Management Team
The Management Team behind Green Performance Systems collectively has more than 200 years of industry experience in trucking, agriculture, maintenance, wholesale distribution, retail and e-commerce. These men have brought together their diverse expertise and experience to further the initiatives and mission of Green Performance Systems globally.
Lorne Shantz, President & CEO
Q: Could you describe your professional background and how it complements your current role as CEO at GPS?
A: I have focused largely on developing and marketing technology and communication solutions for most of my career. In addition, I have provided leadership for many technology and corporate development projects and have taken to market a variety of technology solutions including several successful Internet-based applications.
I am thankful for the diversity of experience that I have been able to draw upon - along with my friend and Senior VP Tom Hinsperger - in the formation and development of Green Performance Systems. This is experience I can now draw upon in our day-to-day operations. In my role, a lot of multitasking and thinking on your feet is required and I wouldn’t be able to fulfill my role here without drawing upon past experience. I’ve been involved with sales and marketing activities in retail, logistics and distribution, project management and corporate development as well which has greatly informed my ability to create and oversee web and marketing strategies. I view my role as more macro in nature.
Of course, it isn’t enough to just have vision – you need the right team to turn that vision into reality. And that’s why I so appreciate the great team I have here at GPS. It has been rightly said that a company’s corporate professional and spiritual attitude always flows from the top down. In our case, though, I am blessed to be working with a team that is not only gifted in their individual roles, but also share my heart for people - and live it out day-to-day.
I have also been fortunate to have developed many long-term associations with a wide-ranging base of clients from the private, corporate, and religious sectors. Without the support of all these people who have caught the vision of GPS, and who in many ways daily contribute to its growth, we couldn’t do what we do.
Our mission is to be people first. And we are always looking for skilled people who share that vision. We believe if you communicate vision and do business with that in mind, you cannot go wrong.
Q: You not only have considerable expertise in the communications field, but as is rare in corporate business, a heart for people. How do you see your unique combination of business acumen and pastoral gifting helping to shape the future of Green Performance Systems?
A: I would be remiss to not mention my good friend Tom Hinsperger, who is the passionate voice and undercurrent of this company. Our original vision was to funnel revenues from this company to support missions in Africa. That is still the heart and goal of everyone here. Tom has ignited passion in so many people – to look beyond themselves, and get on board with what God wants to do with a few willing hands. I share that vision with him. And we aim to fulfill that mission by helping those in need right in front of us – namely those severely affected by rising fuel costs.
Tom has over 30 years experience in the trucking and mechanics industry and has seen the heartbreak that is caused when fuel prices climb northward. We are driven to provide increased fuel economy by developing cost-cutting solutions for the host of industries struggling with high fuel costs. We are constantly broadening our products and applications, while staying true to our mandate and commitment to market and distribute green technologies.
Tom Hinsperger, Senior Vice President
Q: You have an extensive background in the trucking industry. What do you see for the future of that industry?
A: Well, it is pretty discouraging to see trucking companies going under, and owner/operators buckling under the weight of growing operating costs. Many of these company owners and drivers I call friends. I’ve been there – and I simply refuse to sit back and do nothing. Our company is driven by a desire to help not only owner/operators and their companies save fuel money - but God-willing help all the cities, municipalities, and industries that have been hit by rising fuel costs. So, there is hope for the future of this industry if we work together to create strategies and effective products that help save fuel money. Green Performance Systems is committed to doing just that.
Q: In a marketplace flooded with so many fuel additives and oil additives, what sets your products, and your company, apart?
A. I have been blessed to accumulate nearly 30 years experience in the trucking industry as an owner/operator and ten years as business owner of OnTruck Exhaust, a custom exhaust company. I entered the trucking industry in 1979, and purchased my first truck in 1986, and have owned five trucks over the past 20 years. I’d like to think that I have developed a unique understanding of the challenges and needs of today’s operators. Having said that, I have probably seen it all and tried it all – including the truckloads of oil additives and fuel additives that have flooded the market over the years – some of them okay, but unfortunately, many of them just “snake oil.”
We have not entered this industry blindly. I am biggest skeptic of them all, so we are committed to products that have been extensively tested and proven to yield results. The line that has spearheaded our success is XenTx Extreme Treatments, a metal treatment manufactured by EMTA in the U.S. The feedback from our customers about this product has been phenomenal – this product is helping so many people increase fuel economy, so we’re thrilled with that kind of success.
Q: How do you see your role developing at Green Performance Systems?
A: My heart is to continue to work with the drivers, the farmers, the fleet managers, and the companies we sincerely desire to help save money. It’s about the people. My knowledge and experience are only as effective as my willingness to use those things to help people. Having managed the team at OnTruck Exhaust for ten years and having formed relationships through being an owner/operator and mechanic, I know that I need to model our company’s mission of “people-first” consistently. That’s how I want to lead. That’s how we view success in this industry and in this marketplace.
More Than Just Business
While Tom and Lorne are committed to helping ease the bottom line for both operators and companies across the globe, they will also continue to be involved with missions initiatives in Africa, which Tom became involved with after he and a group of missionaries initially visited there three and a half years ago. The two friends and business partners would like to use profits from GPS to finance the purchase of a C-130 airplane, which would be used to fly in much-needed supplies to the poor in Africa - a dream shared by their support team at GPS.
Ken Todd, President, U.S. Operations
Q: What is your professional background and how has that prepared you for your current role in Green Performance Systems?
A: Creativity and problem-solving has been the motivation for my 30 year career in engineering management and research development in the automotive and building and construction industries. I have been responsible for developing dozens of proprietary products, processes and materials and I hold patents on several of these.
I have been fortunate throughout my career to have had the opportunity to travel extensively about United States and the world evaluating technologies including development and implementation of applications. Some significant developments include materials engineering, molding technologies, composite wheel material and fabrication and development of AAC manufacturing facilities in the US.
My 12 year career at Masco Corporation began at Dycrest Automotive as Engineering Manager representing many of Masco’s divisions to the POE (Port Of Entry) companies, most of which were located in southern California. Dycrest also developed a line of citrus based automotive chemicals for cleaning and graffiti removal. Dycrest’s major products were wheels and wheel trim where both OEM and aftermarket products were developed. I developed a line of proprietary designed wheel covers sold through aftermarket distributors. The majority of my focus was on the West Coast with the POE customers developing American content for imported vehicles. I also developed several proprietary in-mold processes including a patent for manufacturing a composite wheel. I moved to Masco Corporation in a new position to start a new group at Corporate Research and Development and finished development of the patent. The task of the Plastics Lab was the development of materials, products and processes including forensic analysis. Other major processes that were implemented into production were PVD (Polymer Vapor Deposition) and NVD (Nickel Vapor Deposition) the technologies were used both for the production of products and low pressure tooling.
I had the opportunity to spearhead two major programs for Masco; one in which I served as the technical liaison for IBACOS (Integrated Building and Construction Solutions), an R&D consortium targeted on developing new processes and products for the building industry. Some of the members included DOE, DOD, Disney, GE Plastics, US Gypsum, many of the top US builders, and Masco.
The second major program involved the research and development of housing systems which included steel stud, SIP (Stress Skin Insulated Panels) and AAC (Autoclave Aerated Concrete). Housing projects included opportunities in the US, China, the Middle East, and Africa. In the last years that I was at Masco I took the role of Special Project Manager of a business team that reviewed, evaluated, and implemented technologies for acquisition into divisions. It is great to use my background to help Green Performance Systems to continue to pioneer new technology for commercial and industrial use – an exciting challenging and by all intent rewarding. As I see it, XenTx technology is “green without sacrifice”. I have challenged potential customers to name another product that is “green” that does not either have a cost or performance penalty to use it. XenTx delivers both cost and performance benefits with an impressive environmental result.
Q: What are your initiatives for the stateside development of Green Performance Systems?
A: We are registered as a Michigan based company to work closely with the transportation industry in Michigan. It is my belief that Michigan is still the automotive capital of the world and innovation in fuel, energy and the automotive industry will remain centered in Michigan. Therefore Michigan is where GPS must focus the development of technology relationships and resources to position itself to market to the rest of the country and the world.
Green Performance Systems will be successful because of our talents; GPS is a diverse group of individuals each with their own strengths which work collectively to support each other in the development of the company.
I firmly believe that we all have a purpose and the purpose begins with what we contribute to our daily tasks; which allows us to serve our fellow man. “We may not be able to influence the entire world, but we can influence the world around us”.
Dennis Heaton, Vice President Technology
Q: What is your background in technology?
A: I have over 20 years of IT experience in many industries and have been exposed to many of the business challenges that companies face today. I lead teams that design and implement best IT solutions (hardware, software, custom software) to help organizations achieve their goals. From a business building perspective, my team's national network of professionals assist startup and growth companies build stakeholder value. This team has assisted hundreds of companies to technical, financial and market success. In addition to expertise I’ve gained in Project Management, I’ve also had opportunity to serve as software engineer, having been involved with designing/building technology products and solutions, leading software development teams (SDLC, Agile, SOA), website design and internet technologies, internet marketing, SEO and website promotion, and new business development.
I have provided strategic leadership services to small software development company enabling them to improve the quality of the software developed and establishing them as a leader in their industry, as well as assisted a $100 million automotive parts distributor in devising strategic plans to migrate from current IT infrastructure to a state-of-the-art system. This helped them to go from 4th in their industry to number 2. I created plans and implemented leading-edge technologies to support the visions and goals of a small medical services company. After 6 years they are currently the largest and most technologically advanced company in their industry.
I also had the opportunity to devise and implement plans for a startup company. In two years they became the market leaders and were 4 years ahead of any competition. The company was acquisitioned by GE because of this success. I consulted to a major software company on their internet software product strategy. The company is number one in the industry for several of their software products.
So, over the years I have enjoyed bringing many projects to fruition. In addition to my role as Vice President of Technology for Green Performance Systems, I also serve as consultant for Commerce Technology International and Hypercon Inc.
Q: What applications for technology are you implementing within Green Performance Systems?
A: Developing our web presence is paramount right now. I believe we have right people in place to develop and implement our online marketing and sales strategies. We aim to be a leader in the lubrication technology market. In fact, the nanotechnology utilized in XenTx is engineered for today’s oil technology. We are committed to consistently creating cost-cutting solutions to help save fuel money.