Key Personnel
E. Terry Groff, Chairman of Reading Bakery Systems, graduated from Lafayette College with a degree in Economics. In 1974, he joined his father, E. I. Groff, in the purchase of Reading Pretzel Machinery Corporation, a small entrepreneurial business founded in 1947 that manufactured pretzel-processing equipment.
Mr. Terry Groff became President and Chief Executive Officer in 1978. Reading Pretzel Machinery Corporation then grew to become the world's leader in high-speed, automatic, pretzel production machinery. By 1997, 85% of all U.S. manufactured pretzels having a sales value in excess of one billion dollars were manufactured on Reading equipment.
In 1999, the company name was changed to Reading Bakery Systems to encompass the baked snack, pet treat, biscuit, and cookie and cracker industries. To fully serve all these areas of the baking industry, in April 2001, Mr. Groff decided to join forces with the Thomas L. Green Company, a worldwide industry leader in biscuit and cracker systems. Since the two companies merged, Reading Bakery Systems has become an industry leader in the pretzel, baked snack, cookie and cracker industries.
Mr. Groff is the holder of eleven US and foreign patents in food machinery design. He has also lectured on pretzel production at the University of Beijing and the American Institute of Baking. He has addressed many groups and associations on the topic of leadership within the organization, entrepreneurship, and "The Main Thing is to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing."
Tom Lugar, Chairman of T.L. Green, received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University. Prior to working at Thomas L. Green & Company Inc., Tom served in the United States Army, and worked for the Allison's Jet Aircraft Division of General Motors Corporation, in Indianapolis. He joined the Thomas L. Green Company in 1957 as an engineer. The Thomas L. Green Company was established in 1893 by Tom's grandfather and manufactured mixing, processing and baking equipment for companies worldwide for over 100 years. In April 2001, the Thomas L. Green Company merged with Reading Bakery Systems. Tom is also a member of the Biscuit & Cracker Manufacturers Association and Cookie and Snack Bakers Association.
Joseph Zaleski, President of Reading Bakery Systems, graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Engineering and has 25 years of experience in the baking and snack industries. After serving in the United States Army, Joe joined Reading Bakery Systems in 1990 and was named Vice-President of Engineering in 1996. He was then promoted to Executive Vice President in 1999, and named President in 2009. As President, Joe is tasked with providing a vision for the company moving into the future. He will continue the company's technical leadership edge through partnerships with industry and academia, and finding, evaluating and implementing new technologies. Joe has presented many technical papers at conferences within the cookie, cracker and snack industries. Joe, along with other members of the company, holds numerous patents for innovative designs in food forming and baking machinery.
David Kuipers, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, is a graduate of Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI and has nearly 20 years industry experience. Prior to joining Reading Bakery Systems, David was employed by Peters Machinery of Chicago, IL for almost 7 years, where he served as President and Chief Operating Officer within the Peerless Group. David also previously worked for APV Baker in the cookie and cracker division. In addition to directing the sales and marketing efforts, David also remains involved in the majority of international sales of Reading Bakery Systems.
Shawn Moye, Executive Director of Sales, received his degree in Business from the University of Florida. Prior to working at Reading Bakery Systems, Shawn worked as the Director of Sales, North America for a German baking equipment company. He also served as Maintenance and Engineering Project Manager for two of the largest North American snack and cookie/cracker manufacturers. These positions have provided Shawn with extensive knowledge and insight into multiple segments of the baking industry.
John Eshelman, Director of Pretzel & Snack Machinery Sales, has been with the company since 1992. John has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility at RBS. John has managed the Technical Service Group, served as Factory Manager and later directed the construction and day-to-day operations of the E.I. Groff Technical Center. Most recently, John has held the position of Director of Technical Sales. Prior to joining Reading Bakery Systems, John was a plant manager for Charles Chips.
Donald Smith, Director of Biscuit, Cookie & Cracker Engineering, received his degree in Mechanical Drafting from Vincennes University. Don began working for Thomas L. Green & Company, Inc. in June of 1976. In April 2001, Thomas L. Green merged with Reading Bakery Systems. Don was the Director of Engineering at Thomas L. Green and is still responsible for all engineering operations at the RBS facility in Indianapolis, IN. Don is an active member of the American Society of Baking and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
Jim Warren, Director of ExACT Mixing, a division of Reading Bakery Systems, received his Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Arkansas. Jim served as co-founder and President of ExACT Mixing Systems from 1994 until ExACT merged with Reading Bakery Systems in January 2008. Prior to 1994, Jim served as District Engineer for Halliburton Services and was responsible for design of liquid metering and blending systems. He also served as South East Regional Engineer for Air Liquide where he was responsible for the design and sales of cryogenic food freezing systems, and as General Manager for Schroder, Inc, subsidiary of Schroder and Co. of Lubeck, Germany where he was responsible for sales and engineering of Schroder in North and South America including continuous dough mixing systems and continuous margarine and shortening crystallization systems.
Since 1988, Jim has overseen the design, installation and start-up of over 130 lines in food plants in the United States and abroad. He has also supplied over 30 lines in North America for the purpose of crystallization of Fats and Oils in the modern bakery and over 20 Systems in North America for the purpose of cryogenically freezing bakery or other food products. His areas of expertise include dough mixing, food products freezing, liquid and dry ingredients metering and bulk materials handling. Jim is widely considered to be the expert in the field of Continuous Mixing and Metering and has spoken at many industry events and written a number of technical papers.
Michael Martinez, Sales Manager, Latin America Region received his Bachelor’s degree in International Business and Spanish from Penn State University and has over 20 years of sales experience. Michael joined RBS in 2010 and is responsible for sales efforts and project support with Spanish-speaking customers in Central and South America. In prior positions, Michael worked in the marine signaling industry, trucking industry, and mining industry. During that time he lived in Mexico City and Panama.
Leonard Muigg, Director of Sales, Europe, received his (Ing.) Engineering degree from HTL Innsbruck-Austria. He is a graduate of Innsbruck University Exportacademie and has over 20 years of industry experience in project management and technical sales. Prior to joining Reading Bakery Systems, Leonard worked as a Technical Sales Manager for Heat and Control Europe, a leader in snack frying technology and a worldwide partner with Reading Bakery Systems.
Martin Rafter is the RBS representative for the United Kingdom & Ireland. Martin is currently the Director of Arrow Design Services Ltd, a company that specializes in the design and build of dough feed and dough forming systems for use in the Industrial Bakery and Snack Food sectors. Martin has an honors degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters degree in Business Administration. Prior to starting Arrow Design Services, Martin, worked on Nuclear Reactors and Steam Turbine design in the Electrical Power Industry and for Baker Perkins as Principal Design Engineer, responsible for dough forming machinery design. Martin is a Chartered Engineer and on the Food Engineering Committee of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London.
Chip Czulada, Vice President of Finance & Operations, is a graduate of Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA and has over 15 years of financial management and manufacturing experience. Chip overseas the daily operations of the company, including, accounting, purchasing, budgetary and forecasting, tax functions, and human resource activities. Chip is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Roseann Reinhold, Manager, Human Resources, received her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Kutztown University. Roseann has been with Reading Bakery Systems since May of 1995. She is the liaison between the President, senior management and the employees of the company, and is responsible for assisting the business in developing a workforce capable of meeting the organization’s goals. As Manager of HR, she also provides a full range of human resources services to the company and employees including recruiting, compensation and employee benefits management, employee relations, general employment practices, management practices, staffing and employment, health, safety and security, strategic planning, training and development. Prior to joining Reading Bakery Systems, Roseann worked for Meridian Bank and Kenyon and Eckhardt Advertising, New York City.
Travis Getz, Director of Engineering Services, graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Mr. Getz joined RBS in 2001 and since then has held positions of increasing responsibility including Electrical Engineer, Project Engineer and Manager of Engineering Operations. In his current position of Director of Engineering Services, Mr. Getz directs and oversees the efforts of the design and production engineering staff, technical services and remains involved with his staff of project managers. Before joining RBS, he served in the US Navy.
Vincent Pasquini, Manager of Engineering Design, graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. In his current position, Vince oversees all engineering designs, and assists with project management. Vince joined RBS in 1993 and since then has held positions of increasing responsibility, including Design Engineer and Senior Design Engineer. Prior to joining RBS Vince worked in the confectionary Industry at Hershey Foods. He also holds 3 United States patents in the food industry.
Tremaine Hartranft, a Project Engineer at RBS, received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electro-Mechanical Engineering from Penn State University. Tremaine joined RBS in May 2005 as an Applications Designer, and was promoted to Project Engineer in 2006. Tremaine manages the successful delivery of project deliverables, controls the project scope, budget and schedule. Prior to joining RBS, Tremaine worked at Brentwood Industries as Research & Development Engineer, and at Lucent Technologies as a Process Analyst.
Matt Risser, joined RBS as a Project Engineer in July 2009. His responsibilities include managing the successful delivery of project deliverables, controlling project scope, budget and schedule. Prior to joining RBS, Matt worked for Clayton H. Landis Co., manufacture of food handling and processing equipment, structural fabrications, and heavy industry equipment for over 10 years. Matt received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State University.
Cameron Johnston, Project Engineer for ExACT Mixing, a division of Reading Bakery Systems, is a graduate of Penn State with a degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Technology. Cameron joined RBS in 2008 as an intern, and was quickly promoted to Designer, and then, Project Engineer. In his new position, Cameron will focus on developing the ExACT continuous mixing product line. He will also manage successful delivery of project deliverables, and control project scope, budget and schedule of all ExACT Mixing projects.
