Leadership

Kirk W. Aubry serves as our President and Chief Executive Officer and is a member of our Board. He joined Savage as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and a member of our Board in 2010, was named President in 2012, and was named Chief Executive Officer in 2015. Mr. Aubry has been instrumental in leading our Company into new businesses in the agriculture, infrastructure, and environmental service markets. He has held executive positions in technology and manufacturing companies in addition to leading a successful business services company.

Prior to joining Savage, Mr. Aubry was a Partner at the CEO Project where he advised companies on growth strategies. Prior to that, Mr. Aubry served as Chief Operating Officer at Cadence Innovation, a global automotive manufacturer, where he was responsible for almost 6,000 employees in more than 30 facilities around the world. Mr. Aubry also previously served as Vice President of Textron, Inc., a Fortune 150 company that manufactures Cessna airplanes, Bell helicopters, and E-Z-GO golf carts. He has also served on the boards of both public and private companies.

Mr. Aubry earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Tom Coler joined Savage in October 2022 and serves as our Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Savage, Mr. Coler served as Vice President, Finance for the Health, Hygiene & Consumables business unit at H.B. Fuller Corporation, a public, multi-national manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemical products based in Minneapolis, MN. Tom has extensive experience in global, public companies across multiple industries and brings significant experience in corporate finance, mergers, acquisitions and integration, implementing IT solutions, driving cost and efficiency initiatives and other related finance issues.

Mr. Coler earned a bachelor’s degree and a MBA in Finance from the University of Minnesota. He is a licensed certified public accountant (CPA) in the state of Minnesota and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Jeff Kirkham serves as our Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer. Mr. Kirkham started with Savage in 2013 taking on several finance and operations roles including VP & Unit Leader, Oil & Gas Transloading. In June 2017, he joined what is now our Enterprise Leadership Team as leader of our People Group, and currently leads many of our shared services teams including Talent Acquisition, People Solutions, People Development, Benefits, Compensation, Procurement, Equipment, and Reliability.

Mr. Kirkham joined Savage from United Airlines where his most recent position was Director of Corporate Real Estate playing a key role integrating operations in the merger with Continental Airlines. Prior to that, he was at Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.

Mr. Kirkham holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Utah and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University.

Bob Knief serves as our Sector President, Agriculture, and as President of our Bartlett business. Mr. Knief joined Bartlett in 2004 where he began in domestic wheat merchandising and moved to managing Bartlett’s Mexico business as Vice President. In 2011, he was named President of Bartlett Grain and, following our acquisition of the Bartlett business in August 2018, was named President of Bartlett and our Sector President, Agriculture, in October 2019.

Mr. Knief began his career in the grain industry in 1992, working in origination with Continental Grain in Minneapolis, and in facility management in several locations before becoming an export wheat merchant in Kansas City for Continental. After Continental, Mr. Knief was a wheat merchant for Scoular Grain in Kansas City.

Mr. Knief is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics.

Jason Ray serves as President, Infrastructure Sector. Mr. Ray started with Savage in 2005. Since 2015, he has held Executive Vice President positions leading our Business Development and Engineering groups, our Industrial Facility Solutions Group, and prior to that he led our Marketing and Business Development Group.

Previously, Mr. Ray led our Refinery and Power Solutions Group as Senior Vice President. He has also held various positions at Savage related to our refinery business, including positions in finance, operations management, and business development.

Mr. Ray holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Utah and an MBA from Brigham Young University.

Jeff Roberts serves as our Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer. Mr. Roberts previously led Savage's financing and M&A activity that fueled our growth over six years. He joined Savage in 2016 after nearly four years as Chief Financial Officer of Maxum Enterprises, an integrated marine and land-based chemicals, petroleum, and lubricants supply company, partially owned by Pilot Flying J. In that role, he led the company’s Risk, M&A, Corporate Finance, IT, Credit, Tax, Treasury, Collections, and Accounting teams and served for seven months as Interim President.

Prior to his time at Maxum, Mr. Roberts served in numerous financial roles within the Pilot Flying J organization, including divisional CFO.

Mr. Roberts earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting at Utah State University and a master’s degree in professional accountancy from Weber State University. He is a licensed certified public accountant (CPA) in the state of Utah.

Amy K. Smedley serves as our Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary. Ms. Smedley joined Savage in her current role in January 2022. From 2006 until joining Savage, Ms. Smedley served in various legal roles at Huntsman Corporation in both its Salt Lake City and Houston offices, serving as Vice President and Associate General Counsel from 2014 and as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel from July 2018. She also practiced law with a firm in Salt Lake City and has extensive experience in corporate matters including corporate governance, compliance, litigation, government affairs, trade compliance, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, and other related public company legal issues.

Ms. Smedley earned a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in political science. She received a juris doctor degree from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University where she was a member of the Law Review. She is admitted to both the Utah and California (inactive) bars.

Kirk W. Aubry serves as our President and Chief Executive Officer and is a member of our Board. He joined Savage as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and a member of our Board in 2010, was named President in 2012, and was named Chief Executive Officer in 2015. Mr. Aubry has been instrumental in leading our Company into new businesses in the agriculture, infrastructure, and environmental service markets. He has held executive positions in technology and manufacturing companies in addition to leading a successful business services company.

Prior to joining Savage, Mr. Aubry was a Partner at the CEO Project where he advised companies on growth strategies. Prior to that, Mr. Aubry served as Chief Operating Officer at Cadence Innovation, a global automotive manufacturer, where he was responsible for almost 6,000 employees in more than 30 facilities around the world. Mr. Aubry also previously served as Vice President of Textron, Inc., a Fortune 150 company that manufactures Cessna airplanes, Bell helicopters, and E-Z-GO golf carts. He has also served on the boards of both public and private companies.

Mr. Aubry earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Martha Elena Federica Bárcena Coqui has served as a member of our Board since December 2021. Ms. Bárcena is a member of the Advisory Council of the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, a Senior Advisor to the Center for Strategic International Studies, and a former ambassador of Mexico to the United States. During her tenure from December 2018 to February 2021, she assisted with negotiations that set out the foundations for the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement and dealt with the vast array of issues on one of the most complex bilateral relationships.

Ms. Bárcena previously served as Mexico’s permanent representative to the United Nations agencies based in Rome as well as to the Governing Council of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law from April 2017 to December 2018. She was also the Mexican ambassador to Turkey and concurrent non-resident ambassador to Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan from 2013 to 2017 and previously served as the Mexican ambassador to Denmark and concurrent non-resident ambassador to Norway and Iceland from 2004 to 2013.

Prior to these ambassadorships, Ms. Bárcena served in numerous roles with the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and she has represented Mexico as delegate at the United Nations, UNESCO, and the Organization of American States, as well as head of delegation at the Forum on Migration and Development.

Ms. Bárcena earned bachelor’s degrees from the Universidad Iberoamericana and the Pontifical Gregorian University, a Master in Philosophy from the Universidad Iberoamericana, and a Master in International Relations from the Diplomatic School of Spain.

Diane K. Duren has served as a member of our Board since September 2021. In February 2017, Ms. Duren retired from Union Pacific Corporation, one of North American’s premier railroads, having served as Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, and Corporate Secretary for four years. Since joining Union Pacific in 1985, she held a variety of positions in the Finance and Marketing & Sales departments, including leading two of the company’s business units, first as Vice President and General Manager—Agricultural Products, and then as Vice President and General Manager—Chemicals.

Ms. Duren has served as a director of Werner Enterprises, a transportation and logistics company, since May 2017, and as a director of U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc., an industrial minerals company, since August 2017, and she currently serves as the chair of each company’s compensation committee and as a member of each company’s audit committee.

Ms. Duren holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Creighton University, and she was appointed to the Board of Trustees of that university in May 2019.

Crystal C. Maggelet has served as a member of our Board since September 2013. Ms. Maggelet has served as the CEO and Chairman of FJ Management Inc. since 2009. FJ Management is a diversified family business and its wholly owned subsidiaries include Big West Oil, which operates a petroleum refinery, and Maverik, a convenience-store chain with 370 locations. Other family businesses include TAB, an industrial loan bank, and Crystal Inn, a small chain of hotels. Additionally, FJ Management has a minority stake in Pilot Flying J.

Ms. Maggelet holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University and also earned an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

S. Craig Omer has served as a member of our Board since March 2015. Mr. Omer has worked for 36 years as an accounting services professional, primarily at KPMG where he served as Managing Partner of the firm’s Salt Lake City office from 1997 to 2009. Mr. Omer has provided services to a variety of publicly traded and privately held companies, including Savage, performing auditing, financial reporting, and SEC compliance services.

Since March 2019, Mr. Omer has served as Chief Financial Officer for Leavitt Equity Partners, and he assumed the role of Chief Compliance Officer for Leavitt Equity Partners in 2020. He also served as the Chief Financial Officer for Leavitt Partners, LLC (the former parent company for Leavitt Equity Partners) from June 2016 through March 2021.

His professional and civic activities include having served as Board Chairman of Junior Achievement of Utah, Board Treasurer of Habitat for Humanity, Board Treasurer of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and President of the Utah Association of Certified Public Accountants. He also served as member of the Brigham Young University and Weber State University National School of Accountancy Advisory Boards, member of the Utah Association of Certified Public Accountants, member of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce Board of Trustees and Executive Committee, and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Governing Council.

Mr. Omer was the recipient of the Utah Association of Certified Public Accountants’ 2003 Outstanding CPA in Public Practice Award and Junior Achievement’s 2005 National Gold Leadership Award.

Mr. Omer is a graduate of the University of Utah, with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting.

John Savage has served as a member of our Board since July 2002. Mr. Savage was a Team Member for our Company for 51 years and retired from his position as Executive Vice President and Leader of our Sourcing & Reliability Group in April 2021. In this position, he was responsible for the design and construction of materials management systems and facilities; the acquisition, maintenance, and sale of all equipment; the procurement of materials and services; and the acquisition and sale of all real estate holdings.

Mr. Savage initially joined Savage in 1970, and his wide-ranging experience included operations administrations, startup, construction, and project management. During his tenure with Savage, he has been instrumental in the development of many of our Company’s key productivity and financial management tools. As Operations Vice President, Mr. Savage led the development of lightweight, state-of-the-art transportation equipment and contributed to the expansion of our business into the national bulk materials management industry.

Mr. Savage attended Brigham Young University to study interpersonal communications and organizational behavior. He has since earned certification from the University of Chicago in advanced management development.

Nathan N. Savage has been a member of our Board since May 2004. He currently also serves as CEO and on the board of EnviroServe. Mr. Savage joined Savage in 1995 and served as Sector President from August 2018 to January 2023. Previously, he led our Oil & Gas Solutions Group; served in operations management, finance, and business development; was Group Leader for our Refinery and Sulphur Solutions Group; and was Group Leader for our Commercial Development Group.

Mr. Savage has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Brigham Young University and an MBA from West Virginia University.

Todd Savage serves as the Non-Executive Vice Chairman of our Board, and has served as a member of our Board since November 1999. Having worked with our Company since 1979, Mr. Savage’s career grew with the Company. His experience with Savage includes operations management; business development in the coal, power generation, and refinery industries; and project development from creation through implementation on many projects.

His insight and creativity in developing innovative solutions for challenging materials management, transportation issues, and facility operations has been integral in shaping the philosophy and business model of Savage. He served 18 years as an Executive Vice President of Savage, and retired from day-to-day business operations in July 2017 to serve as the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board.

He serves on the Executive Committee for the National Coal Council, an appointment by the Secretary of Energy. He also served on the Executive Committee for the Great Salt Lake Council of The Boy Scouts of America until 2020.

Mr. Savage earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix.

Donald J. Stebbins serves as the Non-Executive Chairman of our Board, and has served as a member of our Board since July 2020. Mr. Stebbins has served as a member of the board of directors of Snap-On Incorporated since 2015, where he is also a member of audit committee. He is also a member of the board of directors of Kaiser Aluminum Corporation since June 2019, where he serves as the chair of the compensation committee and is a member of the executive committee and nominating and corporate governance committee.

Mr. Stebbins served as President and Chief Executive Officer, and as a director of Superior Industries International, Inc., a manufacturer of aluminum wheels for the automotive industry, from May 2014 to December 2018. For two years prior to joining Superior Industries, Mr. Stebbins provided consulting services to various private equity firms.

Mr. Stebbins previously served as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Visteon Corporation, an automotive components manufacturer, from 2008 until 2012, after having served as Visteon’s President and Chief Operating Officer prior to that time.

Before joining Visteon, Mr. Stebbins held various positions with increasing responsibility at Lear Corporation, a supplier of automotive seating and electrical distribution systems, including President and Chief Operating Officer–Europe, Asia and Africa, President and Chief Operating Officer–Americas, and Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Stebbins is currently Chairman of the Board for the Detroit Country Day School and previously served on the board of directors of WABCO Holdings and ITT.

Mr. Stebbins holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Miami University and an MBA from the University of Michigan.