President

Chris Keller is President of both The Conair Group and its parent company, IPEG, Inc. He joined Conair and IPEG in 2002, as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Business Development, became Chief Financial Officer later that year and then President in 2004. Before coming to Conair, he was Chief Financial Officer of Chattem, Inc., a leading manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer products and was a partner in a small venture-capital firm specializing in early-stage technology investing. He was elected chairman of the executive board of the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. in 2009. Keller received a BA from Yale College and an MBA from the University of Michigan Business School.

Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing

Larry Doyle joined The Conair Group as Vice President, Marketing, in June 2006 and a little more than a year later was promoted to Vice President, Global Sales & Marketing. Prior to coming to Conair, he spent seven years in progressively more responsible sales and marketing positions with Demag Plastics Group (now Sumitomo Demag), eventually becoming Director of Sales and Marketing. He also served as Product Manager for Autojectors, a company that became part of Milacron Inc. in 1998. Doyle chairs the Sales & Marketing Committee for NPE 2012, having held the same position for NPE 2009. He also serves on SPI’s Equipment Council. He has a BA in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Vice President, Engineering and Operations

Rich Shaffer, as Vice President of Engineering and Operations, oversees all engineering projects, initiatives and processes within Conair to provide solutions that benefit the customer and conform to organizational objectives. He also steers the Conair Product Development Process, which was instituted to make sure that the company introduces the right products to their customers as quickly as possible. He joined Conair in 1994 after graduating from Penn State with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science degree in Plastics Engineering Technology. He started as a product engineer in the dryer product line, and then went on to work in automation and extrusion as well as several other departments. He assumed his current role in October 2010.

Vice President of Sales, U.S. and Canada

After 34 years in the plastics industry, Steve Petrakis joined Conair in August 2010 as Vice President of Sales – U.S. and Canada, providing direction and support for inside and outside commercial activities. He began his plastics career in 1976 as a manufacturers’ representative and Conair was among the companies he represented. He subsequently worked directly for EMI, AEC, Sterling and the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI), before becoming president of Frigel North America in 2006. He is a member of the Plastics Pioneers Association, as well as SPI and the Society of Plastics Engineers, where he has held various chair and board positions over the years. Petrakis received his MBA from California Coast University in Santa Ana, CA, and his BS from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI.

Customer Service Manager

As Customer Service Manager, Doug Brewster heads a staff that includes Project Engineering, Project Management and Field Service personnel. He joined Conair in 1987 as a systems engineer. Since then he has held a series of progressively more responsible positions including bulk-system product manager, project manager, national accounts manager, regional manager and national sales manager. He earned a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Century University and has had specialized training in electrical power system design, PLC programming and machine design.

General Manager, PET and Packaging

As General Manager, PET and Packaging, Jamie Jamison heads a multi-disciplinary team that is tasked with providing PET processors around the world with products and services to meet their unique requirements. He joined Conair in 1992 and, before assuming his current responsibilities, Jamison held a variety of progressively more responsible positions in product/project engineering, sales and product management. He is an Army veteran and earned a BS in Business Administration at Point Park College, Pittsburgh.

Director of Marketing

Dori Raybuck has served in a variety of marketing roles since joining Conair in 1994. Today, as the Director of Marketing, she is responsible for all promotional and technical marketing/communications activities, including advertising, public relations, tradeshows, print materials, technical documentation, digital media and the company website. She holds a BS degree in Communication, with a concentration in Marketing, from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Conair she worked for several newspapers as a staff writer and as an advertising account manager.

Manager, Parts and Accessories

Rick Cardy is a 35-year Conair veteran, having joined the company in 1976 after attending New Castle Business College. Starting as a systems drafter, he subsequently worked in inside sales from 1978 to 1980. At that point, he joined the Parts Department as a Parts Analyst and, since 1992, he has been managing part sales and the parts warehouse.

Director of Inside Sales

Since joining Conair in 1995, Eric Gulnac has held a variety of positions in shipping and parts sales, as an account manager, and as an independent Conair sales representative covering the Pennsylvania and Eastern New York territories. He became E-Sales Manager in 2009 and helped to start up the Conair BuyNow online store. He assumed his current position in 2010. Retaining responsibility for on-line sales, he now supervises an inside sales team that handles customer inquiries and quoting auxiliary equipment and systems. Before coming to Conair, he served in the United States Army.

International Business Manager

A 23-year Conair veteran, Bill Hricsina today supports all international Conair units, including Conair Mexicana, Conair East Asia, Conair Pacific and Nu-Vu Conair (India). He works closely with global customers and OEMs, assists local units with sales and service training, and serves as liaison with U.S. engineering and manufacturing. He started his Conair career in the manufacturing plant and subsequently worked in field installation before becoming an international systems engineer in 1996. In 1999, he became General Manager of Conair Mexican and Latin America Sales manager, a position he held until he assumed his current duties in 2009. Hricsina is a veteran of the U.S. Navy.

General Manager, Conair Kawata

Vince Paskie manages Conair Kawata, a 50-50 joint-venture company formed by The Conair Group and Kawata Manufacturing of Japan to serve Japanese companies manufacturing in the North America. He began working at Conair in 1988 after graduating from Clarion University of Pennsylvania with a BS Degree in Communications. Since that time, he has held a wide range of positions in marketing, spare parts, U.S. sales and international sales. Vince Paskie assumed his current position in 2005.

General Manager, Conair Asia

Joachim Lim joined Conair in October 2005 as General Manager of Conair Pacific Equipment Pte. Ltd., and became General Manager – Conair Asia with responsibility for all South East Asia and China markets. He previously had worked in the plastics molding industry in Singapore and China for many years. Immediately before joining Conair he was General Manager at First Engineering Limited, Guangzhou, China, a manufacturer of ultra precision molds and plastic components for high technology engineering applications. He holds Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and Master of Science (Mechanical Engineering) degrees, both from National University of Singapore.

General Manager, Conair East Asia

Leo Su manages Conair activities in Taiwan and Korea, and heads a new PET/Packaging team tasked with serving China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. He began working for Conair as an independent agent in Taiwan in 1988 and was hired as Commercial Manager for Conair East Asia in 1998. He was named Branch Manager 1999 and General Manager in 2004. He took on the PET/Packaging duties in 2009. Leo Su has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Technology & Science Institute of Northern Taiwan and is a member of the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry and Taiwan Plastic Industry Association.

Managing Director, Conair Mexicana

Jan-Olof Nilsson joined Conair in April 2008 as Managing Director for Conair Mexicana, the unit responsible for distributing Conair equipment not only in Mexico, but throughout Latin America. A native of Sweden, he has been working and trading in Mexico since 1976. Immediately prior to joining Conair, he worked in Europe as a senior executive with Securitas Direct, a leading supplier of home and business security systems and services. Nilsson holds a university degree in business administration and international business from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Managing Director, Nu-Vu Conair Pvt. Ltd.

K.M. Shah has been Managing Director of Nu-Vu Conair Pvt. Ltd. since the company was formed in Ahmedabad, India.in 2007. He had previously been General Manager–Operations of Prasad Koch-Technik Pvt. Ltd., a joint-venture company marketing German auxiliary equipment in India. With more than 20 years of experience in plastics, he has held progressively more responsible positions in engineering development and management. K.M.Shah holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Gujarat, India.