Executive Team

Kevin Bense joined McWane, Inc. as Group President-Waterworks in 2018. Prior to joining McWane, Inc., Kevin Bense served for five years as president of A.J. Oster, a division of Global Brass and Copper Holdings.Previously he served as vice president and general manager of the company's Somers Thin Strip division. From 2007-2011, Bense served as a global business leader for Honeywell International, Inc.'s specialty additives business units. Prior to that he served in various domestic and international executive, marketing and management positions of increasing responsibility in the chemicals industry. Bense holds a degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. 

Arne C. Feyling has served as VP/GM of Kennedy Valve, M&H Valve and ARD Valve since 2010. Mr. Feyling joined the company in 1995 and has served in various positions and locations over the years. Prior to coming to McWane, he held management positions with Rockwell International in Mishawaka, Ind., and Citicorp Venture Capital/ACP Belcher Corp. in Easton, Mass.

Mr. Feyling currently serves on the board of directors of Southern Tier Economic Growth, the Alliance for Manufacturing and Technology (AM&T), and the United Way of the Southern Tier of New York.

Mr. Feyling graduated from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, with a B.S. in mechanical engineering. He is also a 1997 graduate of the Syracuse University Whitman School of Management in Syracuse, N.Y.

Mike Vore is the Sales & Marketing Manager for the McWane Valve & Hydrant Group. He has been working for Clow Valve for over 30 years.

Mike started working for Clow Corporation, Valve Division in Oskaloosa, Iowa, on June 15, 1981. He was hired as a Credit Analyst working in the Accounts Receivable Department. After two years, Mike was assigned to the Customer Service Department to work as a Customer Service Representative, which he did until July 1985. He was promoted to the position of Outside Sales Representative, where he called on distributors, municipalities and consulting engineers in five Midwestern states. In October 1988, Mike was promoted to the position of Sales Manager, Treatment Plant Products Group of Clow Valve Company and had the responsibility of managing the sales of Clow products used in the construction of water and wastewater treatment plants around the USA. In October 1994, Mike was promoted to National Sales Manager for Clow Valve Company, where he managed the entire sales efforts of the company.

In January 2011, Mike was promoted to the position of Sales & Marketing Manager for the McWane Valve & Hydrant Group, responsible for managing the sales efforts of Clow Valve Company, M&H Valve Company and Kennedy Valve Company and continues to hold this position today.

Mike is married to Shirley and has five children and eleven grandchildren.

John Chalk is the National Sales Manager for Kennedy Valve. In the 40 years Mr. Chalk has been with Kennedy Valve, he has held numerous positions throughout the company.

John started his career with Kennedy Valve in 1973 in the Production Department as a Production Planner (10 years) and then moved on to the position of Production Control Manager (10 years). In 1993, John joined the Sales Department, becoming the Inside Sales Manager (17 years); in 2010, John became the Assistant National Sales Manager (3 years). In January 2013, Mr. Chalk became Kennedy Valve’s National Sales Manager.

John Lives in Elmira, N.Y., and has three children. John enjoys officiating basketball and is an avid golfer.

Barry O’Brien, was previously the Director of Plant and Industrial Valve until accepting the UL FM National Sales Manager position in 2018.  Barry was away from the company for an 18 month period, however, he started his career with McWane in Jan of 2010 as a Regional Sales Manager with then American R/D.  He ultimately served as the General Manager of American R/D and was instrumental in consolidating  American R/D as a stand-alone company into the Kennedy Valve Plant & Industrial Valve Group.  Barry also spent 18 years at Victaulic in a variety of assignments in sales and sales  management.  He is a graduate of Norwich University holding a B.S. degree in Business.  He is also veteran of the USAF rising to the rank of Captain.  Barry is married and has two children.

Matthew Hicks is the Health and Safety Manager at Kennedy Valve. Matthew joined the Kennedy Valve team in 2005, shortly after graduating from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with his bachelor's degree in safety science. Matthew started his career at Kennedy Valve with an internship for the Health and Safety Department and later became the Safety Engineer. In March of 2010, Matthew was promoted to Health and Safety Manager.

Matthew currently resides in Sayre, Pa., with his wife and two children.

Paul joined our team in 2005, and has held various positions in the department of sales. Paul graduated  from Hardin-Simmons University  with a bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Science.

Paul resides  in Apex, North Carolina with his wife and daughter.

Nathan Pizzini is the Assistant General Manager at Kennedy Valve. Nathan joined the Kennedy Valve team in March of 2006 as an Accounting Clerk, and quickly ascended to the role of Assistant Controller. After four years in the Finance Department he turned his attention to Kennedy's Lean /Continuous Improvement transformation in the role of Lean Manager. Nathan then held the role of Gate Valve Value Stream Manager, and continued to influence the continuous improvement transformation directly to the product line. Prior to his promotion to Assistant General Manager in January 2020, Nathan held a role of Finishing Manager,  overseeing Kennedy's Machine Shop, Assembly, and Shipping Departments for five years. 

Nathan holds a B.S. in Accounting from Mansfield University, of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration from Capella University. 

 Priot to joining McWane, Tommy served four years as Vice President of North America for  Kamstrup Water Metering, LLC. Before Kamstrup, Tommy served 15 years at Badger Meter. While at Badger Meter, he served int he roles of Distribution Manger, Sales Solutions Manager, Regional Manager and Director of Sales (Distribution). Previous to Badger Meter, TOmmy served in various sales and management roles with Pharmacia and Mitsubishi Electric. Tommy is a graduate of Shorter College in Rome, GA with a B.S. in Business and a M.B.A. from the university of Georgia. He is also an US Air Force veteran. Tommy and his wife Julie have two daughters and a grandson who also live in Atlanta. 

After serving in the USAF and earning a degree in Psychology from Mansfield University, he worked in various HR specialties with Arnot Health.  He then entered employment with Cargill, Inc. as a Senior Employee Relations and Employee Experience Specialist, providing high-level HR consultation to operations management throughout the northeast.  Elliot then joined the ranks of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs as the HR Officer / Senior Strategic Business Partner for the Finger Lakes Healthcare System.  Elliot holds the professional credential of Senior Certified Professional with the Society for Human Resource Management.  He joined the Kennedy Valve team in 2021.

Greg Davis is the National Sales Manager for Kennedy Valve Co. and M&H Valve Co. Greg started his career with Kennedy/M&H Valve in 1997 as a District Sales Manager covering Georgia and South Carolina. In 2001, Greg relocated to Anniston, AL to become the Inside Sales Manager at M&H Valve. After 9 years as Inside Sales Manager , he was promoted to Assistant National Sales Manager and in 2013, promoted to National Sales Manager reporting to Tommy Braxton, Director of Sales for the McWane Valve and Hydrant Division.

Mr. Davis graduated from The University of West Georgia with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and is very active in many activities within the community.

Greg has a daughter, Macie, and enjoys golf, camping and spending time with his family and friends.

While earning her Bachelor of Science in Health Science at SUNY Cortland, NY, she concentrated on environmental emergency response programs. She is a Certified Chemical Hygiene Officer with over 25 years of extensive experience interpreting and applying governmental regulations for environmental, health, and safety compliance, emergency planning and response, hazardous materials, and waste management. Also having experience as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician in NY and PA, she has hands-on experience with the proven ability to accomplish multiple priorities in hectic and emergent situations that ensure safe, clear, and concise response, mitigation, and collaboration through transparent communication.  Cherise believes in providing quality leadership and demonstrates this by supporting diversity, teamwork, inclusivity, creativity, and multi-cultural environments.  In her spare time, as an avid outdoors woman, she enjoys gardening, preserving/canning food and foraging for wild edible and medicinal plants.

Griff started at M&H in 2010 as an Inside Sales Representative.  In 2011 he entered the Sales Trainee Program with M&H and Kennedy Valve, traveling with District Sales Managers and getting product experience by working in the plants.  In 2012 he relocated to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to become the District Sales Manager for Louisiana and Southern Texas.  In 2017, Griff moved back to his hometown of Jacksonville, AL to become the Inside Sales Manager for M&H Valve Co.  In 2023, he was promoted to Marketing Manager.

Griff earned a Marketing Degree and MBA from Jacksonville State University.

Griff and his children reside on their farm in Jacksonville, AL. He enjoys hunting, fishing, camping, sport shooting, and spending time with family and friends.

Throughout the years, Karie has held the roles of Assistant Controller and Credit Manager until 2020 when she took on the role of Plant Controller.  Karie graduated from University of Maryland in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She then went on to obtain her MBA in from the University of Maryland Global Campus in 2012.  Karie has held several board positions for the water products division of the National Association of Credit Managers most recently as Chairman. Outside of Kennedy Valve, Karie has served as the Treasurer for The Elmira Youth Hockey Association as well as her current role of Vice President of EC Youth Hockey. Karie is very passionate playing an active role in local youth sports.