CHRIS KEMPA

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Chris Kempa serves as True Value’s Chief Executive Officer. Kempa joined the Company in November 2019 and previously served as Chief Commercial Officer, where he rapidly implemented and executed an integrated merchandising, sales and pricing go-to-market strategy.

Kempa has a long track record of successfully leading businesses in the retail channel and has over 25 years of experience in the product distribution sector. He comes to True Value from ORS Medco, where he most recently served as chief executive officer and group president. Prior to that he was an officer at Grainger with responsibility for its international business.

Kempa holds an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, as well as a master’s certificate in project management from George Washington University.

RON BYCZYNSKI

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

As Senior Vice President of Information Technology, Ron Byczynski brings more than 20 years of experience in architecting, implementing and optimizing multi-cloud solutions. 

Byczynski joined True Value in 2017 as Division Vice President, Infrastructure and DevOps, during which he spearheaded strategic IT initiatives, resulting in improved operational efficiency, enhanced customer experiences and competitive advantages.  

Prior to True Value, he has continuously led cross-functional teams to drive innovation, scalability and digital transformation across industries. 

Byczynski earned his bachelor’s degree in Business from North Central College. 

JAKE KALNITZ

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF MERCHANDISING OFFICER

As Chief Merchandising Officer, Jake Kalnitz leads the Company’s strategy of building innovative and productive product assortments while also creating a differentiated inventory experience for True Value’s independent hardware retailers. Kalnitz joined the Company in December 2020 as Vice President of Merchandising.

Before joining True Value, Kalnitz built experience in product distribution across multiple functions and disciplines including Finance, Supply Chain, and Merchandising. He comes to True Value most recently from Grainger, where he had responsibility for leading procurement and supplier growth strategies for the Safety business.

Jake earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned his Executive MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

MAHESH KUMTHEKAR 

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGY AND ANALYTICS 

As Senior Vice President, Strategy and Analytics, Mahesh leads strategy development and planning, analytics, and transformation to drive profitable growth for True Value, an iconic brand with a 75-year rich history.  He is a growth focused senior executive with deep strategy, operational and commercial experience serving Industrial and distribution segments.  Prior to joining True Value, he successfully completed several enterprise-wide initiatives in revenue growth, margin enhancement, and cost management at top-tier companies such as Ford, McKinsey, Eaton, and Veritiv.  He brings a global perspective based on his extensive work in North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. 

Mahesh’s areas of expertise are M&A, due diligence, integration, business portfolio management, pricing, network optimization, go-to-market strategy, competitive intelligence, and commercial analytics. 

He has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Ohio State and an MBA from University of Michigan’s Ross Business School.  He has also completed Wharton’s Executive Program in Data Analytics. 

Mahesh serves on the Advisory Board for Ohio State University’s Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department.

ERIC LANE

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, RETAIL STORE DEVELOPMENT

BILL MCGANN

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

As Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Bill McGann leads True Value’s finance team to support growth-driving initiatives and a continuous improvement mindset to strengthen the business. Bill has extensive experience in accounting, FP&A, due diligence, business process improvements, risk management, treasury and banking relationships, and M&A. He has spent over 20 years in CFO roles, leading successful finance teams and organizations across multiple industries, in both private and public companies. 

Bill earned his B.S. in Accounting at Babson College, graduating summa cum laude. He began his career with KPMG in Baltimore before being seconded to KPMG Hungary. Upon the completion of his secondment to KPMG Hungary, Bill left KPMG to embark on his CFO career and lived a total of 12 years in Hungary before returning to the U.S.

JENNIFER MCNEILL

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SUPPLY CHAIN OPERATIONS

As Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Operations, Jennifer McNeill is responsible for driving end-to-end supply chain optimization and developing integrated planning and logistics strategies.

Jennifer joined the Company in July 2021 as Divisional Vice President of Logistics, and she led True Value’s transportation functions and Midwest distribution centers, as well as the restructure and stabilization of the import, domestic and outbound transportation teams.

Before joining True Value, Jennifer led high performing teams at Grainger, Electro-Motive Diesel (A Caterpillar Company), and Sears Holdings in supply chain functions. She has a proven record of building and creating strong leadership teams and experience in managing daily operations on all levels.

Jennifer earned her bachelor’s degree in International Business from Loyola University of New Orleans and is currently a member of the AWESOME (Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management and Education) network. She is an alumni of the Corporate Leaderships Center “Leading Women Executive” program.

IRMA QUINTANA

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER

As Chief Human Resources Officer, Irma Quintana is responsible for the Company’s talent acquisition, succession planning, performance management and training.

Quintana has over 25 years of experience leading companies through extensive change management and development of compensation philosophies.

Prior to joining True Value, Quintana served as Vice President, Global Compensation, Benefits, HRIS and US Payroll at Littlefuse. She also spent 15 years at CNA Financial, most recently as Vice President of Compensation.

Quintana holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois.

JOHN VANDERPOOL

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, TRUE VALUE MANUFACTURING / GENERAL PAINT MANUFACTURING

As Senior Vice President, True Value Manufacturing / General Paint Manufacturing, John Vanderpool is responsible for ensuring alignment on the implementation of our paint strategy and driving sales growth of our EasyCare paint assortment and private label manufacturing efforts.

John has been at the helm of True Value Manufacturing in various roles since 2015, beginning as Senior Director of Business Development. Before joining True Value, John developed and implemented growth strategies for Benjamin Moore and improved top line sales for the J.C. Licht retail chain. John is a board member for the American Coatings Association and Chairman of the Board of the ACA PaintCare organization.

John holds a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Chemistry and English from Augustana College.