Paul M. Keating, JR - President/CEO
Paul Keating is owner/president of Elite Brands and is responsible
for the 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 Company where he was influential 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.
Paul Keating holds a BS in Business Administration from Bryant College.
Gregory D. Sheldon - Vice President of Operations
Greg Sheldon joined Elite in 2000 as Vice President of Information Technology.
Prior to joining Elite, he served as hotel manager at the Boston Copley
Marriott, a 1,200 room convention hotel. Mr. Sheldon worked with Marriott
International for over 15 years and held positions in all areas of hotel
management in both the US and Japan.
As Vice President of Information Technology, Mr. Sheldon was instrumental
in procuring and building the network and server infrastructure currently in
place at Elite. Mr. Sheldon has 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.
As the current Vice President of Operations, Mr. Sheldon is directly
responsible for ensuring that cost effective operations and infrastructure are
in place to support the daily flow of business.
Mr. Sheldon holds a BSBA with concentration in Finance from Boston University.
John M. Whouley - Vice President of Finance
 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.
Mr. Whouley has extensive experience working with government contracting
officers and contracting agencies including Central Contractor Registration
(CCR) and On-Line Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA). He has
developed cutting-edge financial operating systems at Elite, fully automating
electronic data interchange (EDI) with business trading partners that
accurately and efficiently process purchase orders, deliveries, delivery ticket
invoices (DTI), electronic payments (EFT) and price transmissions. He is
responsible for maintaining strong relationships with Elite's banking and
investment providers, vendor partners and distributor network to achieve the
overall financial objectives of the company.
Mr. Whouley holds a BS in Finance from Bentley College and an MBA from Boston
College.
Mark E. Henney - Executive Advisor Business Development
Mark E. Henney joined Elite Brands in January 2008 as Manager of New Business Development. Prior to joining Elite, Mr. Henney worked for Acosta Sales and Marketing (14 years) as Vice President and Client Team Leader for the Northeast. Mr. Henney’s responsibilities included managing numerous clients portfolio’s ( Campbell Soup, Clorox, Mott’s, Kikkoman, Tabasco, Dole, Bush’s, Spartan Foods, King Arthur Flour, Sioux Bee, Ken’s, Best Foods). Prior to joining Acosta is worked for Campbell Soup for 24 years in a variety of jobs around the country. The last one being Regional Manager New England where he was responsible for $150m in sales and a team of 100 people. Currently Mr. Henney is a senior advisor for New Business Development and special projects with the President and CEO Paul Keating.
Mr. Henney is a graduate of California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo, Ca., with a BS in Business Administration. He is past President of GMR of New England and NEWFDA organizations.
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Keith A. Smith - Vice President of Sales and Marketing
 Keith
Smith joined Elite in January of 2006 and has worked in the Military resale
system since 1981. Prior to joining Elite, Mr. Smith worked for a worldwide
military broker and held numerous positions including VP of Sales. During Mr.
Smith's time in the resale system he worked extensively with Commissary
Headquarter and Region management, and has 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.
Currently, Mr. Smith's primary focus is on the field
execution of all distribution and promotional objectives. He ensures sales
efforts are coordinated between the Elite Regional Managers and store sales
representatives to ensure timely and successful sales events.
Mr. Smith is a graduate of Western Washington University with a BA in
Communications.
Dustin Whitney - Vice President of Marketing
 Dustin Whitney
has worked in the military resale market for the past seven years. He has
worked and managed brands throughout his career. His current role is to develop
and promote Elite's various product lines.
Mr. Whitney is an active community volunteer. He currently is involved with
several scholarship efforts, a local mentoring program and Prevent Blindess MA.
He holds a BS degree in Marketing from Boston College's Carroll School of
Management
Randy Hardee - V.P of Strategic Business Development
 Randy G. Hardee, Vice President of Strategic Business Development.
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. Since 1994, he has held the position of VP of Commissary Accounts for Dixon Marketing, responsible for calling on DeCA headquarters as well as oversight of all marketing functions. Hardee 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 an appointed industry representative on DeCA’s recent Black Belt VCM Automation Lean Six Sigma Project.
Hardee and Diane, his wife of 30 years, reside in Kinston, NC. They are proud parents of two daughters – Blaire and Elizabeth. Hardee’s personal interests include golf, boating, as well as family and church related activities.
Robert E. Denecke - Vice President of Field Sales
Rob Denecke joined the Elite Sales team in 2003 and is responsible for
field sales in the domestic market and direct oversight of the European
commissary market. Mr. Denecke 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.
Mr. Denecke has been involved in the commissary resale system since 1990 and is
a graduate of Bryant College with a Bachelors in Business Administration
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