Leadership Team

Sherrie Ford, Chairman and Owner
Steve Hollis, Chief Executive Officer and Owner
Randy Avery, Director of R&D Future Growth
Cammie Bell-Garrison, Director of Information Systems and Technology Services
Don Carton, Director of Labor Relations
Scott Childs, Commercial Operations Manager
Ben Ehmcke, Strategic Sourcing Director
Tom Lopp, Vice President of Marketing
Jim Murray, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Sandi Saffold, Director of Operations
Corinna Shields, Director of Quality and Continuous Improvement
Mike Stonecipher, Business Segment Leader for ECO-MAX Chillers
Al Traut, Director of Technology Development

Sherrie Ford

Dr. Sherrie Ford co-owns two manufacturing companies and a consulting company distinguished by the outcomes they achieve through application of lean manufacturing principles and effective work cultures. These companies are Power Partners, Inc., Gap Partners and Change Partners. Power Partners is one of the ten largest woman-owned businesses in the United States, as certified by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). In 1996, Ford founded Change Partners, LLC, an organizational consulting company specializing in cultural change. She is a judge for Industry Week magazine's Best Plant competition, an examiner for Georgia's Oglethorpe Award (modeled after the national Malcolm Baldrige Award), past Southeast Regional President for the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, and an acclaimed author and presenter on work-culture, and economic and workforce development. Dr. Ford is Power Partners' Chairman and Executive Vice President of Culture.

Steve Hollis

Steve Hollis co-owns two manufacturing companies and a consulting company distinguished by the outcomes they achieve through application of lean manufacturing principles and effective work cultures. These companies are Power Partners, Inc., Gap Partners and Change Partners. Steve Hollis is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Power Partners, one of the ten largest woman-owned businesses in the United States, as certified by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). He is an expert on lean manufacturing and work culture. After more than 20 years of sales, marketing and manufacturing assignments at Georgia-Pacific and other companies, in 1996 Hollis became a principal at Change Partners, LLC, an organizational consulting company specializing in culture change, primarily in manufacturing companies. Asset ownership had long been a personal goal for both Hollis and Sherrie Ford, his partner at Change Partners, as well as a strategy for contribution to the industrial base and their community. After working with the management and staff of the ABB Athens plant to improve their processes between 2000 and 2003, Hollis and Ford bought the company in May 2003.

Randy Avery

Randy Avery is Director of R&D Future Growth. He has spent his career innovating new products and processes as an engineer and manager in product design, configuration processes, sales support and computer systems. Randy has international experience as a consultant in lean process designs in engineering, using automated configuration processes and the internet. He was responsible for business planning for the start-ups of the Power Partners Solar and ECO-MAX chiller product lines.

Cammie Bell-Garrison

Cammie Bell-Garrison is Director of Information Systems and Technology Services for Power Partners and is responsible for network and communication infrastructure and information systems. Before coming to Power Partners, she was a managing partner in an information systems consulting firm and worked in application development for Mitsubishi Consumer Electronics and Georgia Pacific.

Don Carton

Don Carton is Director of Labor Relations and HR Generalist and has been affiliated with Power Partners for six years. Don has also been a tag team member with Change Partners, an organizational consulting company specializing in culture change, since 2000, and has over 25 years of experience in manufacturing and services industries in human resources and organizational development.

Scott Childs

Scott Childs is the Commercial Operations Manager for Power Partners and has responsibility for Customer Service, Production Planning, and Customer Interface. Scott started his career with ConAgra, working in many different areas of management before joining ABB (whose Athens facility later became Power Partners). He worked for ABB in both the Athens, GA, and Alamo, TN, locations.

Ben Ehmcke

Ben Ehmcke is Strategic Sourcing Director and is responsible for supply management, order management and logistics. Previously he was director of purchasing and materials for Ocean Designs, a manufacturer of sub-sea electrical and fiber optic connectors and jumpers for oil and gas rigs.

Tom Lopp

Tom Lopp is Vice President of Marketing for Power Partners. During his 37-year career, much of which was with ABB, he has been involved in marketing, sales, engineering and business planning/development. His background in mechanical engineering is key in the development of Power Partners sustainability product businesses.

Jim Murray

Jim Murray is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Power Partners. Jim has over 25 of financial management experience. He spent 14 years with KPMG, the last nine in transaction services, and has over ten years of experience as CFO in regional and international manufacturing companies headquartered in the southeastern United States.

Sandi Saffold

Sandi Saffold is Director of Operations. Her current responsibilities are manufacturing operations, supply chain, and maintenance. She has also gained experience in human resources, area management and continuous improvement during her 16 years of service with Power Partners and ABB. Previously, she worked in the foam fabrication and public health industries.

Corinna Shields

Corinna (Corie) Shields is Director of Quality and Continuous Improvement. She has served in the Athens facility in many departments, including accounting, purchasing, production planning, operations and continuous improvement. Her role today is coordination of virtually all of Power Partners' quality and continuous improvement efforts. Before joining Power Partners, she worked in the energy and medical industries.

Mike Stonecipher

Mike Stonecipher is Business Segment Leader for Power Partners ECO-MAX Chillers product line. He has over 20 years of leadership experience in operations, engineering and factory start-ups. Prior to joining Power Partners, Mike was director of operations for Honeywell International, where he supported its automotive and aerospace division.

Al Traut

Alan Traut is Director of Technology Development and is responsible for product and process engineering and development for transformer and solar products. Al joined Power Partners in 2009 and has held a number of engineering positions related to distribution transformer design and manufacturing since 1978.