Management
As CEO of Apex Tool Group, Jim is responsible for the strategic direction of this privately-held company as well as its day-to-day operations. Jim’s career spans 30 years with leading consumer and commercial products companies.
Prior to becoming Apex’s CEO and member of the Board of Directors in February 2016, Jim served as CEO of The Chamberlain Group, a leading provider of access control solutions serving industrial, commercial, automotive and consumer markets worldwide. During his tenure, Jim drove significant new product development and brand building initiatives for this 4,500 employee company, as well as delivering improvements in working capital, productivity and quality/safety.
Jim brings more than two decades of tool industry experience to Apex Tool Group. He held several senior executive positions at Newell-Rubbermaid, including leading its IRWIN Tools & Hardware segment. Previously, he was President of Worldwide Hand Tools and Hardware at The Stanley Works. Prior to that, he spent 19 years at Black & Decker including serving as President of Worldwide Accessories.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from The University of Delaware.
Ross joined ATG in October 2016 and has over 30 years of experience at ATG, Newell Brands and The Chamberlain Group holding senior leadership roles in general management, finance and corporate development. He has a proven track record in driving new product development, marketing, S&OP and supply chain / operations improvements, and has significant M&A experience.
Ross had a successful two decades in senior executive roles with Newell Brands, serving as President of three Global Business Units where he led strong brand building and new product development initiatives for the Construction Tools/Accessories, Hardware and Office Products divisions. Earlier at Newell, Ross was Vice President and CFO for two business groups, and was the company’s investor relations leader. After Newell, Ross joined Chamberlain as its Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, and then served as President and COO of its Controlled Products Systems Group subsidiary.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater.
Bill Burke joins ATG as SVP and President of North American Hand Tools. He is a seasoned tool industry executive with over 35 years of leadership experience in consumer and industrial products. He was most recently the Chief Operating Officer of Newell Brands, where he was responsible for managing a $10 billion portfolio of global businesses. Prior to his tenure at Newell, Bill spent 20 years at Black & Decker in several executive management positions, including Vice President and General Manager of the Product Service Division and Global Vice President of Marketing.
Bill has a proven track record of outstanding leadership and consistent growth. He is known for scaling businesses globally, leading complex organizations, building brands, improving operational excellence and developing talent.
Bill holds Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Business Administration degrees from Loyola University, where he also serves on the board as a trustee. He maintains a Chairman of the Board position for Springfield College as well.
James G. Booth joined ATG as SVP, Global Supply Chain and OpEx, in October 2022. He has nearly 30 years of industry experience in supply chain and global operations. Prior to ATG, James held leadership roles at companies like VF Corporation, Heritage Home Group, Newell Rubbermaid, and Ford Motor Company. He most recently served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Information Officer at Corsicana Mattress Company, where he was responsible for the distribution, manufacturing operations, supply chain, strategic sourcing and logistics.
James has an MBA from the University of Detroit and a Master of Manufacturing Operations from Kettering University. He also has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Victoria. He is bilingual in English and Spanish.
David is accountable for leading the management team and has P&L responsibility, which includes both commercial and manufacturing activities.
Prior to the Apex Tool Group joint venture, David was president of Danaher Tool Group in Asia. He has more than 30 years experience in the hand tool industry, including serving as Vice President and General Manager of Danaher Tool Group, Asia. David also founded Lea Way Hand Tool Corporation and served as general manager for several years until the company was acquired by Danaher in 1981.
David holds a Bachelor's Degree in Navigation from Marine University in Taiwan.
Eduardo joined ATG in August 2019, and brings over 25 years of general management experience with leading global companies including Baker Hughes, Pepsico, M&M Mars and Newell Brands.
He spent nine years leading P&Ls globally and in LATAM for Newell Brands, and seven years in President and VP roles for M&M Mars in South America.
Eduardo is a dual citizen of Brazil and the U.S., and holds a postgraduate degree in finance from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico as well as auto mechanical and production engineering degrees from FEI Brazil.
Ms. Drozd joined Apex Tool Group, LLC as Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Secretary in January 2018 and was appointed Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Secretary in May 2019.
She has 14 years of legal experience, including in-house experience at LPL Financial as Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Affinia Group, Inc. as Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary. In her in-house experience, Ms. Drozd is a corporate generalist, with a focus on strategic transactions, including extensive merger & acquisition and financing transaction experience. Prior to her in-house experience, Ms. Drozd worked at two national law firms for a combined six years with a focus on corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions and acquisition financing.
Prior to law school, Ms. Drozd worked for the American Lung Association for two years. Ms. Drozd holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina and a Juris Doctorate from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
Rob Marais, SVP and President, GPT, joined ATG in October 2022. He has over 24 years of general management leadership experience with companies like Whirlpool, Amalgamated Appliances, Ozito Industries and Gillette. During his career, he demonstrated the ability to grow sales and earnings and improve working capital while establishing a customer-centric culture with high engagement from all associates. He has a proven track record of building brands, driving productivity and leading continuous improvement activities in complex operations environments.
Prior to joining ATG, Rob served as the MD & President, International BU, for Chamberlain Group, Inc. He holds an MBA from Henley University and an IMM diploma in Sales and Marketing Management from Wits Tech.
Rich Mathews is Chief Marketing Officer, Apex Tool Group.
Before joining ATG, Rich was the Chief Marketing Officer and eCommerce Division Leader for Newell Brands, where he was responsible for brand and innovation development across the corporation and led centers of excellence in insights, earned media, design, packaging and marketing operations. He was simultaneously the operating leader for the $1B integrated eCommerce division.
He spent 18 years at Newell Brands in various global marketing and new business roles leading various consumer and commercial semi-durable brands. He also was responsible for marketing skills development and training across the corporation for eight years.
Rich has over 20 years of experience in the tools industry with Newell, Stanley Works, Amazon and Black & Decker/DeWalt. At Black & Decker/DeWalt, he managed DeWalt's cordless technology portfolio. At Stanley Works, Rich led the BOSTITCH rebranding initiative and was responsible for the BOSTITCH pneumatics portfolio. At Amazon.com, he launched and was the General Manager of Tools & Hardware business. At Newell Brands, Rich led marketing for the LENOX and IRWIN brands as well as created the Hilmor HVACR tools brand.
Rich holds a BA in Marketing from The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts.
Pete joined ATG in August 2022 and has close to 30 years of experience in Human Resources. He most recently served as the CHRO of Hillenbrand, a global diversified industrial company. Prior to Hillenbrand, Pete was the CHRO of Innovative Water Company, a private equity-backed chemical company that was a carve-out of a large, European-based multinational company. Pete spent 14 years with Pentair LLC, growing through successive leadership positions, which included significant international HR leadership assignments. His early career included seven years at General Electric and three years at Ford Motor Company, where he had a primary focus on union relations and plant HR leadership roles.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Economics as well as his master's degree in Labor and Industrial Relations from Michigan State University.
Mr. Szostek joined the company in July 2019 as Global Vice President of Procurement and was named Chief Procurement Officer in January 2022. Prior to ATG, he spent 15 years at Newell Brands (formerly Newell Rubbermaid) most recently as the Vice President of Procurement for enterprise-wide raw materials & components and led the corporate VA/VE function. Prior to that role, he spent time leading the Procurement team at Irwin Tools focusing on hand tools and power tool accessories. Mr. Szostek holds a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and an MBA in Supply Chain Management from the University of North Carolina Charlotte.
Rob joined ATG in 2015 as Vice President and Controller after 17 years with Eaton / Cooper in finance roles of increasing responsibility, including Vice President, Finance and IT with Cooper’s Wiring Devices & Interconnect division. In 2018, he was named SVP, Finance and IT for ATG.
At Cooper, among other roles, Rob served as its central business systems finance process and design lead, leveraging his finance, IT and process expertise to drive key initiatives. He began his career with United Technologies as a Plant Controller.
Rob holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Ball State University in Indiana and completed the Rice University Executive Development Program in Houston.