Masisa USA

Our experienced management team has the expertise and commitment to help customers reduce costs through innovative business strategies, progressive operations and supply chain visibility.

Dan Schmidt, President
Phillip Kleiss, Director of Sales, Fingerjoint
Dean Charles, Director of Sales, MDF
Robert Updegraff, National Sales Manager, Doors
Brian Lasenyik, Product Manager, Fingerjoint
James Cervi, Product Manager, MDF Moulding

Dan Schmidt, President—Dan applies more than 35 years of millwork sales experience to his responsibilities as Masisa USA's President. Dan joined Masisa USA in 2004 as Director of Sales of Doors and Fingerjoint. Before joining Masisa, he served as Director of Sales and Marketing for Georgia-Pacific's Millwork Division until it was sold to Premdor, where he served as President of the DoorFab Division. Prior to this, he was a partner and Executive Vice President at Atlanta Millworks, a manufacturer of architectural millwork products. Dan began his extensive career in millwork at Huttig, Sash, & Door, working first in sales before advancing to General Manager of Branches.

Phillip Kleiss, Director of Sales, Fingerjoint— Phillip draws on more than 27 years of experience in sales and management and is an eight-year veteran of Masisa USA. Before coming to Masisa, Phillip worked as a Commodity Procurement/Inventory Manager for Builders Marts of America in Greenville, South Carolina. There, he consulted with various mills and brokers to purchase commodity millwork products with an annual budget of $15 million. He also served as a senior marketing manager and a region manager for Builders Mart of America. Phillip earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Eastern Illinois University.

Dean Charles, Director of Sales, MDF— Dean brings more than 12 years of experience in sales and marketing management to his position as Masisa USA’s Director of Sales, MDF. Prior to joining Masisa, Dean served as a millwork sales manager for Arauco Wood Products, Inc. for six years, where he developed and implemented sales strategies for Trupan MDF mouldings. Dean began his career with Georgia-Pacific where he held various positions ranging from inside sales, territory manager, millwork buyer and millwork product manager. In this capacity, he developed strategic vendor relationships and identified new market opportunities. Dean earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Gannon University.

Robert Updegraff, National Sales Manager, Doors—Prior to joining Masisa in 1999 as Sales Manager for the door division, Bob had gained over 20 years of experience in the building materials business with Weyerhaeuser Company. He started in 1980 on the inside sales desk, culminating his career with Weyerhaeuser as the Regional Industrial/Millwork Sales Manager for the Western NY region. Sales grew in this segment to $8MM in 1999 from less than $1MM just four years prior. During his tenure at Weyerhaeuser, Bob also held the positions of Panel Products Sales Manager for the tri-state area and National Accounts Marketing Manager for the Eastern US Region. He was twice selected to Weyerhaeuser"s “Professional Round Table of Sales”. Bob has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts - Graphic Design from West Chester State University in Pennsylvania.

Brian Lasenyik, Product Manager, Fingerjoint—An industry veteran with 26 years of sales and marketing experience, Brian joined Masisa in 2002, after serving as Vice President of Sales for Baltic Lumber & Moulding, a Russian-American venture. Prior to this, Brian worked with the Thunderbird-American Wood Moulding Companies in a variety of capacities, including coordinating sales and purchasing activities of their Global Wholesale division. In previous years, Brian’s industry positions were predominantly with Georgia-Pacific Building Products, where he served as an industrial and millwork specialist, as well as an Account Manager for the company’s moulding facility in Mexico. Brian has a Bachelor of Science in Economics/Finance from John Carroll University.

James Cervi, Product Manager, MDF Moulding—Before joining Masisa, Jim had earned more than 12 years of experience in sales and management. Most recently he had served as District Sales Manager for Simonton Windows. Previously, he was District Sales Representative for Pactiv Corporation, growing business within distribution channels and successfully managing a product launch. Jim also was with Georgia-Pacific’s Building Product Distribution division, helping to establish the successful Growth Accounts Group. He held various positions there, including Millwork Inside Account Manager and Team Leader, enhancing sales of new and existing accounts. Jim has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kansas.

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