BUSINESS AWARDS
■ Dayton Freight Lines Inc., a leading provider of regional less-thantruckload transportation services, announced the appointment of Brian Gratsch to Region 3 vice president of operations. Upon graduating from Wittenberg University in 2002, Gratsch was hired as a dispatcher at the Dayton Service Center. After completing the company’s Management Trainee Program, he worked as a time and attendance trainer and was soon promoted to service center manager in Mansfield. Gratsch went on to serve as the assistant service center manager in Des Plaines, Ill., and service center manager in Dayton. Gratsch was promoted to Region 2 VP of operations in 2012.
■ Dan Karcher was promoted to Region 2 vice president of operations. Karcher was hired in 1994 as the Service Center manager in Grand Rapids Mich. During his time as service center manager, Karcher traveled to new Service Centers to assist with training. Prior to Dayton Freight, Karcher spent seven years in the Marine Corps and is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm.
■ Jonathan Duckett was recently named the chief executive officer at Haven Behavioral Hospital of Dayton. Duckett was most recently the interim CEO and the director of risk management and performance improvement at Haven.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology, Duckett began his career as a behavioral health technician at the village, a long-term residential treatment facility for teenagers with co-occurring diagnoses. Most recently, Duckett was the director of risk management and performance improvement for Village Behavioral Health where he previously held positions as the milieu supervisor and case manager/discharge coordinator. Past experience also includes work as a clinical supervisor and counselor for Youth Villages, a non-profit that provided intensive in-home counseling to at-risk children and adolescents.
For more information on Haven Behavioral Hospital, call 937-234-0100 or visit dayton.havenbehavioral.com.
■ The law firm of Coolidge Wall Co. has announced that Tino Monaldo and Debra Aldred have joined the firm in its growing corporate and business department.
Monaldo brings more than 30 years’ experience in a wide variety of transactions for both publicly and privately held corporations, managing, negotiating and drafting transaction documents in a variety of industries, including gas pipelines, ethanol, oil and gas, construction, engineering, car dealerships, hotels and casinos. For more than 24 years, Monaldo served as outside general counsel for a Kansas City-based energy entrepreneur, which included the ownership and operation of a 3,000-mile interstate gas transmission pipeline system and a construction company with projects throughout the U.S. From 2007 through 2015, he was vice president of corporate development/deputy general counsel of a publicly traded international hotel/ casino/ hospitality corporation and was involved in project development, project finance, due diligence and the negotiation and drafting of complex international commercial transactions. Most recently, he provided legal consulting services on a project-by-project basis for Kansas-based business clients.
In addition, Aldred joins Coolidge Wall as a paralegal. With more than 20 years of experience, she has provided support in entity formation, entity maintenance, and entity elimination as well as mergers and acquisitions. Additionally, Aldred has experience with regulated industries. Prior to joining Coolidge Wall, Aldred worked in the Office of the Corporate Secretary and Governance for Nationwide, a Fortune 75 company, as well as at Fifth Third Bank.
■ The Greater Dayton RTA has announced the selection of Michael Roth as the agency’s new paratransit manager.
In his new role with the RTA, Roth will be responsible for the daily management of the agency’s “RTA Connect” paratransit services. He will assist the director of transportation with the development and execution of programs to improve service quality and increase employee productivity, on-time performance and ridership.
Roth comes to Dayton with more than 13 years of leadership experience with paratransit services, operations and paratransit safety and workforce training. His most recent role as the district manager with the company MV Transportation included the oversight of five Ohiobased paratransit contracts, which encompassed more than 100 vehicles and 150 employees. In his time with MV Transportation, Roth received several safety awards, including the MV Safety Award for Reduction of Accident Frequency Rate.
Roth graduated from the Union Institute/University of Cincinnati with a degree in human resources management. He belongs to various professional organizations including the American Public Transportation Association, the Ohio Public Transportation Association, and the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials.
The Connor Group promoted seven local associates to partner at an awards breakfast last month.
■ The group consists of Katie Powell (senior director), Dave Peacock (regional service trainer), Sal Gracia (regional vice president), Chris Jemo (vice president of talent acquisition), Jennifer Jolls (director of marketing, communication and reputation enhancement), Ryan Ernst (director of Kids & Community Partners), and Shawn Riffee (pilot).
Also in February, the company promoted three partners in other markets: Carl Williams (regional tech trainer - Charlotte), Annabelle Braunreiter (sales trainer - Minneapolis), and Matt Maynor (service trainer Minneapolis).
The Connor Group now has 42 partners. The group consists of associates in all roles — administrative, service, sales, etc. — not just senior management; it owns a percentage of the company and all its properties.
■ Yaskawa Motoman has announced that David Troeter has been appointed vice president of customer satisfaction. In this position, Troeter will be responsible for the overall performance of Yaskawa Motoman’s Customer Satisfaction Group, including field service, technical support, training, spare parts, robot refurbishment and repair, retrofits and aftermarket support sales for the Americas.
In addition, Troeter will join Yaskawa Motoman’s executive team, offering key leadership and vision for customer service-related opportunities. The executive team develops and implements strategic direction for the company.
Troeter brings over two decades of experience focused on building engaged cultures, lean processes and dynamic systems to Yaskawa Motoman. Most recently, he was director of customer support services for Stiles Machinery (Grand Rapids, Michigan), an industry-leading provider of advanced manufacturing solutions.
Troeter earned his bachelor of science degree in business administration from Methodist College in 1994, and he received his master of business administration from University of Redlands in 2003. He is certified in Innovation Methods and Lean Office.