Our Leadership Team

Automation Experts

Sam Petty, President
Serving most recently at ABB as Director of Channel Management for Industrial Automation, Sam Petty brings extensive experience and knowledge to Power/mation’s chief position. Petty’s career includes previous roles at Hirschmann (Belden Inc.), Rexel, Roxtec and Swagelock.

Eric Grott, Chief Operations Officer
Eric Grott joined Power/mation in February of 2023 as our Chief Operations Officer with responsibility over accounting, operations, purchasing, and warehousing. Prior to joining Power/mation, Eric served as CFO/COO at a custom thermoformer, New Plastics Plus. Eric brings over 20 years of experience leading finance and operations teams across both private and publicly traded entities.

Bob Ricci, Executive VP of Sales & Marketing
Bob Ricci is our Regional Vice President of Sales for Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Bob has a broad set of experience in both sales management and automation. Prior to joining Power/mation in February of 2017, Bob was the Regional Sales Leader for Border States Electric in their NE Region where he had sales management responsibility over both their industrial and construction markets’ sales. Before his time at Border States, he spent fifteen years with Werner Electric in Minnesota serving as Vice President of Technology (Automation) and then as Vice President over both the Automation and Construction teams.
Bob has a wealth of experience and industry knowledge. In addition to his twenty plus years of experience in electrical distribution and automation, he worked for thirteen years at Jerome Foods (Jennie O’ Foods) designing automation systems along with managing the automation and electrical maintenance teams. Bob is also a Navy veteran.

Adam Jackson, Vice President of Sales - IL, IA & NE

David Jagt, Director of Engineering
Dave Jagt joined Power/mation in March 2023 as our Director of Engineering and business leader for Power/mation Solutions Group. He has over 25 years of experience within the high-volume electronics manufacturing market holding various roles from supplier development, process engineering, and automation equipment development. Dave has served for the last 10 years as an Engineering Director for Seagate Technology and brings extensive experience in technical and business leadership to the Power/mation team.

Sue Loff, Director of Pricing & Strategic Initiatives
Sue joined Power/mation in May 1995 with a background in customer service and management in the finance industry. Learning about industrial automation distribution on the inside sales staff eventually found her managing the inside sales team. In that role she was integral in developing the Power/mation Customer Portal, which gave our customers 24-hour access to inventory, price and availability. Now she leads the purchasing and pricing team with a customer-focused approach, striving to meet our customers’ on-time delivery needs by having the right inventory available at a competitive price. Sue also led the team that launched Power/mation’s next generation ecommerce platform: Power/mation Shop.

Don Clutterbuck, Director of Strategic Initiatives
Don Clutterbuck joined Power/mation in 1993 as an Automation Specialist, focusing on PLCs. After fifteen years and building the trust of many, Don became the Regional Vice President of Sales for Wisconsin and Illinois. Don’s industry experience and technical knowledge, along with his friendly personality, have made him integral to Power/mation’s success. Don now serves to direct the future of Power/mation as Director of Strategic Initiatives.

Laura Dana, Director of Human Resources
Laura is our Director of Human Resources and is responsible for all aspects of HR from recruitment to retirement. Prior to joining Power/mation in April of 2022, Laura was the HR Leader for TLC Electronics, a custom cable assembly and wire harness solutions provider and distributor of electromechanical and interconnect components for 7 years. Before that Laura worked for Smiths Medical, a global medical device company in a variety of HR roles both corporate and local for 5 years. Laura brings over 15 years of experience in leadership, coaching, development, recruitment, HR project management, HRIS and metrics, strategic pipelining, diversity and inclusion, and global compensation.

Jason Schlangen, Director of IT

Julie Ross, Director of Sales Operations
Julie Ross began her Power/mation journey in 2000 as an Inside Sales Assistant. After a brief period spent away from Power/mation to raise her children, she returned, and then in 2014 was promoted to Inside Sales Supervisor for our Wisconsin and Illinois territories. In 2019 she gained responsibility for all of Power/mation’s Inside Sales personnel. With her unmatched organizational knowledge and team leadership qualities, Julie was again promoted in 2023 to Director of Sales Operations. Julie now holds responsibility for the entire customer order process from order entry to fulfillment: “Knowing our customers are being taken care of with exceptional service is what makes me strive to do the best for Power/mation, our team members, but most importantly, our customers.”

Tom Hoffman, Director of Facilities
Tom Hoffman is our Director of Facilities. An accomplished and growth-focused executive with 34 years of extensive experience, Tom is a leader in overall business operations and driving high-impact customer service results. Tom has over 9 years of automation industry experience starting with Werner Electric in Minnesota where he facilitated joint operational effectiveness strategies with Van Meter Inc and Werner Wisconsin. Tom then transitioned to both EESCO and WESCO overseeing regional operations and contributing to corporate change management philosophies. Through a “hands-on” approach, Tom strives to share his vision of continuous improvement and inspires others to find their own path to contribute to our customers success.

View Our Automation Solutions
Whether you need one automation product or an entirely customized system, our leadership team and the employees they manage will provide you with the tools you need to run your operation smoothly.