CONTINENTAL BATTERY SYSTEMS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- Vice President, Operations, Bright Way Group
Andrew oversees operations for both the Bright Way and Bridgeview subsidiaries, encompassing the full spectrum of both operations and sales efforts as well as executing on strategic go-to-market initiatives.
Andrew has been with Continental for 9 years, and before his work with Bright Way Group, he led the acquisitions team for Continental and, under his leadership, the department expanded rapidly. He plans to bring that same enthusiasm to his work within Bright Way Group to drive those SLA, powersport, and e-commerce markets to new heights.
Before joining Continental, Andrew spent nearly 10 years managing various locations for two different auto parts wholesalers in New Mexico and Colorado. During that time, he was a key driver for both companies establishing their footprint in the automotive and commercial battery marketplaces.
Andrew is based in Dallas, and at home, what he's most proud of is raising his daughter.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board of Directors
Brad Streelman serves as an integral part of creating the future vision of Continental Battery Systems after the merger of Battery Systems and Continental Battery into one organization. He ensures that Continental Battery Systems continues to provide opportunities for employees and enhance their ability to better serve and partner with customers as one company, one vision, one team.
Brad is the former CEO of Battery Systems and grew the company from one location in Long Beach, California to one with over 100 locations providing service to customers across the country.
Brian oversees the accounting function of Continental Battery Systems, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, and all general accounting inquiries. He leads the accounting team in closing the books each month and preparing financial statements each period. Brian aims to create an accounting department brand of knowledge, expertise, and reliability. His team consistently seeks out opportunities to improve efficiencies through process improvements or automation to support the field on a larger scale.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Supply Chain
David Meeks leads supply chain operations and aims to build a resilient and efficient supply chain network that delivers exceptional customer service. He is working to develop a supply chain team that will be innovative, possess a culture that drives continuous improvement, and will challenge teams to think beyond what's possible.
David has more than 25 years of experience in Wholesale Distribution, including 10 years in Sales and Sales Management. He has extensive experience in leading supply chain and logistics for regional and national distributors, including network flow optimization as well as distribution center design, build, automation, and start-up. He has also led ERP and Warehouse Management System implementations nationally and internationally. Before Continental, he served as COO and President at a large regional electrical distributor.
David currently resides in Dallas with his wife of 30 years, Tracie. In his free time David, who is a licensed pilot, enjoys flying, sailing, and fishing. He has two children, Justin and Jennifer, and two grandchildren. Justin is an airline pilot for American Airlines and lives in Houston with his wife and two daughters. Jennifer is a senior project manager for a global pharmaceutical research firm and lives in Colorado with her husband and two dogs.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
Jim Kitchen leads the people, processes, and systems within the IT department as well as the broader organization to deliver secure, scalable technology solutions that support our team members and customers. He aims to make CBS a technological leader in the battery business, emphasizing mobility, speed, and continuous user experience improvement.
Jim started his career as a consultant for businesses who were looking to implement ERP systems or build out e-commerce platforms. He later joined Fossil and built their global e-commerce business to $85m across 24 websites in 11 countries and 8 languages. He joined Continental in 2014 and was pivotal in ensuring the IT infrastructure kept up with the rapid growth of the company.
Jim lives just outside of Dallas with his wife Dru and their teenage son and daughter.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing
John Rauco leads all aspects of national and local sales, marketing, customer experience, pricing, and retail. He also leads the development of the sales operations for the organization. John aims to turn Continental Battery Systems into a household name and the leader in aftermarket batteries and accessories with a global presence.
John has more than 20 years of experience in the automotive and HD aftermarket industry. Prior to joining Continental more than two years ago, he worked for five years at FleetPride as VP/GM of National Accounts and RVP of Sales and Operations. He also has 10 years of experience at Advance Auto Parts as a regional manager and on the National Accounts team where he was instrumental in creating a leading National Accounts business.
John resides in Dallas where he lives with his wife and two kids, 10-year-old Ryder and 7-year-old Reagan. He enjoys playing golf and is involved in coaching multiple youth sports teams in his community. He played D2 soccer at Gwynedd Mercy University in Philadelphia, where he is originally from, and is still an avid Philadelphia sports fan.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Transportation
Jonathan Jennings manages the East Coast operations teams for Continental Battery Systems. He focuses on creating efficient operations practices and improving the distribution network. He aims for his team to be flexible, safe, operationally excellent, and a partner to customers and support services groups throughout the country.
Jonathan leads his team to prioritize improvement in overall skills and knowledge to better support team members and our customer base.
Joe leads the Continental Battery Systems commercial business, including Sales & Marketing, Pricing, Customer Experience, Branch Operations, Distribution, Supply Chain, and Procurement teams.
"Continental Battery Systems is on a path to becoming the leading North American battery distributor. With 225+ branches and high market density across the broader United States market, we have a superior distribution network that is well positioned for growth. We focus deeply on generating customer value and strive to be a leader in product selection and fill rates."
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Imports / Exports
Juan Sierra extends Continental Battery Systems' footprint beyond our borders through global business development. He works with our customers abroad to expand current distribution and also to develop business in other countries. Juan also drives CBS's commitment to a greener planet by working with our offshore supply partners on recycling opportunities. He also ensures CBS has the most efficient import/export logistics division to keep our logistics costs lower than our competitors. Juan will be celebrating one year with Continental Battery Systems in November 2022.
Before joining CBS, Juan was the president of Power & Energy USA (P&E), Superior Logistics International (SLI), and GTO Auto Trade Inc. Through his leadership, P&E developed distribution markets for top-quality manufacturers from the United States, Colombia, Turkey, and Mexico, introducing their products to the new markets and providing logistics services to their customers' doors. He has been in the battery business for over 20 years, distributing batteries and offering multimodal logistics services in more than 30 countries throughout North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Middle East.
Juan currently works out of Miami and has a bachelor's degree in finance and a master's degree in Business Administration from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Colombia. He is a wine enthusiast, and for the last 7 years, he has been learning about wines from Europe, especially from Spain and Italy.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Operations
Keith Tougas leads the operations team nationwide to work cross-functionally within all company departments and ensure smooth integration of operations procedures. He focuses on driving the most important KPIs and recognizing team members for their great successes and growth. Keith aims to make Continental Battery Systems the safest, most efficient, and most customer-centric company in the industry.
Keith has been in the battery industry for 13 years, first with Battery Systems Inc. and now with Continental Battery Systems. At Battery Systems Inc., he ran the Pacific Northwest Region as the Regional Manager, overseeing the Battery Systems, North American Battery Systems, and Battery X-Change business units. In 2019, he became the Vice President at Battery Systems Inc. and oversaw Sales, Operations, and Supply Chain. Prior to Battery Systems Inc., Keith was a Division Manager for UPS Operations, overseeing 1,000 employees in Southern California.
Keith lives with his wife and three boys-11, 8, and 5-who are all heavily involved in sports.
Rick Campbell leads human resources, environmental health and safety, communications, and career and organizational development. He aims to create an amazing employee experience for all Continental Battery Systems team members. As former Chief Integration Officer for Continental Battery Systems and former president of Battery Systems Inc., Rick has contributed heavily to the culture, structure, and forward movement of the company.
Rick currently resides in Dallas near his three sons and four grandchildren. While he is a Texan now, Rick is originally from Pennsylvania and is an avid Pittsburgh sports fan (yes, even the Pirates!).
Rob leads the Continental Support Center functions consisting of Finance, Accounting, Tax, and IT, as well as M&A and integrations. He is involved in key technical and financial aspects of HR programs and policies as well as employee experience improvements.
In his prior role, Rob was hired by Crestview Partners when it acquired Hornblower in early 2018. He immediately took on the CFO role. He built out the leadership team and through that journey the company more than doubled in size to nearly $1.5bn in revenue as a leading tour, travel, and hospitality operator in over 100 countries. In addition to the core CFO responsibilities, he lead the HR, IT, and M&A/integration functions, as a consolidated Shared Services team that supported the rapid growth of the organization. Prior to this, he had several CFO roles in PE-backed organizations.
Rob began his career as an officer in the US Marine Corps and upon concluding his military service, went to business school concentrating in finance and accounting. His first role after business school was in the investment banking group of Wells Fargo where he focused on middle market transactions. He then spent several years in the M&A advisory practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) before steering his career into corporate finance and CFO roles.
He is a graduate of the US Merchant Marine Academy, earning dual B.S. degrees in engineering and logistics, and holds an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He and his wife Kristen have two children, Andrew (14) and Lila (12), and two crazy Weimaraners.
Job Titles:
- Regional Vice President of Operations, Central
Scott Hunton manages the operations and sales teams for the Continental Battery Systems central region. He aims to expand the customer base with competitive programs and achieve the highest level of customer service in every branch.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Human Resources
Todd Scott leads all HR recruiting, developing, organizing, and retaining, which also includes total compensation concepts, communication, safety, diversity, and cultural development. He focuses on aligning company strategy with maximizing the satisfaction of team members, building cultures of excellence, and generating forward momentum in their lives.
Zef Leon leads internal and external financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting, and financial analysis to improve business performance. He aims to build a world-class, highly profitable organization that is centered on superior customer service and fulfilled employees as the cornerstone of the business. He is focused on developing a best-in-class finance department to support the growing needs of Continental Battery Systems and its shareholders.
Zef has over 20 years of experience in finance and operations roles for distribution, logistics, transportation, and retail companies as well as experience in leading and supporting operational and financial turnarounds, M&A and go-to-market processes, banking relationships, and business intelligence and analytics.
Zef currently lives in Dallas with his wife and two sons, 12 and 15 years old, and is the proud owner of the sweetest 150-lb dog! He is an avid sports fan and spends his weekends driving his kids from game to game.
Zef Leon leads internal and external financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting, and financial analysis to improve business performance. He aims to build a world-class, highly profitable organization that is centered on superior customer service and fulfilled employees as the cornerstone of the business. He is focused on developing a best-in-class finance department to support the growing needs of Continental Battery Systems and its shareholders.
Zef has over 20 years of experience in finance and operations roles for distribution, logistics, transportation, and retail companies as well as experience in leading and supporting operational and financial turnarounds, M&A and go-to-market processes, banking relationships, and business intelligence and analytics.
Zef currently lives in Dallas with his wife and two sons, 12 and 15 years old, and is the proud owner of the sweetest 150-lb dog! He is an avid sports fan and spends his weekends driving his kids from game to game.