12:00pm EDT

Jeevak Badve

Principal + Director of Strategic Growth

Sundberg-Ferar

Jeevak brings energy, passion & curiosity to his role at Sundberg-Ferar. With his unique blend of education and experience in industrial design, engineering and business, he is a rallying voice for the alignment and optimal inclusion of the end user’s un-met needs, and unspoken wants in the core value proposition of a company’s products & service portfolio to generate sought-after shareholder value. Jeevak has more than 23 years of professional design experience, first in India for 7 years at Tata Motors, and then in the U.S. for 16 years at GM Design and now Sundberg-Ferar. Beyond his role at SF, Jeevak is a board member of many prominent design associations and think tanks including the Michigan Design Council, Aether Design Group, and Detroit Creative Corridor. He also served on IDSA’s International board for 6 years and chaired IDSA’s 2017 flagship International Design Conference: “Design IS Business”. In his copious amounts of spare time, Jeevak can be found indulging his love of kickboxing, and obstacle course running, or photographing birds in obscure parts of the world.

12:15-1:00pm EDT

Robert Hahn

President & General Manager

Lumecon

Bob is a believer in “never forget where you came from and who got you there.”  This mantra permeates his everyday decision-making as president and general manager of Lumecon LED lighting manufacturer, a unique Made-in-America LED outdoor lighting company. Pacific Rim-based companies have dominated the world of Light Emitting Diodes; Lumecon stands firm in sourcing and building superior quality LED lighting products right here in Michigan and other parts of the United States.

Along with several other partners, Robert started Lumecon nearly 16 years ago, intending to grow a unique manufacturer. Today Lumecon has carved out space in the Lighting  World as the go-to product line for high-quality American Made lighting fixtures.  Bob has been and continues to be a student of Communication via Personality Traits.- working to be proficient in effective communication with individuals and speaking common languages, and empathize and communicate by understanding an individual’s style and behavior. “Getting on the same page,” leading and maintaining employees. 

Bob enjoys spending time with friends and family, working out, and running with his dogs. Bob also has a passion for professional sports analytics and follows his hometown Lions, Red Wings, Tigers, and Pistons fervently.

1:15 – 2:00pm EDT

John Cunningham

CEO, USA

Ox Tools Global

John Cunningham is well rounded leader committed to building businesses, brands and innovative products. He is skilled at running start ups, mid sized companies and even up to $1B divisions.  He is a driven entrepreneur with 20 years of corporate experience which is now being applied to small innovative businesses that wants to scale and disrupt industries.  John has worked with great brands like DEWALT, Black + Decker, Stanley, OX Tools and has started License to Innovate, nCamp and inPOWERED Lights.

He completed his degree in Bachelor of Science in Computer Accounting at Stevenson University. He enjoys a great round of golf as his hobby as well as hiking in the great outdoors. His passion is starting new businesses and continuing to learn the art of sales and marketing to help pass along his expertise to both of his sons.

John is happily married for 27 years to his lovely wife Cherie. They are blessed with two sons Tyler and Jacob. John (G-Pop) and Cherie (Mimi) entered the next phase of life on January 1, 2021 when their daughter in law, Kaitlin and son Tyler gave birth to Eloise Joy. Their youngest son Jacob is finishing his Junior year at Albright University studying Business Administration and playing Lacrosse.

2:15 – 3:00pm EDT

Miranda Berner

Head of Marketing

Berner Air Curtains

Miranda Berner is in charge of marketing and is part of the new product development team for Berner International, the company that makes doors out of air, a.k.a. air curtains. Before taking over leadership of the marketing department, Miranda served as the project manager for initiatives that involved more than two departments. Miranda has her LEED AP in Building Design + Construction and is a past board member of the Green Building Alliance (USGBC affiliate, Pittsburgh)

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Philip Thomas

Product Manager, Executive Management

Berner Air Curtains

During Philip’s 25-year career as a product development and management specialist, he has become broadly skilled at profitably launching commercial and industrial products in start-ups thru large multinationals. He loves the creative process of designing and positioning products to satisfy customer needs in unique ways. Phil holds several patents in fluid control, HVAC, and IoT applications.  He served on the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) board as vice president for 4 years.

3:15 – 4:00pm EDT

Scott Sommers

VP, Insights & Innovation

Shurtape Technologies

Scott has been with Shurtape Technologies for 20 years and is currently Vice President of Insights & Innovation. Scott’s leads a skilled team with a focus on market research and new product development with a scope across both the consumer and commercial businesses. Scott’s experience includes more than a decade in consumer product marketing and over 5 years leading the company’s eCommerce initiatives. Prior to joining Shurtape Technologies, Scott worked in the consulting industry specializing in Strategy and Technology for Retailers (Clients include Fortune 500 companies and .com startups.) Scott holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson College in Boston and has attended the Harvard Business School Executive Education program for Strategic Marketing. Scott brings a unique blend of business disciplines to help identify opportunities for growth and unlock value for the business.