EMERALD LAKE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Partner
- Executive Chairman of Mission Critical Group
Mr. Curtis is currently the Executive Chairman of Mission Critical Group and serves as an independent director of the S&C Electric Company. He is former CEO of Wencor, an aerospace aftermarket components company, and former Chairman of Munters, a global specialist of air treatment solutions. Mr. Curtis served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), and before that was President and CEO, North America, of Schneider Electric. Mr. Curtis graduated with a BA in History and Economics from Le Moyne College.
EDUCATION
Le Moyne College: B.A.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
Prior to founding Emerald Lake, Mr. Lukas worked in the Private Equity Group at Ares Management for 10 years, where he was a Partner, Investment Committee member, and Co-Head of Industrials leading investments across a broad range of sectors and transaction types.
During his time at Ares, Mr. Lukas served as a member of the Board of Directors of numerous companies including as Chairman of The AZEK Company and as Director of City Ventures, Jacuzzi, and Nortek. Prior to joining Ares, Mr. Lukas was a Managing Director at GSC Group, where he led numerous investments and served as Chairman or Member of nine Boards of Directors. Before GSC, Mr. Lukas served as a Vice President, Private Equity at Thomas Weisel Capital Partners. Prior to that, he worked as an investment professional at CPH, Ltd (Kerry Packer's family office) and at Hellman & Friedman, after starting his finance career within the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Lukas also served in the U.S. Naval Reserve as an Avionics Technician on P-3 Orion Aircraft. Mr. Lukas currently serves on the Boards of Directors of City Ventures, Inno-Pak Holdings, MBO Partners, and US Salt, and is the Chairman of the Board of Pacific Defense. He also serves on the Emeritus Council of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank Board and has served on the Boards of Directors of Electrical Source Holdings and the Los Angeles Division of the March of Dimes.
Mr. Lukas holds an A.B. degree in Government and Economics, Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College.
EDUCATION
Dartmouth College (A.B.), Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Partner
Mr. Schimeck possesses a range of executive experience in industrial and environmental services, having served in various senior management roles in a career spanning 30 years. His operational expertise includes testing and inspection, textile manufacturing, scaffolding, insulation, painting, demolition, hazardous waste transportation, environmental remediation, and nuclear facility decontamination and decommissioning, amongst other industrial specialties.
Mr. Schimeck was the CEO of Versa Integrity Group, a provider of testing, inspection, and certification services, where he successfully led operational improvements through a sale to a strategic buyer in 2022. Previously, he served as a director and CEO of Optimer Brands, a high-performance textile manufacturer. He implemented a new strategic plan and branding strategy which precipitated a sale to a strategic buyer in 2016. Prior to Optimer brands, Mr. Schimeck partnered with Sterling Partners and Atlantic Industrial Services in various management roles to buy and build a provider of scaffolding, insulation, and painting services.
Mr. Schimeck currently serves on the Boards of Directors for Winter Services, Inc., a provider of snow removal and landscaping services, and Conco Industries, a provider of specialized industrial cleaning services. He previously served on the Board of Directors for Brace Industrial Group.
Mr. Schimeck holds a BA degree in Economics from Alma College, where he serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
EDUCATION
Alma College: B.A.
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Partner
- Chairman of the Board of Electrical Components International
Mr. Grimm is Chairman of the Board of Electrical Components International. He also serves as a director of GST AutoLeather, Mojio, and Blue Bird Corporation. Mr. Grimm founded and led Grede Holdings, a supplier of safety-critical chassis, suspension, and drivetrain components, which grew to over $1 billion in sales.
He was formerly the President and COO of Metaldyne Performance Group, a $3 billion tier 1 automotive supplier with 60 manufacturing plants in 13 countries and 12,000 employees. He was also previously Chairman of the Board of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA). Mr. Grimm holds a BA from Hiram College and an MBA from University of Detroit Mercy.
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Partner
- Chairman of the Azek Company
Mr. Hendrickson brings a wealth of global executive leadership experience having served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Valspar Corporation (formerly NYSE: VAL), a global paint and coatings manufacturer, from 2011 to 2017, and as President & COO from 2008 to 2011.
Beginning in 2001, Mr. Hendrickson held other progressively senior leadership roles with Valspar, including positions with responsibility for its Asia Pacific operations. He retired from Valspar following its successful sale to Sherwin Williams in 2017. Prior to Valspar, he served for 11 years in the U.S. Navy as a surface warfare officer, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
Mr. Hendrickson currently serves as Chair of The Azek Company (NYSE: AZEK), and as Board director for Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII), a global manufacturer of off-road vehicles, and Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT), a leading specialty measurement company serving the life, materials and food sciences.
Mr. Hendrickson holds a BA degree in Psychology from the University of Connecticut and a Masters degree in Business Administration from Harvard University.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
Prior to joining Emerald Lake, Ms. Kim was a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions team in the Industrials group at Perella Weinberg Partners.
Prior to Perella Weinberg Partners, Ms. Kim worked as a Business Valuation Analyst in the Valuation Advisory Services group at Duff & Phelps, covering various sectors including media & entertainment, restaurants, and leisure.
Ms. Kim holds a B.A. in International Business from University of California, San Diego.
EDUCATION
University of California, San Diego (B.A.)
Job Titles:
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Operating Partner
Prior to co-founding Emerald Lake, Mr. Hibberd worked at Ares Management as an Executive Advisor in the electrical, distribution, and industrial sectors. Mr. Hibberd brings over 30 years of operations, sales, M&A and international experience to Emerald Lake.
Prior to Ares, Mr. Hibberd was the CEO of Gexpro, a $1.5bn profit center within Rexel, a $14bn electrical distributor owned by Clayton Dubilier & Rice. Gexpro was formerly a division of GE, where Mr. Hibberd spent twenty years earning successive promotions in GE Energy (power generation), GE Industrial (power control) and GE Supply (distribution of electrical products). Mr. Hibberd was the President of Asia Pacific and GE Supply, VP of Sales at GE Industrial Solutions, Global Industrial Sales Director at GE Energy Services, and President of GE Automation. He was also the M&A Director at Rexel N.A. and GE Automation. Mr. Hibberd has completed over 25 successful acquisitions in his career and has consulted for Clayton Dubilier & Rice and Warbug Pincus.
Mr. Hibberd serves on the Board of Directors of City Ventures. He was formerly Chairman of the Board of Electrical Source Holdings and served on the Board of Directors of Huttig Building Products (NSDQ: HBP). Mr. Hibberd holds a BS degree in Finance and a minor in Economics from San Jose State University. He has completed executive education courses from Stanford University and from IMD in Switzerland.
EDUCATION
San Jose State University: B.S. Finance & Economics
Job Titles:
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Principal
Prior to joining Emerald Lake, Mr. DeJean was a Vice President at the Audax Group, an established middle market private equity firm focused on the buy-and-build strategy.
He was involved in numerous investments across multiple sectors, including industrials, aerospace & defense, transportation & logistics, and healthcare. Prior to Audax, Mr. DeJean was a member of the investment team at Water Street Healthcare Partners where he helped execute investments in middle market healthcare businesses and assisted in the firm's third fund raise. Prior to Water Street, Mr. DeJean worked in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs where he supported large healthcare clients in M&A transactions and corporate finance activities. Mr. DeJean currently serves on the Boards of Directors of MBO Partners, Pacific Defense, and US Salt. He formerly served on the Board of Directors of Electrical Source Holdings.
Mr. DeJean holds a B.S. from Indiana University in Business with Honors and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
EDUCATION
Indiana University (B.S.)
Northwestern University (MBA)
Job Titles:
- Controller
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
Prior to joining Emerald Lake, Ms. Gray was a Manager at SS&C Technologies, where she was part of the fund administration team.
Prior to that, Ms. Gray held accounting positions at Fortress Investment Group and fund administration positions at JP Morgan. Ms. Gray trained as an auditor in financial services at EY in New York, and prior to that, Deloitte in Scotland.
Ms. Gray holds a Bachelor of Accountancy degree with Honors from the University of Glasgow, and a CA qualification from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.
EDUCATION
University of Glasgow (BAcc)
ICAS Chartered Accountant (CA)
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
Prior to joining Emerald Lake, Mr. McPherson was a member of the Corporate Advisory and Mergers & Acquisitions team at Greenhill & Co.
Prior to Greenhill, Mr. McPherson worked in the Corporate Development team and as a Software Engineer at Broadcom.
Mr. McPherson holds a B.A. in Computer Science and Finance from Princeton University.
EDUCATION
Princeton University (B.A.)
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Office Manager
Prior to joining Emerald Lake, Ms. Ventre was an executive assistant at Lion Capital and Ares Management, and a roadshow coordinator at UBS and AIG. Ms. Ventre holds a B.A. in English from Indiana University....
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Partner
Mr. Evans was formerly the President and CEO of The Waddington Group, a global manufacturer and marketer of packaging and disposables serving the foodservice, bakery, deli, produce and confectionery markets. FORMER FIRMS The Waddington Group...
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Partner
Mr. Frier is an experienced executive and corporate board member in the industrial, consumer, retail, information services and technology sectors. As a successful EVP and CFO of several public and private companies, he has developed a track record of applying financial and general management expertise across different industries and business models.
Mr. Frier was EVP and CFO of Chiquita Brands (formerly NYSE: CQB), with responsibility for all aspects of the company's worldwide financial operations as well leading two business units. In this role, he helped execute a strategy that more than doubled EBITDA and grew share price by over 80% before leading the company through the process of responding to a hostile takeover bid. Prior to Chiquita, he was EVP, CFO and Board Director of Catalina Marketing (formerly NYSE: POS), a global leader in consumer marketing and data analytics for CPG retailers and brands, which was a public company prior to being taken private by Hellman & Friedman. Prior to Catalina, Mr. Frier held other CFO roles at Mattress Discounters (owned by Bain Capital), Concept Five Technologies, and Caliber Learning Network (former NASDAQ: CLBR).
Since retiring from full time executive roles, Mr Frier has consulted on behalf of several leading private equity firms, including Ares Management and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. He currently serves as Chairman of US Salt, Vice-Chair and Audit Chair of Trivium Packaging, and as a Board member of WhiteHorse Finance (NASDAQ: WHF). He has previously served as Chair of Shearer's Foods and Board member of Affinion Holdings.
Mr. Frier holds a BS degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and an MBA degree from Claremont Graduate University.
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Partner
Mr. Wagoner retired from General Motors Corporation in 2009 after a 32-year career. He served as Chairman and CEO of GM from 2003 through 2009, before which he had been President and CEO since 2000. His many other senior leadership positions at GM included Executive Vice President, President of North American Operations, CFO and head of worldwide purchasing among others.
He is currently Chairman of the Board of Invesco , and a Board Director of ChargePoint, Excelitas Technologies, and Graham Holdings. He was formerly Chairman of the Board of Dematic Holdings and a Board Director of Rivian Auto, Aleris, GMAC and Hughes Electronics. In addition, he advises a number of early stage companies, primarily in the automotive technology space.
Mr. Wagoner serves on the Boards of Virginia Commonwealth University, the Duke University Health System, and the Duke Kunshan University Advisory Board, which he Chairs. He is a Trustee Emeritus of Duke University (where he previously served as Chair of the Board of Trustees), an Honorary Director of Catalyst (nonprofit with mission to accelerate progress for women through workplace inclusion), and an honorary member of the Mayor of Shanghai's International Business Leaders Advisory Council.
Mr. Wagoner is a graduate of Duke University and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Partner
Prior to joining Emerald Lake, Mr. Hammond worked at the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP) for 15 years, where he was a Managing Director, member of the Total Fund and Equities investing committees, and a senior member of the direct private equity team before becoming Global Group head of High Conviction Equities.
In his role leading High Conviction Equities, Mr. Hammond was responsible for a team of approximately 40 professionals across Toronto, London and Hong Kong managing an active equities portfolio targeted at $10-15 billion. For over a dozen years preceding this, Mr. Hammond was part of the Private Capital team where he led the Industrials and Business Services efforts and served as Chair or member of the board of over ten portfolio companies. During this time Mr. Hammond was focused on majority and shared control direct deals and played a lead role in several of OTPP's most successful private investments, including The Azek Company (a co-control investment alongside Ares Management), Dematic, Alliance Laundry, and Infiltrator Water Technologies, among others. Prior to joining OTPP, he worked in the investment banking division of Credit Suisse, as well as the investment banking and private equity departments of Merrill Lynch in Toronto and London, England. Mr. Hammond currently serves on the Boards of Directors of MBO Partners and US Salt.
Mr. Hammond holds a B.S. degree in Business Management and Applied Economics from Cornell University where he was a Presidential Scholar and is a CFA charterholder.
EDUCATION
Cornell University (B.S.), Presidential Scholar
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Vice President of the Investment & Internal Team
Prior to joining Emerald Lake, Mr. Bhat was a member of the investment team at Metalmark Capital, a middle-market private equity firm.
He was involved in numerous investments across multiple sectors, including industrials, natural resources, and healthcare. Prior to Metalmark, Mr. Bhat worked at UBS within the Investment Banking Division in their Financial Sponsors & Leveraged Finance group.
Mr. Bhat holds a B.S.B.A. in Finance from Georgetown University.
EDUCATION
Georgetown University (B.S.B.A.)
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Partner
Ms. Docherty is the former CEO of Canyon Ranch, a leading global wellness experience and resort company. She was formerly the President and Managing Director of Chevrolet/Cadillac Europe and just prior the Vice President of International Operations, Sales, Marketing and Aftersales in China at General Motors. Ms. Docherty is an independent board director at Brink's (NYSE: BCO).
EDUCATION
University of Windsor: B.A. in Economics, B.C. in Marketing and Advertising
Stanford University Graduate School of Business: M.S. in Business Administration and Management
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Member of the Investment & Internal Team
- Partner
- Co - Founder of the Hawksbill Group
Mr. Lee possesses a mix of commercial and operational skills developed over a successful career spanning over 40 years at General Motors. Starting as a student intern in 1969 he held progressively senior roles culminating in being Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing, President of GM International Operations, and Chairman of GM China.
In his role as Chairman, GM China, he was responsible for GM's operations in the company's largest market. During his tenure he led the team that helped make GM China a significant contributor to the earning power of GM, doubling the repatriated profits from the region and growing GM's market share from 9% to 15%. Before taking on these roles, Mr. Lee served as President, GM International Operations and Executive Vice President, Global Manufacturing, with responsibility for over 100 countries and nearly 40% of the vehicles sold by GM.
After retiring from GM, Mr. Lee became a co-founder of the Hawksbill Group, a diversified business and communications consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. In addition, he currently serves as Chair of the Board of wejo Ltd and Motus Integrated Technologies, and is a member of the board of East Penn Manufacturing. He previously served as a board member for The Azek Company (fka CPG International), Exal Corporation, and Alliance Laundry Systems.
Mr. Lee holds a BS degree in Manufacturing Engineering from the General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) and a MS degree in Business Administration from Purdue University.