Executive Management Team

Larry Renaud

President and CEO

 

After serving the company for over seven years, Larry Renaud was appointed President of CPI in 2006. Larry’s role was then expanded to President and CEO in June 2007. Larry is responsible for the overall function and direction of CPI as a company and industry leader, while also serving on CPI's Board of Directors.

Prior to becoming CPI's President, Larry successfully functioned as CPI's Chief Financial Officer (CFO). While in this position, Larry positively led company-wide Finance, Accounting and Information Technology functions.

Since 2004, Larry has been a member of CPI's Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Administrative Committee as well as a Trustee of CPI's ESOP. In addition, Larry is also a member of the core Senior Leadership Team that devised the strategic plan which has charted the growth and positive direction for CPI.

In 1999, Larry joined CPI as General Manager of the Georgetown, Texas operating unit where he led and managed all business functions located at the facility.

Prior to joining CPI, Larry acquired extensive management and leadership experiences. He served as the Executive Vice President of Long Reach Holdings, Inc., where he was responsible for the successful integration of an acquired business unit. Previous to that position, for 10 years he was the President of Norriseal Consolidated, an autonomous business unit owned by a Fortune 500 corporation. During his time with Norriseal Consolidated he oversaw the growth of the business both internally and through acquisitions. Larry has previously held positions as CFO and Corporate Controller with other corporations.

Larry began his business career with Arthur Andersen & Co. in St. Louis after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from St. Louis University.
 

Ted Behrens

Executive Vice President of Global Engineering and Product Management

Ted Behrens is responsible for engineering development of all CPI global product platforms and leading CPI’s overall product development life cycle through close collaboration with Michael Custer, Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing and Wesley Gass, Executive Vice President of Global Operations and Supply Chain. Ted is also the lead on Global Product Development, Product Management, Custom Engineering, Sustaining Engineering and the Electronics/Software team.

Prior to being appointed Executive Vice President, Ted successfully served as CPI’s Director of Product Management. In this position he supervised CPI’s product management across all product lines to ensure the company offered the highest quality and most innovative solution sets.

In addition to his extensive data centre and product development experience, Ted provides comprehensive product sales assistance and leads new market identification projects and product positioning. Ted carries this experience over to also serve as one of CPI’s expert speakers, presenting at various events to educate attendees about power and infrastructure management solutions.

Before joining CPI, Ted was the CEO and a co-founder of Epicenter, Inc. (acquired by CPI in 2009), a leading provider of data centre infrastructure management tools to the enterprise and managed services market. Prior to founding Epicenter, Ted served as Vice President of Sales for Carrera Computers, a manufacturer of Alpha-based servers and workstations. Ted received a BSEE from Bucknell University. 

Michael Custer

Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing

Michael Custer oversees the domestic and international management of CPI’s sales and marketing efforts, including the sales force, marketing communications, sales-marketing operations, technical support and technology-expert consulting teams. He is responsible for ensuring the company continues its core value focus of “Delighting the Customer” and the ongoing development of customers for CPI’s products and services.

Mike most recently held the position of Vice President of Sales and Marketing (since November 2003) after serving as CPI’s Vice President of New Business Development. Mike first joined CPI in November 1996 as General Manager of the Chatsworth, Calif. operating unit, where he led and managed all business functions located at the facility.

His 30+ years of executive management experience include serving as President and CEO of Sumo Products Group, a manufacturer of high-end consumer electronics, and serving as President and CFO of Califone International, Inc., a manufacturer of audiovisual products.

Mike started his career as a Research and Development Engineer in the consumer electronics industry, working for the Marantz Company, where he eventually became Vice President of Product Development.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from DeVry Institute of Technology in Phoenix. 


 

Wesley Gass

Executive Vice President of Global Operations and Supply Chain

 

Wesley Gass plays a vital role in CPI’s ongoing international expansion by overseeing operations and supply chain functions on a global scale. His responsibilities include company-wide material procurement, inventory control and logistical programs.

Wesley joined CPI in 2000 and has since played a key part in transitioning the company from a facility-centric model to a company-wide process-based organisation. In addition to his current role of Executive Vice President of Global Operations and Supply Chain, Wesley has held top leadership positions at CPI including, Vice President of Operations and Supply Chain, Vice President of Operations and General Manager of various CPI facilities.

Prior to CPI, Wesley was the Director of Manufacturing for Citiplate, Inc. where he oversaw innovations and new employee programmes that maximised company efficiency.

From 1982 to 1997, Wesley enjoyed a long and progressive career at Western Lithotech where he held several principal positions, culminating in Senior Vice President of Manufacturing. In this position, he oversaw total operations for three profit centres in Texas and Missouri and spearheaded programmes that significantly increased manufacturing capacity.

Wesley received a Master of Science degree and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Texas A&M University.

Bette Ikeda

Chief Information Technology Officer

Bette Ikeda  functions as the Information Technology (IT) strategic leader relative to growth and evolution of CPI's business model, drives all elements of IT strategy development and execution and establishes and manages related key IT partnerships and alliances. She defines both strategic and tactical IT plans and is responsible for the successful completion of organisational objectives and company-wide systems integration.

Joining CPI in 1997, Bette rapidly advanced holding various IT positions including Manager of Information Systems, Director of Information Technology and now Chief Information Technology Officer. She has successfully managed the entire Information System Operations Team, facilitating communication between staff, management, vendors and other technology resources to make certain that systems meet the needs of the business.

Before coming to CPI, Bette worked as a Manufacturing Engineer for Spacelabs, Inc., Hoffman Electronics, NavCom Systems Division and Gould Electronics where she headed up the Prototype Engineering Department and served as an IT Consultant. She has also operated as a state elected Trustee on her local School Board for 12 years.

Bette majored in Industrial Engineering and has earned Professional Certifications in multiple facets of Information Systems, Networking Technology and Business Management.

Alex Lopez

Chief Human Resources Officer

Alex Lopez's responsibilities include working with CPI Human Resource Teams to create a cohesive environment through employee participation, cooperation and support. In addition, he is in charge of overseeing company-wide benefits, compensation, training and development and employee relations.

Before joining CPI, Alex worked for Amgen in Thousand Oaks, Calif., where he helped establish world class human resource support for their global operations.

Alex possesses more than 20 years of human resource leadership experience in design, manufacturing and service organisations. He has extensive Six Sigma training and a strong background in employee relations, compensation and organisational development.

Alex holds a Juris Doctor Degree from Loyola University of Los Angeles School of Law and a Bachelor of Sociology from California State University in Long Beach, Calif.