OUR LEADERSHIP
Our Formula for Performance:
Get to know the AirBoss leadership team
AirBoss’ people are diverse and dedicated, operating with the highest level of integrity and focus to fulfill the AirBoss mission and deliver for its customers. AirBoss of America leadership and the Board are committed to this mission.
CHAIRMAN & Co-CEO
Gren Schoch
Mr. Gren Schoch is a professional engineer and ran a successful engineering and geological services company, MPH Consulting, between 1976 and 1995. In 1982, he also founded and chaired Petromet Resources, a junior oil and gas exploration company that was sold to Talisman Energy for more than $900 million in 2001. Since 1989, Mr. Schoch has been the Chairman and a substantial shareholder of AirBoss.
PRESIDENT & Co-CEO
Chris Bitsakakis
Chris Bitsakakis has nearly 30 years of operational management experience in the advanced manufacturing space, spanning the rubber, automotive, industrial and aerospace industries. Prior to joining AirBoss in 2017, he held progressively senior roles with Cooper Standard, Magna International, Royal Building Products and PCC Aerostructures (a Berkshire Hathaway Company).
His core responsibilities included oversight of North American and international manufacturing operations, implementation of “lean”, “5S” and other strategic initiatives, as well as the development of systems focused on improving efficiency, driving improved financial performance and reducing waste.
During his career he has spearheaded turnarounds, completed multiple acquisitions and integrations, formed strategic alliances and led greenfield and major plant upgrade projects. Mr. Bitsakakis holds a BSc from Wilfrid Laurier University and an MBA from the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario.
CFO
Frank Ientile
Mr. Ientile has 30 years of progressively senior financial leadership experience, overseeing and managing both North American and international finance teams. He has extensive experience with financial reporting, forecasting and budgeting, M&A and strategic planning. Over his career, Mr. Ientile has spent significant time in the diversified industrials space and has specific experience in the automotive, heavy trucking and construction sectors.
Mr. Ientile is a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Accountant and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Western Ontario.
EVP & GENERAL COUNSEL
Chris Figel
Chris Figel has more than a decade of experience advising boards and senior management teams on matters of corporate, securities, commercial, banking, and related areas of law across a number of sectors, including manufacturing. He has specific transactional experience working with private and public companies, private equity firms, and other large institutions on a range of mandates spanning mergers & acquisitions, equity, and debt financings, and corporate governance. At AirBoss, Chris is a member of the senior executive team and the Corporate Secretary and is responsible for legal and regulatory matters relating to the day-to-day operation of the business, as well as special projects including mergers & acquisitions.
Prior to joining AirBoss in 2018, he was a Partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP. He previously served as legal counsel at engineering firm Hatch Ltd. Chris holds an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Toronto and received his law degree from the University of Western Ontario. He was called to the Ontario bar in 2009.
CHAIRMAN & Co-CEO
Gren Schoch
Mr. Gren Schoch is a professional engineer and ran a successful engineering and geological services company, MPH Consulting, between 1976 and 1995. In 1982, he also founded and chaired Petromet Resources, a junior oil and gas exploration company that was sold to Talisman Energy for more than $900 million in 2001.
Since 1989, Mr. Schoch has been the Chairman and a substantial shareholder of AirBoss.
DIRECTOR
Anita Antenucci
Ms. Antenucci is the Founder and Managing Partner of 3Wire Partners, an organization which works with business owners and investors in the aerospace, defense, government, and related industries. In addition, Ms. Antenucci is on the board of directors of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment and an Emeritus Director of the Space Foundation.
Over her career, Ms. Antenucci has worked with a range of groups, from entrepreneurs and small cap companies to Fortune 500 constituents and large internationals, including completing assignments for several leading aerospace/defense contractors. Most recently, she was the senior managing director and Board member of Houlihan Lokey Inc., a leading global investment bank, where she led the aerospace, defense, and government practice.
DIRECTOR
David Camilleri
Mr. Camilleri is a senior business executive with more than 25 years of experience in the anti-vibration, automotive and aerospace/defense industries. He was most recently the President Noranco, Vice President Canada/Mexico Aerostructures at Precision Castparts Corp. (“PCC”), a Berkshire Hathaway company.
Before joining Noranco David held progressively senior positions with Cooper Standard Automotive, including Director of Operations for both the Noise & Vibration and North American Compounding Divisions. Since 2017, he has been an operating advisor to Onex Partners, the private equity platform for Onex Corporation, and advises ATL Partners, a private equity firm with focus on the global Aerospace, Transportation and Logistics sectors. David is also a director of two private companies and a local Kitchener-Waterloo charity.
DIRECTOR
Jo-Anne O’Connor
Ms. O’Connor is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Strategem Capital, a publicly-listed company with an objective for continued growth through investments in resource exploration and development, mining, energy production and agricultural protein products. She has over 35 years of experience in financial capital markets and corporate sectors, having started her career at one of Canada’s largest banks. During her time there, Ms. O’Connor traded large-cap energy, natural resources and mining stocks for the bank’s portfolio.
More recently, she has provided investment and strategic advice to family offices. She is also a former director at Canaccord Genuity Group and a member of the Prospectors and Developers Association and the Institute of Corporate Directors.
DIRECTOR
Robert McLeish
Mr. Robert McLeish joined AirBoss of America Corp.’s Board of Directors in 1999, holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto and is a CFA. Mr. McLeish spent 35 years in the investment business with Merrill Lynch Canada and retired in 1998 as a Vice Chairman and Director.
Previously, Mr. McLeish was the Chairman of Dundee Wealth Management and on the Board of Dundee Corp. and Welton Energy. He also is a past director of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
DIRECTOR
Alan J. Watson
Mr. Watson currently is based in Sydney, Australia. He has recently retired from a 30-year investment banking career, during which he has been Managing Director of several American and U.K. based investment banks.
Mr. Watson has worked in the U.K., Australia, Canada, China, and Japan.
LEAD DIRECTOR
Stephen M. Ryan
Mr. Stephen Ryan, a highly regarded attorney in Washington D.C., joined AirBoss of America Corp.’s Board of Directors in November 2020. From 2007 through his retirement at the end of 2020, Mr. Ryan led the Government Strategies practice group at the Washington, DC office of McDermott Will & Emery LLP, a large international law firm, where he provided legal expertise and insight to help private sector companies in highly regulated industries navigate government contracts and government ethics. Mr. Ryan has also been as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center for over a decade and is the co-author of a book on government procurement ethics.
Previously, he served as general counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland and Governmental Affairs (GAC), deputy counsel of the President’s Commission on Organized Crime; and, Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, DC.