Jeffrey M. Nodland President and Chief Executive Officer
Jeff Nodland was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of KIK Custom Products on February 11, 2008. Prior to the appointment, Mr. Nodland was President of the Coatings and Inks Division of Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc., a former unit of Eastman Chemical. He also served as President and COO of Resolution Performance Products and spent 10 years in senior executive roles with The Valspar Corporation. Mr. Nodland holds an MBA from the College of St. Thomas and a BA, Business Administration, from Augsburg College.
Ben W. Kaak EVP, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Ben Kaak was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of KIK Custom Products on February 11, 2008. Prior to joining KIK, Mr. Kaak was a Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers where he led the technology practice and most recently led the firm’s International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) initiatives. Mr. Kaak has also held positions as Executive Vice President, Divisional Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for a publicly traded company providing sales and marketing research, promotions, and telecom services; and Head of Technology Banking for Dundee Securities Corporation of Toronto. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds a BA in Economics from the University of Waterloo.
Nick E. Whitley President, Custom Division
Nick Whitley joined KIK on October 22, 2007, following 8 years in successively more senior roles at Cott Beverages Ltd. in the UK, most recently as Cott Corporation's Area Vice President responsible for the UK and Western Europe territories. In this role, he oversaw significant growth in sales and profit, as well as business expansion to new customers and categories. Mr. Whitley also held Managing Director, General Manager, Business and Customer Development roles at Cott. Prior to joining that company, he held a variety of marketing and sales positions with several UK food manufacturers. Mr. Whitley holds a BSc degree from Aberdeen University, Scotland.
Stratis Katsiris President, Classic Division
Mr. Katsiris joined KIK in 1993 as Director of Sales. He was promoted to Senior Vice President, Sales in April 1996 and subsequently to Executive Vice President of Sales with responsibility for expanding KIK's existing Canadian business and developing its United States business. Mr. Katsiris was again promoted in 2007 to President of the Classic Division, overseeing all aspects of the Company’s private label business for customers that include some of the world’s largest retailers.
Mark R. Halperin EVP, Corporate Development, Sustainability & Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary
Mark Halperin joined KIK Custom Products on October 1, 2007. Prior to KIK, he spent 14 years in senior executive roles at Cott Corporation, most recently as the Chief Legal and Ethics Officer and Corporate Secretary. Prior to Cott, Mr. Halperin was a partner with a Toronto, Ontario based law firm. He holds a BA from McGill University (Montreal, Quebec) and an LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School (Toronto, Ontario).
Doreen Gormley SVP, Innovation
Doreen Gormley joined KIK Custom Products in October 2007 to oversee new product development, creative services and marketing, in partnership with KIK’s customers. She joined the Company after a successful 14-year career in customer development and marketing for Cott Corporation. Most recently, she was Vice President, Marketing with overall responsibility for new product innovation, marketing and category management. Ms. Gormley holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Toronto.
Bill A. Adams SVP, Corporate Services
Bill Adams joined KIK in 2002 as VP of Quality, adding Purchasing, Product Development, and Transportation to make up the Corporate Services group. Prior to KIK, Mr. Adams spent seven years with Kmart as the Divisional VP of Brands overseeing all Kmart brands across grocery, non-foods, and apparel, as well as worldwide quality. Mr. Adams has held senior level positions in brand development as a Group Vice President of Daymon Associates, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Statler Tissue Company, and Procurement Manager with Star Markets in Boston.
Doug Hedges VP, Human Resources
Doug joined KIK in May 2008 with responsibility for all aspects of Human Resources. Prior to joining KIK, Doug was Vice President of Human Resources for Resolution Specialty Materials, where he led a large team covering nearly 20 manufacturing locations in the U.S., Europe and Asia and oversaw large-scale Change Management initiatives that enabled business growth and expansion. Doug holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and is close to receiving formal certification of his Six Sigma Black Belt training.
Sam J. Porcasi VP, Information Systems
Sam Porcasi has been with KIK since 1997. During this time, he has led the Systems and Technology functions through years of significant expansion. With a business-centric philosophy, Mr. Porcasi has kept systems capabilities progressive and tightly aligned with the business strategy. Prior to joining KIK, Mr. Porcasi spent eight years at American Greetings in positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of Information Technology.
