Executive Officers

Gunnar Kleveland

President and Chief Executive Officer

Gunnar Kleveland, 54, President and Chief Executive Officer, joined the Company in 2023. He has served the Company as President and Chief Executive Officer since September 2023. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Kleveland served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc. He also served as the President of TRU Simulation + Training Inc. and Executive Vice President of Integrated Operations for Bell Helicopter Textron inc. Prior to joining Textron in 2004, Mr. Kleveland was a fighter pilot in the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) and finished his 15-year career in the air force as the Chief of Flight Safety.
Joseph M. Gaug

Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Joseph M. Gaug, 60, Vice President - General Counsel and Secretary, joined the Company in 2004. Mr. Gaug has served the Company as Vice President- Secretary and General Counsel since May 2020. He previously served as Associate General Counsel from 2004 and as Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary from 2006 to May 2020. Prior to 2004 he was a principal at McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams, PC.
Robert A. Hansen

Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

Robert A. Hansen, 66, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, joined the Company in 1981. Mr. Hansen has served the Company as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer since January 2010. He previously served as Vice President – Corporate Research and Development from April 2006 to January 2010, and Director of Technical and Marketing – Europe Press Fabrics from 2004 to April 2006. From 2000 to 2004, he served as Technical Director – Göppingen, Germany. Before 2000, he served the Company in a number of technical management and research and development positions in Europe and the U.S.
Robert D. Starr

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Robert Starr, 56, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, joined the Company in 2023. Prior to joining the Company, he served for 18 months as Chief Financial Officer of Fairbanks Morse Defense, a privately-held supplier of naval power and propulsion systems. He previously spent 12 years at Kaman Corporation where he served as Chief Financial Officer for 8 years and VP, Treasurer for 4 years. Before joining Kaman, Mr. Starr held increasingly senior treasury roles at large publicly listed companies including Crane Co., Aetna and Fisher Scientific International. Early in his career he worked in investment banking both domestically and internationally across a broad range of industries.
Merle Stein

President, Machine Clothing

Merle Stein, 47, President – Machine Clothing, joined the company in 2011. He has considerable experience in the paper and pulp industries and significant knowledge of the Machine Clothing business and a strategic understanding of the markets it serves. He comes to the role with considerably broad leadership experiences, particularly in operational and customer-facing operations. Since April 2024 he has served as Division Chief Operating Officer for the business segment where he oversaw all operational aspects of the business and led the Sales & Marketing, Operations, Procurement and Human Resources functions. Prior to that, since 2022 he was the Vice President Sales & Marketing/Applications for Americas, after having served in various other sales and marketing leadership roles since joining the Company, including Vice President Sales MC - North America, Regional Business Director and Sales & Service Engineer. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Stein managed papermaking operations at Essity’s green field papermill in Alabama where he had risen to the position of Papermill Manager. Mr. Stein holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration, both from Auburn University.
Christopher Stone

President, Albany Engineered Composites

Christopher Stone, 52, President – Albany Engineered Composites, joined the company in 2024. He brings a deep knowledge of the A&D industry, and considerable broad experiences to his new role. He has held a wide range of leadership positions at public companies, with a focus in manufacturing and supply chain management, business operations, production control, logistics and organizational transformation. Most recently he served as Vice President & Chief Supply Chain Officer at Lockheed Martin Corporation from 2021 to 2024. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, he was Vice President – Supply Chain & Material Management at Aerojet Rocketdyne from 2018 to 2021, and previously held various management positions at Textron companies, including Textron Marine & Land System and Bell Helicopter from 2005 to 2018. He is a former Aviation Officer with the United States Army with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from Gonzaga University and an MBA from Rice University.
John “Jay” Tedone

Vice President – Controller and Chief Accounting Officer

John (Jay) Tedone, 59, Vice President – Controller and Chief Accounting Officer, joined the Company in 2023. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Tedone was the Chief Accounting Officer at Eos Energy Enterprises, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of energy storage solutions, where he oversaw the accounting, SEC reporting, tax, treasury, and risk management functions. Prior to Eos, Mr. Tedone served as Vice President, Finance and Chief Accounting Officer of Lydall, Inc. He previously spent 16 years at Kaman Corporation where he served as the Vice President, Finance and Chief Accounting Officer from 2007 to 2020. Earlier in his career he held finance and accounting roles of increasing responsibility at Diageo NA, United Technologies Corp., and KPMG.

Gunnar Kleveland

Joseph M. Gaug

Robert A. Hansen

Robert D. Starr

Merle Stein

Christopher Stone

John “Jay” Tedone