is the Audit Committee Chairman of CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc., a role he has held since May 2016. Mr. Rauckman also is a board member and the audit committee chairman of JE Dunn Construction Group, a role he has held since January 2017, and has served on the board of Tesseract Ventures, LLC, since December 2018.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
- Member of Human Resources / Compensation Committee
Ms. Mingus joined the board in June, 2020. She is a third-generation member of the founding Cray family to serve MGP and the Atchison community. Since 2005, she has been the executive designer and owner of Torpa Design Co., specializing in all facets of graphic design, and interior and exterior design. Ms. Mingus began her graphic design career in 1996 and worked as a designer for public companies, national associations and an advertising agency. In Atchison, she serves as a Trustee for the Evah C. Cray Historical Museum and is a member of the Amelia Earhart Foundation board. Additionally, she is a board member of the Cray Medical Research Organization at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. Ms. Mingus received B.F.A. and B.G.S. degrees from the University of Kansas. She is the daughter of MGP Chairman Karen Seaberg.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Vice President
- Vice President of Distilling Solutions Sales
Mr. Krusemark is well-versed in all aspects of the company's alcohol business. He joined MGP in 2005 as an inside sales and customer service representative and was promoted in 2010 to Inside Sales Manager for food grade and industrial alcohol. When the company acquired the historic former Seagram's distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana in 2011, Mr. Krusemark added brown spirits sales to his responsibilities and was named Alcohol Sales Manager. He was promoted to Alcohol Sales Director in 2021.
Mr. Krusemark received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Kansas State University in 2004 and an MBA
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Vice President of Ingredient Solutions Sales and R & D
- Vice President of Ingredients Sales and Marketing
Michael Buttshaw has served as Vice President of Ingredients Sales and Marketing at MGP since December 2014. He previously spent four years as Vice President of Sales for the ingredient group at Southeastern Mills, Inc., Rome, Georgia. Just prior to that, Mr. Buttshaw was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Penford Food Ingredients, Centennial, Colorado. This followed two years as Vice President of Sales and Business Development-specialty enzymes for DSM Food Specialties, Parsippany, New Jersey. From 1985 to 2008, Mr. Buttshaw was employed with Hormel Foods Corporation, Austin, Minnesota. He began there as a process engineer in quality assurance and later served in a series of technical and management positions at various locations in the U.S. In 1999, he was promoted to National Sales and Marketing Manager for Hormel's specialty products division.
Mr. Buttshaw is an active member of key industry and professional organizations, including the Institute of Food Technologists and Research Chef's Association. He received a bachelor of arts degree in education with an emphasis in mathematics from Gustavas Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota, in 1985, and a MMI in management and marketing from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, Minneapolis, in 2002. He also completed executive training at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in Chicago.
Job Titles:
- Quality Assurance Lab Manager, Atchison, KS Facility
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
- Member of Human Resources / Compensation Committee
- Senior Vice President of Enterprise Finance at Brunswick Corporation
Ms. Clark joined the board in June 2021. Ms. Clark has been the Senior Vice President of Enterprise Finance at Brunswick Corporation, a leading global designer, manufacturer, and marketer of recreational marine products, since May 2022. She served as the Chief Financial Officer of Brunswick Boat Group, a division of Brunswick Corporation, from March 2019 to May 2022. She joined the company in March 2019 after serving as Chief Financial Officer at Lifeway Foods, Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of beverages and dairy products, from August to November 2018. Prior, she served more than two-and-a-half years as the Chief Financial Officer of Coveris North American Food and Consumer Flexibles/Chief Transformation Officer of Coveris Americas, a leading producer of flexible packaging. From 1999 to 2015, she held roles of increasing responsibility at Kraft Foods, ultimately assuming the role of Director of Finance-Grocery Business. From 1997 to 1999, she was a senior auditor with Grant Thornton LLP.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
- Member of Human Resources / Compensation Committee
Ms. Michelson joined the board in June 2022. She is Vice President of Human Resources for CVS Health, an American healthcare company that owns CVS Pharmacy, a retail pharmacy chain; CVS Caremark, a pharmacy benefits manager; and Aetna, a health insurance provider, among other brands. She joined the company in November 2022, after serving as Chief People Officer at AHEAD, a leading provider of enterprise cloud solutions, since March 2022. Prior, she was with United Airlines, where she served as Managing Director of Human Resources beginning in 2019. In this role, she supported more than 35,000 union and M&A employees worldwide. Before joining the airline, Ms. Michelson served five years in increasingly senior HR leadership positions at Molson Coors.
Her career includes several years at Beam Suntory and PepsiCo, where she held leadership roles in a wide range of strategy and finance disciplines. Ms. Michelson was with Beam Global Spirits & Wine from 2010 to 2012, where she ultimately served as Director of Marketing Strategy. From 2005 to 2009, she was Senior Manager of Strategy for the Tropicana Beverages division of PepsiCo, following five years as Director of Strategy, Planning & Analysis for the Chicago Tribune Company. From 1999 to 2000, she worked for Ernst & Young as a manager in its Mergers and Acquisitions practice group.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Vice President of Branded Spirits Sales
Ryan Earey is Vice President of Branded Spirits Sales at MGP Ingredients. He joined the company with the April 2021 acquisition of Luxco, Inc., where he served as Vice President of National Sales, beginning in 2017.
In more than 15 years with Luxco, Mr. Earey held sales positions of increasing responsibility. He was National Sales Manager, including responsibility for sales to Control States, from 2014 to 2017. This followed more than eight years as Division Manager covering the Mid-Atlantic and Eastern Control States.
Before joining Luxco, Mr. Earey was a District Manager at Blue Ridge Wholesale, spending three years as part of the E. & J. Gallo Sales Training/Leadership Development Program.
He received a communications degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a 3-year letterman in baseball and was eventually selected by the San Diego Padres in the 6th round of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Leadership Team
- Vice President of Production and Engineering
Steve Glaser has served as Vice President of Production and Engineering at MGP since October 2015. He possesses over 30 years of executive leadership and senior operations experience. Mr. Glaser joined MGP as Plant Manager of the Company's Atchison, Kansas facility in 2011, and served as Corporate Director of Operations since 2014. Just prior to coming to MGP, he served for three years as President and CEO of Briggs Industries, Charleston, South Carolina, a leading, multi-site international kitchen and bath products business and subsidiary of Ceramicas Industriales S.A., Santiago, Chile. That followed three years as Vice President of operations for the Company.
Mr. Glaser received a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, in 1983. The following year, he earned a master of science degree in industrial engineering at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. He also holds a master of science degree in electrical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Ingredient Solutions R & D
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
- Senior Vice President
- Board Member of Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc
- Member of Human Resources / Compensation Committee
Thomas currently serves as a board member of Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc., a leading broadband and business communications provider. He is a former director of organizations including Tallgrass Energy GP, LLC, the general partner of Tallgrass Energy, LP; CenturyLink; Embarq Corporation; and the United States Telecom Association. He served previously on the Rockhurst University Board of Trustees and The Greater Kansas City Local Investment Commission Board of Trustees.
Mr. Gerke joined the board in June 2021. Thomas Gerke served as the General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer at global consumer tax services provider H&R Block from January 2012 until January 2022 and thereafter served as Senior Vice President until his retirement from H&R Block in September 2022. During parts of his employment with H&R Block, he served in additional roles, including interim Chief Executive Officer and leader of the human resources function. From January to April 2011, Mr. Gerke served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of YRC Worldwide, a Fortune 500 transportation service provider.
He also held executive roles for more than 15 years with various publicly held telecommunications companies, most recently as Executive Vice Chairman of CenturyLink, a Fortune 500 integrated communications business, from July 2009 to December 2010. Prior to that, he was President and CEO at Embarq, then a Fortune 500 integrated communications business, and he held the position of Executive Vice President and General Counsel - Law and External Affairs from May 2006 to December 2007. From October 1994 through May 2006, Mr. Gerke held a number of executive and legal positions with Sprint Corporation, serving as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for more than two years.
Mr. Gerke currently serves as a board member of Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc., a leading broadband and business communications provider. He is a former director of organizations including Tallgrass Energy GP, LLC, the general partner of Tallgrass Energy, LP; CenturyLink; Embarq Corporation; and the United States Telecom Association. He served previously on the Rockhurst University Board of Trustees and The Greater Kansas City Local Investment Commission Board of Trustees.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
- Member of Human Resources / Compensation Committee
Mr. Siwak joined the board in June 2022. He is a founding partner of The Encore Group, a private equity fund focused on the consumer services sector.
Prior, Mr. Siwak served as the President and Chief Business Officer of Ferrero North America and, prior, the Chief Executive Officer of Ferrara Candy Company, a $3 billion confection and snacking organization and a related company of the Ferrero Group. During his tenure he oversaw more than $6 billion in integrations, acquisitions, and divestitures, 20 manufacturing and distribution facilities, more than 7,500 team members, and dozens of globally recognized iconic consumer brands.
Before joining Ferrara, Mr. Siwak was an operating partner at L Catterton Partners, a private equity group dedicated to growing middle market companies and emerging high-growth enterprises. He also was a founding partner of the private equity group Mindseye Group.
Additionally, Mr. Siwak served as President and CEO of TRG Accessories, a multi-million-dollar global luggage, travel gear and accessories company co-founded with his brother, Greg. TRG Accessories included notable consumer brands such as Swiss Army, Timberland and Callaway Golf.
Early in his career, he was a practicing Mergers and Acquisition attorney and made the transition to the consumer goods sector where he held positions in the areas of distribution, operations, sales, marketing, and acquisitions.
A Missouri native, Mr. Siwak received a J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law and a B.S. in economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Job Titles:
- Foodservice Culinary Manager