Board of Directors

Richard L. Baum, Jr.

Committees: Compensation Committee

Mr. Baum has served on the board as Chairman since our inception in 2013. Richard joined Taglich Private Equity, LLC in 2005 and currently sits on the boards of BG Staffing, Inc. (NYSE American: BGSF) and five private portfolio companies of Taglich Private Equity. Prior to joining Taglich Private Equity, Mr. Baum led a group that purchased a private equity portfolio from Transamerica. From 1998 to 2003, Mr. Baum was a Managing Director in the small business merger and acquisition practices of Wachovia Securities and its predecessor, First Union Securities. From 1988 through 1998, Mr. Baum was a Principal with the Mid-Atlantic Companies, Ltd., a financial services firm focused on succession planning for high net worth business owners and their families (First Union purchased Mid-Atlantic in 1998). Mr. Baum received a Bachelor of Science Degree from Drexel University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Paul Frascoia

Committees: Audit Committee

Mr. Frascoia has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of National Molding, LLC since June 2020, an international supplier of automotive, military and medical plastic components. Prior to National Molding, Mr. Frascoia was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Critical Process Systems Group, or CPS, and its predecessors from 2007 to May 2020. CPS is a group of manufacturing and design companies providing innovative industrial product solutions to an array of industries including semiconductor, chemical processing, industrial gas, mining, power generation, and life sciences. Prior to the establishment of CPS, Mr. Frascoia was the President of Fab-Tech, Inc. from 2005 to 2007 and Chief Financial Officer from 2001 to 2005. Prior to joining Fab-Tech he was Corporate Controller and Treasurer with Burton Snowboards, helping the company manage dramatic growth in core and affiliate brands. Before working for Burton, he was Corporate Controller of the Turtle Fur Company, the leading global winter sports accessory company. Mr. Frascoia received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Vermont in 1990. He holds an inactive CPA license.

William Cooke

Mr. Cooke joined Taglich Brothers, Inc., a New York-based full-service brokerage firm that specializes in placing and investing in private equity transactions for small public companies, in 2012 and participates in sourcing, evaluating, and executing new investments as well as monitoring existing investments. Prior to joining Taglich Brothers, he was a Managing Director of Glenwood Capital LLC from 2010 to 2012, where he advised middle-market clients on capital raising and mergers and acquisitions. From 2001 to 2009, Mr. Cooke sourced, evaluated and executed mezzanine transactions for The Gladstone Companies and BHC Interim Funding II, L.P. Before entering the private equity industry, Mr. Cooke served as a securities analyst primarily covering the automotive and industrial sectors for ABN AMRO Incorporated and McDonald & Company Securities, Inc. Mr. Cooke received his BA degree from Michigan State University and MBA degree from the University of Michigan. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a former member of the Board of Directors of APR, LLC.

Kim Korth

Committees: Audit Committee

Ms. Korth was a founder of 6th Avenue Group in 2017, a firm devoted to improving the sustainability of small manufacturing and technology companies. Ms. Korth became Managing Director of Engauge Workforce Solutions LLC in April 2019. Ms Korth served as President and Chief Executive Officer of bb7, a privately held product development company based in Madison, Wisconsin in 2018 and 2019. From 2012 to 2017, Ms. Korth was President and Chief Executive Officer of TECHNIPLAS Group, a privately held group of specialized plastics companies that primarily serve the automotive, commercial vehicle, and infrastructure industries. Prior to joining the TECHNIPLAS Group, Ms. Korth was President and Chief Executive Officer of Supreme Corporation (NYSE American: STS), a producer of specialty vehicles based in Goshen, Indiana, from 2011 to 2012. Ms. Korth holds a B.A. degree from Western Michigan University and a M.I.M. from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird). She is currently a member of the board of Stoneridge Inc. (NYSE: SRI) and Engauge Workforce Solutions LLC. She is also a member of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA).

James Illikman

Committees: Compensation Committee

Mr. Illikman joined Peninsula Capital Partners, LLC, a mezzanine and equity capital fund manager, in 2003 and became a partner in 2005. Mr. Illikman has over twenty years of experience in private equity, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and operations management. Prior to joining Peninsula Capital Partners, Mr. Illikman was with Talon Equity Partners, LLC, a middle-market buyout firm, where he was responsible for investment origination and portfolio management. Before Talon Equity Partners, he held positions with Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership, United Technologies Corporation and the predecessor entity to Delphi Corporation. At these firms, Mr. Illikman served in various corporate finance roles. Mr. Illikman has also served as interim President and Chief Financial Officer of companies within his portfolio management responsibility. Mr. Illikman earned both a Bachelor and Master’s in Business Administration degrees from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the CFA Institute.

Susan C. Benedict

Committees: Compensation Committee

Ms. Benedict has served as Chief Human Resources Officer and Assistant General Counsel - Labor and Employment (‘CHRO”) since June 2019 for Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE: SRI), an independent designer and manufacturer of highly engineered electrical and electronic components, modules and systems principally for the automotive, commercial vehicle, motorcycle, agricultural and off-highway vehicle markets. Ms. Benedict joined Stoneridge in November 2017 as Director of Legal, focused primarily on global labor and employment and compliance matters, until her appointment as CHRO. Prior to Stoneridge, Ms. Benedict served as Corporate Counsel at Guardian Industries from December 2012 to October 2017, where she had global responsibility for employment and labor matters, compliance, and data privacy. Ms. Benedict holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from The Ohio State University, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Detroit Mercy, a Juris Doctor from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School and was admitted to the State Bar of Michigan in 2012. In addition, she was recognized as Top Corporate Counsel by dbusiness magazine in 2017.

Patrick W. Cavanagh

Committees: Audit Committee

Mr. Cavanagh, has been Chairman of the Board of National Molding, LLC since December 2019, an international supplier of automotive, military and medical plastic components. Mr. Cavanagh also served as the interim Chief Executive Officer of national Molding from December 2019 to June 2020. He was interim CEO and consultant to Red Dot Corporation from January 2018 to July 2018, a supplier of HVAC systems to the heavy-duty truck and off highway equipment market. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of Enovation Controls, from January 2013 to July 2016, after serving on the company's Board of Directors since its inception in January 2010. Enovation Controls provides customers with complete engine and equipment control solutions for commercial vehicles, off-highway, oil & gas, material handling, agriculture and recreational vehicles. Mr. Cavanagh previously served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Williams Controls (NYSE: WMCO) from September 2004 to December 2012 leading the company to post record growth and profitability and its sale to Curtiss-Wright Corp (NYSE: CW) in December 2012. Williams designed and manufactured advanced electronic throttle control systems and sensors for the commercial vehicle and off-highway markets. Before Mr. Cavanagh's tenure with Williams Controls, he was the executive responsible for gaseous-fueled industrial engine control systems at Woodward (Nasdaq: WWD). Woodward is a supplier of engine control systems used in commercial vehicle, industrial and gas turbine applications. Prior to Woodward, Mr. Cavanagh was Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Automotive Components Group of Knowles Electronics before its sale to Woodward in 2002. Mr. Cavanagh has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. He is currently a board member of Hobbs Bonded Fibers, LLC, which produces non-woven fabric products for industrial, automotive, and retail markets, National Molding, LLC and Enovation Controls. Mr. Cavanagh was the 2013/2014 chairman of the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA), the leading trade association for the commercial vehicle and off-highway industry.