Key Personnel
Curtis Maas
President and Chief Executive Officer
Curtis Maas is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the RDI Group, which is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. The RDI Group provides highly engineered capital equipment and related products to customers worldwide in various industries including asphalt roofing, metal coil processing and road construction.
Mr. Maas began in the machinery business as a project engineer, and also worked as a market development manager focused on diversification of products and markets. Under his leadership, the RDI Group has grown to serve customers all over the world with a wide range of products and services. The company is committed to technical and design innovation, and offering the highest total value to its customers.
Mr. Maas holds a BSME degree from Northwestern University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He is also a board member of a number of privately held companies, as well as various not-for-profit organizations.
Rick Schweinberg
Chief Financial Officer
Rick Schweinberg oversees Finance, Accounting, Information Technology and Human Resources, all critical functions shared by the RDI Group's three business units. Prior to joining the RDI Group, Mr. Schweinberg was Vice President and CFO at Cloud Corporation, a high speed machinery and packaging solutions provider. Before that he worked in finance and audit functions at Interlake Corporation, Walt Disney World Company and Arthur Andersen & Company.
Mr. Schweinberg holds a BS in accounting from the University of Illinois and an MBA in finance from DePaul University.
Fred Kestler
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Fred Kestler is Vice President of Sales & Marketing of the RDI Group's Reichel & Drews business unit. Mr. Kestler leads the sales and marketing efforts, focusing on serving customers and growing the Reichel and Drews brand. Prior to joining Reichel & Drews, Kestler was Vice President of Sales and Marketing at GE Capital, responsible for one of the equipment sales and leasing companies and for the Transport Technologies division.
Mr. Kestler holds a BS in Information Systems Management and an MS in Management from the University of Maryland.
Laureen Hildebrand
Vice President of Purchasing and Supply Chain
As Vice President of Purchasing and Supply Chain for The RDI Group, Laureen Hildebrand leads the purchasing and global procurement team with a focus on creating value by procuring superior parts and materials that are required to build into our high quality equipment and products. Ms. Hildebrand is also responsible for the development of RDI's global sourcing capabilities, to insure that our equipment and products provides the best overall value for customers.
Ms. Hildebrand has spent her entire career and expertise in the highly engineered equipment manufacturing world. She brings more than 25 years of operations and purchasing experience to this position having held various upper management positions for both Chicago Slitter and The RDI Group.
Ms. Hildebrand has been an active in the International Supply Management Association (ISM) and served on the Board of the Visibility Users Group.
Joseph Gajc
Director of Marketing
Joe Gajc is the Director of Marketing for both the Reichel & Drews and Chicago Slitter business units. Mr. Gajc leads the group's efforts to build brand awareness, initiate new product launches and support sales. Prior to being named Director of Marketing Mr. Gajc was the International Sales Manager and before that, the Reichel & Drews Engineering Manager.
Mr. Gajc holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois Chicago and an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management.
Jim Russell
Director of Chicago Slitter
Jim Russell is the Director of the RDI Group’s Chicago Slitter business unit. Mr. Russell leads the Sales, Customer Support and Engineering teams focused on offering high value metal coil processing equipment that increases productivity. Before being named Director in 2003, Mr. Russell was Engineering Manager for Chicago Slitter and before that, a design engineer.
He received both a BS in Engineering Technology and an MS in Industrial Management from Northern Illinois University.
Ross Oberg
Director of Engineering
Ross Oberg is Director of Engineering for both Reichel & Drews and Chicago Slitter business units. He is responsible for leading the RDI's talented engineering team and maintaining the company's ongoing commitment to provide highly engineered and innovative equipment and products to our customers.
Mr. Oberg brings more than 24 years of project engineering and management experience in the field of automated equipment. He has held the positions of project manager for Grotnes Metalforming, Chicago Slitter and Reichel & Drews before becoming Director of Engineering in 2005.
Mr. Oberg holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is an active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
Blase Rau
Director of Product Development
Blase Rau is responsible for the RDI Group’s new product development program. The mission is to advance the state of the art in manufacturing equipment and controls and develop new technologies that benefit Reichel & Drews and Chicago Slitter customers.
Mr. Rau holds 2 patents. He has held the positions of Chief Engineer, Corporate Technology Manager and Manager of Engineering since joining Reichel & Drews in 1979. He holds a BSME from Tulane University.
Steve Vining
Director of Manufacturing
Steve Vining is Director of Manufacturing for The RDI Group. He leads the strong manufacturing group that is responsible for delivering superior products and the highest value to customers. Mr. Vining is also instrumental in implementing and building RDI's state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques and material flow methods.
Mr. Vining brings more than 28 years of extensive management experience in manufacturing with proven ability in delivering objectives relative to quality, efficiency and on-time performance.
Mr. Vining holds a BS in Liberal Arts from Western Illinois University.