Daniel Russo
President
As founder and CEO of American Electric Vehicle Company, the first independent all-electric vehicle company to begin production in the United States, Daniel Russo is considered by many as one of the pioneers of the electric car business. Mr. Russo has a vast international business and manufacturing background: he founded and served as President and Majority Owner for the Cay Arbor Group, Sidca Quality Systems, and Fispa Ulma, all located in Turin, Italy—where he was born. These companies were all tier-one automotive suppliers of such items as exhaust systems, automotive glass, mechanical components, plastic injection, textiles, and steel stampings, to name a few, servicing such clients as VW, Ford, GM, Chrysler, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Opel and Mercedes with combined sales of over $330 million.
Mr. Russo also founded and was CEO of a major plastic injection mold manufacturer located in Monterrey, Mexico as well as the President and Majority Owner of Cay Arbor Korea, a tool manufacturing company that supplied Fiat, Ford, and GM with annual sales of $37 million. In his role as Director of Operations for Breed Technologies (Boonton, N.J.,) Mr. Russo was responsible for the start up and management of three manufacturing plants, producing 4.5 million electromechanical and pyrotechnical sensors for air bag systems supplied to Ford, GM, and Toyota. Mr. Russo is fluent in four languages—English, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese—and has earned his B.S. in Business Administration at Michigan State University, in East Lansing, Michigan.
Kim Russo
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Kim Russo is a strategic sales and marketing professional with an unusually wide range of leadership and business development experience. Her extensive international business background combined with years of hands-on top level management skills has made her a first choice in leading many large scale new business development projects. Mrs. Russo has trained extensively with Toyota Motors Corporation in the art of LEAN manufacturing, a system used by the Japanese auto manufacturer to remove waste and increase line speed while maintaining a high quality product, resulting in bottom line overall cost savings. As a result of her vast automotive experience over the past twenty-four years, she has been selected by numerous top level management and partner suppliers to lead development of new products through new technology, driving change in manufacturing at the plant production level. Her prior leadership skills are evident in her role as co-founder of the American Electric Corporation, Director of Sales, Summit Polymers Corporation, Director of Sales, Tremec Trading/Desc Automotive Group Mexico, and Director of Sales, KSR International Canada.
Raymond Leduc
Chief Operations Officer
For the past thirty years, Raymond Leduc has excelled in a wide variety of business arenas, ranging from working in the automotive sector with Chrysler Corporation, GKN Automotive Group, and General Motors, to being a pioneer of Green initiatives in design, engineering, and construction projects within the real estate development industry. His interests have furthered expanded to encompass his role as founder and CEO of various successful, leading-edge construction and engineering entities as well as numerous forays into such related industries as wastewater treatment and community water systems. Drawing from his automotive and entrepreneurial expertise, he founded GGT with partners Dan and Kim Russo. Mr. Leduc has a B.S.C.E. in Engineering from Lawrence Technology University, in Southfield, Michigan, a M.S.C.E. in Engineering from the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Michigan.
Glen DeGrendel
Chief Engineer of Electrical Systems
Prior to working with GGT, Glen DeGrendel had been a Senior Engineer with over twenty-two years experience in the Power and Signal Distribution Systems arena for one of the largest tier-one automotive suppliers in the world. Mr. DeGrendel is highly regarded in the automotive industry for his broad understanding of electrical distribution product development, sub-system optimization, and performance enhancements, and as the inventor of many patents within his area of expertise. He is also a BSEE graduate from Oakland University, in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Gregory Alfano
Director of Production
Gregory Alfano has worked for years within the automotive industry in the field of concept cars and prototype assembly, developing a reputation as a master at creating and building any vehicle from concept. During his long and illustrious career as a model maker, he has been responsible for the creation of such vehicles as the GMT 900 and GMT 211 as well as numerous component parts, including instrument panels, seats, center consoles, side scoops, and air intakes, among others. He was featured as the number one custom builder in Michigan in the 2003 March issue of Road Bike Magazine and, in 1999, he created the iconic Yamaha Road Star bike that was selected for the 2002 January/February Yamaha calendar. An expert at clay modeling as well as the production of niche vehicles, Mr. Alfano has been a program manager for the Lear Corporation, a mock up leader for Classic Design Concepts, and was instrumental in the development and production start-up of the all-electric Kurrent at American Electric.
Antonello Nizzia
Chief Engineer of Mechanical Systems
Antonello Nizzia is an innovator in the field of mechanical engineering who has been involved with electric vehicle development and production for the past five years and has worked within the automotive industry for most of his illustrious career, serving as a chief engineer for such European companies as the Eaton Corporation, Teknodelta, and the Cay Arbor Group. At American Electric, he managed the U.S. development and production launch of the all-electric Kurrent as well as the development and styling of the company's next generation product line. An Italian citizen, Mr. Nizzia is one of the leading European experts in tool design and construction and was CEO of the Cay Arbor Korea Tool Company, supplying metal stamping dies to Fiat, Audi, VW, Peugeot, Ford, GM, and Chrysler. A graduate of the G. Plana Institute in Torino with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mr. Nizzia is fluent in Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean.
Jeff Jones
Director of Business Development
Jeff Jones has over thirty years experience in the automotive and hi-tech international marketplace, primarily in Product Management, Marketing Communications, PR, Plant Operations Management, Margin Enhancement, and New Facility Development/Launch. Mr. Jones has vast multinational experience in business development with an emphasis on Asia, spending over three years on an expatriate mission in China. Mr. Jones has a B.S. /B.A. in Production/Operations Management and Procurement/Materials Management from Bowling Green University, in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Rodger Cornish
Vice President of Fleet Sales
Rodger Cornish has worked with vehicle manufacturers for half of his career and the fleet management industry for the other half. His career started with the Chrysler Corporation and, after a few years, he joined Subaru of America where he climbed the ranks to become their National Business Management Manager. Mr. Cornish later joined Mazda Motors of America when they initiated their fleet department and that is where his passion for alternative energy vehicles developed. While working with the fleet industry at Mazda, he was recruited by one of the major fleet-leasing companies, LeasePlan USA, where he served as the Vice President of the Mid-Atlantic Region for eleven years. His continuing interest in the alternative energy field eventually led to Mr. Cornish's involvement with several start-ups and such organizations as NAFA, AFLA, NTEA, Clean Cities Coalition, NAEP, and NCSFA. Though he started in engineering, his B.S. degree is in Marketing and Economics from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
H. Dennis Kammerer
Vice President of Dealer Development
H. Dennis Kammerer began his career with the Ford Motor Company in its Executive Sales and Marketing training program. Now, as a dynamic, results-oriented automotive professional with over thirty years of experience, Mr. Kammerer brings to GGT a comprehensive knowledge of the automotive industry and dealership operations. He has served with Volvo Cars of North America and SAAB Cars USA as both the National Dealer Development Manager and National Business Management Manager, where he was directly responsible for new dealer appointments, buy/sells, franchise reorganizations, facility design, pro-forma investment analysis, and establishing dealership capitalization and operating standards. Mr. Kammerer also has had extensive field experience as both a District Manager and Regional Sales Manager as well as experience in automotive financial services as a Business Development Manager with Subaru of America and VW Credit/Audi Financial Services. He holds a B.A. from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and an MBA from Fordham University in New York City.