Paul M. Keating, Jr. - President and Chief Executive Officer
Paul Keating, founder and CEO of Elite Brands, is responsible for the company's
vision and direction of worldwide sales, marketing, and distribution to the military
resale markets.
Prior to founding Elite, Mr. Keating served as vice president of sales and marketing
for Military Sales and Marketing, where he was instrumental in creating the infrastructure
and sales team that succeeded in taking the company worldwide. At Elite, Mr. Keating
has built a leadership team of highly experienced, top resale personnel from throughout
the military resale industry.
Mr. Keating and Elite Brands are members of the American Logistics Association (ALA).
He has been an active member of ALA's Commissary Council representing small business
interests for nine consecutive years.
Mr. Keating holds a BS in Business Administration from Bryant College.
Gregory D. Sheldon - Chief Information Officer
Greg Sheldon joined Elite in 2000 as Vice President of Information and Technology
and was instrumental in procuring and building the network and server infrastructure
currently in place at Elite.He also worked closely with vendors to build the ordering
and customer management systems that have been critical to Elite's yearly double-digit
growth since 2000.
In 2008, Mr. Sheldon was promoted to Vice President of Operations,
and became directly responsible for ensuring that cost effective operations and
infrastructure were in place to support the daily flow of business. In 2011, he
further assumed the responsibilities of Chief Information Officer as technology
has permeated every facet of business at Elite from the field to corporate headquarters.
With the dramatic increase of mobile devices and added concerns with security and
dependences on technology, Mr. Sheldon ensures that Elite remains on the cutting
edge of technology.
Mr. Sheldon holds a BSBA with concentration in Finance from Boston University.
Robert E. Denecke - Vice President of Field Sales
Rob Denecke joined the Elite Sales team in 2003 and is currently responsible for
field sales in the domestic market and direct oversight of the European commissary
market. He is also directly involved with all DeCA test sets and coordinating Elite's
reset team for the continental US.
Mr. Denecke was previously the Regional Sales manager for Paul Keating, Jr., at
Military Sales and Marketing and was responsible for the Eastern Region, Headquarters
presentations, and managing DeCA Europe. He has been involved in the commissary
resale system since 1990.
Mr. Denecke is a graduate of Bryant College with a Bachelors in Business Administration
Michael Gorman - Director of Information Technology
Michael Gorman first joined Elite in December of 2004 as an independent
contractor and came on board full time in the spring of 2005 as the Director of
IT/IS. He is responsible for all Information Technology related projects spanning
hardware, networking platform and software development.
Mr. Gorman’s accomplishments at Elite range from automating many core practices
specific to the military sales channel including the creation of 40-15 forms and
inventory reporting, upgrading the company database platform to the latest SQL Server
architecture, and moving the company to a hosted IP telephony platform.
Outside of work, Mr. Gorman has acted as Treasurer of the Board of Trustees for
his local building development, performed as a mentor in the Big Sisters/Big Brothers
program and has coached numerous youth athletic teams.
Mr. Gorman is a graduate of the University of Virginia, earning a BS in Business
with concentrations in MIS and Management and a Masters in MIS.
Elizabeth Murphy - Brand Development Manager
Liz Murphy began her career with Elite in 2003 as a key member
of the distribution team who managed ordering and inventory levels with Elite's
forwarding warehouse partners. She is now the Brand Development Manager for Chill
and Produce Brands and works with Elite's manufacturing partners on a daily basis,
managing code dates, developing promotional plans, new item assortments, and pricing
strategies for the year.
Mrs. Murphy is a graduate of Bryant College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business
Administration with a concentration in Marketing.
Keith Smith joined Elite in January of 2006 and until recently
held the position of Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Prior to joining
Elite, Mr. Smith was employed by a worldwide military broker and held numerous positions
including VP of Sales. Mr. Smith has worked in the military resale system since
1981, and during much of his career, worked closely with Commissary Headquarter
and Region management and traveled extensively in overseas markets to fully develop
export sales. He has also developed business in both the AAFES and NEXCOM Exchange
systems, and is a member of the ALA Exchange Council.
John Whouley joined Elite in 2000 as Vice President of
Finance. Prior to working in the military resale industry, he spent 14 years employed
by Coastal Oil Corporation, an international wholesaler of oil and natural
gas primarily as Corporate Controller.
Randy Hardee brings 28 years of experience in the consumer
products industry to this position, specifically servicing the military resale markets
– both Commissary and Exchange – for the past 25. From 1994 to
2010, he held the position of VP of Commissary Accounts for Dixon Marketing, and
was responsible for calling on DeCA headquarters as well as overseeing all marketing
functions. He is well known and respected throughout the industry and, since 1995,
has served on the ALA Commissary Council. He has chaired numerous committees,
most recently co-chairing the Category Management committee, and was an appointed
industry representative on DeCA’s recent Black Belt VCM Automation Lean Six
Sigma Project.
Dustin Whitney joined Elite in 2002 and has worked in the
military resale market for the past nine years. Mr. Whitney has managed brands throughout
his career. His current role is to develop and promote Elite's various product lines.
Debbie Fleming joined Elite in 2004 with 27 years of
military experience in the resale system. From 1987 to 2004 she held various positions
with Overseas Service Corporation as the Confection Team Leader, Exchange Headquarters
Director for Nexcom, MCAS and CGS, as well as Director of Marketing. Mrs. Fleming
is responsible for Field Sales support of the Elite Regional Managers and Sales
Representatives. She also manages the Navy Exchange Headquarter calls and oversees
the business. She is a member of the ALA and has been on the Commissary Council
and Consumer Awareness Committee.
Tim Buchanan joined Elite in 2011 where he is currently active
in the expansion of Elite’s brand portfolio within the AAFES Exchange system, working
from his Dallas office. He has more than 30 years’ experience with consumer goods
having held positions as Vice President of Grocery, Director of Convenience, and
Director of Military Sales during his 28 years with Cadbury Schweppes. He also served
on the ALA Commissary Council from 2007-2008.
