Meet Our Team
Robert Sires
Entrepreneur, Investor, and Founder
Robert Sires is an entrepreneur, investor, and founder/majority owner of several major corporations. Currently, he serves as Founder and CEO of TRS Capital, a partnership that invests in promising companies and helps them succeed; Founder and CEO of U.S. Meltblown, an American manufacturer of the critical filter medium used in PPE; Partner in Maion Business Solutions, a management consulting company; Co-founder and CEO of Movita, an organic women’s vitamin manufacturer; Owner of Cable Tie Express, a world market provider of cable ties and related accessories; Partner in Roman Capital, an investment firm; CFO of #BeApp, a streaming platform for live music; and Co-owner/Board Member of 2aDays, a web-based resource to help high school student-athletes undergoing the collegiate sports recruiting process make educated decisions about their college choice. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of West Florida.
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Robert is also an early investor in several ventures, including Wheels Up, Chopt, Verde Life, Brad’s Kale Chips, and Swoonery.com. His primary strength is his ability to set and deliver on successful strategies through proper use of human and financial capital.
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In November 2020, Robert sold American Elite Molding, America’s leading manufacturer of nylon cable ties, which he founded in Crestview, FL in 2004. He established a complete manufacturing operation that runs 24/7/365 and employs 175 people, growing from 4,000 to 75,000 square feet in just over a decade. The company enjoyed 15 straight years of double digit growth under Robert’s leadership and was producing more than 1.5 billion cable ties a year (all in the U.S.) with $35 million in sales at the time of the sale.
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Robert is also former President and board member of Unipharm, Inc., a U.S.-based vitamin and supplement manufacturer that holds the #1 market share in Russia, Poland, and Ukraine. He joined the company in 2008, and under his leadership sales doubled, earnings quadrupled, administrative costs were reduced by more than $5 million annually, and gross margins increased by more than 5 percent.
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Previously, Robert served as Vice President of Operations/Finance at Leeds and Northrup, an international manufacturing operation, where he successfully oversaw 150 staff members and coordination of a $50M company restructuring of the manufacturing and financial organizations. After that, he became President of Leach Holding, responsible for operations in the U.S., Europe, and Mexico, and guided the company to becoming profitable for the first time in 4 years.
Chris Adamo
Throughout his career, Chris has achieved numerous successes, including leading the opening of a Pharmaceutical (Drug and Food Supplement Packaging) Facility with Bottle and Blister Operations. He did so in an end-to-end way; Chris identified a facility suitable for the operation and with a convenient location for transport, worked with Local and State Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Officials to secure incentives, designed the facility layout, sourced equipment, planned for Human Capital needed, hired Management Team and Direct Labor Employees, trained the employee base, and created and implemented Standard Operating Procedures in accordance with cGMP and all regulatory requirements of the FDA and multi-national Ministries of Health.
Adam Hallet
Adam Hallet is a business transformation expert who has more than 20 years of quality, business transformation, and business performance improvement leadership in both financial services and manufacturing. He has experience across several industries, including financial services and healthcare. While at ING Retirement Services, Hallet was a Vice President and Master Black Belt responsible for the deployment of Lean Six Sigma, built continuous improvement team from zero employees to over 40 professionals and delivered over $100M in benefits over five years (5 times their cost). Prior to his work at ING, Hallet realized nearly $25M in organizational savings in only 2 years at the Hartford Insurance Company. He was the recipient of The Hartford’s Chairman Award in 2012 for his team’s transformational work.
Keirsten Sires
Keirsten is the founder and CEO of 2aDays. She also helps all athletes with Understanding College Athletes™ by writing for the Huddle. Being the Chief Executive Officer of 2aDays means that Keirsten is the one held accountable for the success of the company’s efforts, across the board. Playing varsity tennis and soccer for Skidmore College in New York has given her the endurance to be able to push the company to the next level day in and day out. Keirsten has also completed the Harvard Business Analytics Program, which has taken her data analytics skills to the next level.
Sal Webber
Sal brings over 20 years of Process Improvement and Customer Experience Design as an executive who solves tough business problems in Contact Centers, Financial Services, Software, Manufacturing, Telecom, and Cloud Based Technologies.
He is currently serving as President/COO of Community Labs, a non-profit start-up focused on keeping San Antonio open through fast turn-around PCR COVID testing for schools and the general public. Sal is also a partner in Maion Business Solutions, a boutique consulting firm that provides process design and improvement services for small and large businesses. Prior to Sal’s entrepreneurial endeavors, he spent 23 years in executive roles for Intuit, TIAA, Symantec, Rackspace, and Andeavor.
Sal has a wealth of experience across multiple disciplines and has contributed to many successes. Examples include leading a decommissioned gear project that reduced downtime from 77 days to under 7 days, enabling the client to reduce inventory by $20M; and reducing an insurance payout claim process from 15 days to less than 24 hours while improving employee engagement by 30% and reducing NIGO by 80%.
Sal holds a BS in Nuclear Engineering from North Carolina State University and enjoys pursuing his passion for racing with the Sports Car Club of America when time permits.
John Pasmore
John is a seasoned executive with an extensive background as a C-level executive with emerging and established companies. He currently serves as the Managing Partner in TRS Capital portfolio company, Movita Organics, and is an active advisor to 2aDays, also a TRS Capital portfolio company. John organized and managed the process to sell the Robert Sires-founded business American Elite Molding in 2020. He is also currently a partner in the technology venture, YesTime, a TRS Capital portfolio company.
Additionally, John has served as CEO of the venture-backed, video-based travel platform VoyageTV, which raised $10 million in an A-Round led by Syncom Venture Partners in 2008, and in 2013 was sold to Next 1 Interactive. Voyages syndicated short-form travel video to over 40 million cable homes through Cablevision, Charter Communications, Verizon FiOS and Comcast. From 1995 to 2004, John partnered with Def Jam founder Russell Simmons to create Oneworld Media, Inc.
He sits on the Board of Directors of Outward Bound USA, the premier youth outdoor leadership program serving over 35,000 students each year. John lives in New York City and is married to Kobi Wu-Pasmore with one child. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the State University of New York and a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Columbia University.
John Gaynor
John began his career at his family’s controls business, becoming General Manager/Vice President, growing the business, and positioning the company for sale to Gardner Bender. He then held various positions with Gardner Bender, using his strategic and interpersonal skills to execute several acquisitions. Next he took on an entrepreneurial role at ACT, working with ownership to acquire private label customers and broaden the product line. After two and half years there, John founded Gen Four Industries to consult with small businesses on positioning them for sale, while also representing several entities, including AEM, as a commissioned sales representative. Gen Four is today managed by John’s son and provides private label controls and lighting to blue chip customers in various industries. In 2010 John became Director of National Accounts for TCP Lighting, helping to grow the business from $19M to $61M in three years.
John joined American Elite Molding, America’s leading manufacturer of cable ties, in 2013 in the newly created role of Vice President of Sales Development. In this role, John focused his efforts on large private label opportunities and working with ownership on strategic direction and sales force development. John loves spending time with his family and enjoys boating, cooking, biking, and travel.
Lori Jimson
Lori has more than 30 years of experience in financial management and was one of the first eight employees of American Elite Molding (then Bay State Cable Ties), joining the company in 2003. As AEM grew into the leading cable tie manufacturer in the U.S., Lori’s responsibilities increased. She was named Financial Controller in 2015. As Financial Controller, she was responsible for all aspects of the Accounting Department including managing department staff and handling cash management, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and financial reporting. Lori also secured financing for growth opportunities and set up internal controls. When not working, Lori enjoys spending time with her husband and children.
Fred Stickel
Fred is a transformational professional with extensive experience leading business performance improvement, start-up, turnaround, carve-out and consolidation activities.
Practiced at leading teams through Lean, Six Sigma, Malcolm Baldrige, QFD, continuous improvement and process redesign as well as engaging teams to implement point solutions, Fred has extensive expertise in manufacturing, quality, IT and marketing in the consumer, drug and medical devices, electronics, OEM software and hardware, insurance, and oil and gas industries.
Fred has served as a Process Excellence and Performance Improvement Consultant internally and externally with Teledyne, Inc. where he led transformational change including business consolidation for three divisions, Motorola Communications and Semiconductor sectors as Senior Director, Quality where he led teams to deliver the highest customer satisfaction and quality rankings.
Fred earned his Master of Management in Finance at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
Brandon Sires
Brandon is a Managing Partner of Premier Asset Services (PAS), a luxury asset management service which caters to ultra-high-net-worth individuals with a focus in customer service. Being a partner of PAS has allowed Brandon to hone his ability for people-based management skills as well as customer acquisition. Brandon is also on the sales team for multiple manufacturing and master distribution companies, including US Meltblown, Thermosleeve USA, and Cable Tie Express, where he continues his passion in the workforce for client-facing interactions. Additionally, Brandon is currently working with an artisanal Frozen Sauce Company, Frescobene, to help improve process efficiency at Frescobene and earn his Six Sigma Green Belt.
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Brandon is a graduate of Skidmore College, where he majored in Management and Business.
Matthew Battaglia
Matthew is a seasoned finance professional, with nearly 10 years of experience at both Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund, & Gartner Inc., a publicly traded, international company with over $4B in annual revenues.
Most recently, Matthew spent 2+ years as the financial planning & analysis lead for Bridgewater's largest department, where his responsibilities included P&L management, budgeting, & strategic planning. He partnered with senior leaders across the organization to formulate an operational plan & the associated budget required to execute.
While at Gartner, Matthew was a key member of the finance organization, receiving the 2016 Gartner CFO Award of Excellence. Matthew championed numerous data-driven exercises, which included kickstarting the workforce planning initiative, strategizing for the company’s long-term human capital management & real estate portfolio growth needs. He also was a key member of the integration team for a $3B acquisition, where he focused on office lease integration decisions as well as personnel re-organizations.
Expedito Serrano
Expedito was most recently Chief Operating Officer of American Elite Molding, America’s leading manufacturer of cable ties. In this role he supervised most American Elite Molding departments, including Manufacturing, Maintenance, Assembly, Quality, and Shipping. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Puerto Rico, 28 years’ experience in plastic injection molding, and 18 years’ experience in cable ties and other nylon products. Expedito was promoted to COO of AEM in 2012, and increased manufacturing capacity to satisfy a growth in sales from $6 million to $35 million. He also redesigned tools with new cavitation and automation features that allowed American Elite Molding to compete effectively with imported products. His hobbies include reading, travel, and some cooking.
Lawrence Goodman
Lawrence is a partner in the Private Equity and Venture Capital group and the Mergers and Acquisitions group at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP. He focuses on private equity, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, and securities, and is experienced in general corporate and international matters.
His private equity and venture capital practice covers a wide range of services, including assisting entrepreneurs, startups, fund-less sponsors, and both foreign and domestic private equity and venture capital funds investing in portfolio companies worldwide. These investments include mezzanine debt, convertible securities, and preferred and common equity, and can take the form of minority investments or acquisition of the entire enterprise. His merger and acquisition clients consist of public and private operating companies undertaking uncontested domestic and cross-border stock or asset purchases.