Team

  • Josh Ciampa
    Josh Ciampa
    Managing Partner
  • Dan Krasnow
    Dan Krasnow
    Managing Partner

Operating Advisors

  • Scott Kettler
    Scott Kettler
    Operating Advisor
  • Charles Paquin
    Charles Paquin
    Operating Advisor
  • Bob Simko
    Bob Simko
    Operating Advisor

Team

Operating Advisors

Josh Ciampa
Managing Partner

Josh has nearly 20 years of private equity investing experience with expertise in industrials, packaging, contract manufacturing, and material science across family, founder, ESOPs, and complex corporate carve outs.

Josh was previously a Managing Director at Aterian Investment Partners where he spent nearly a decade focused on industrial investments.

Prior to Aterian, Josh was a Principal at First Atlantic Capital where he was involved in numerous packaging investments, including Resource Label Group, a successful roll-up of 19 label converters across the US.

Josh started his career at GE Capital where he completed its Financial Management Program and also worked in GE’s Antares and Sponsor Finance lending platforms.

He earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and graduated from Boston University with a BS in Business Administration and a BA in Philosophy.

Josh lives in Scottsdale with his wife and two children. While he is a Bostonian, New Yorker, and Miamian he’s always remained a loyal Boston sports fan. Josh is an avid golfer and loves Formula 1.

Dan Krasnow
Managing Partner

Dan has been a private equity investor for 10 years and has extensive experience investing in family founder transactions across industrials, manufacturing, distribution and consumer businesses having completed over 20 investments throughout his career.

Most recently, Dan was on the investment team at Aterian Investment Partners where he sourced, diligenced, and led value creation initiatives for several of the firms investments. He was on the boards of several industrial, manufacturing, value added distribution and B2B consumer investments.

Dan started his career in Wells Fargo’s Industrials Group within the investment bank supporting M&A sellsides, buysides, leveraged loans and equity capital raises.

He graduated from Cornell University with dual BAs in Political Science and China Asia Studies. He was also a member of the Cornell Rowing Team and still ergs occasionally.

Dan grew up on the north side of Chicago and lives in downtown NYC. He does CrossFit six days a week, enjoys strenuous hikes and has a hard time sitting still.

Scott Kettler
Operating Advisor

Scott is a seasoned lower middle market private equity Board member, advisor, and C-Suite executive. He has over forty years of deep experience across the Electronics, Contract Manufacturing, Machining, and Metal Finishing industry sectors.

Scott started his career with NCR as an electrical engineer and gained manufacturing and leadership experience in the OEM electronics industry. This particular division of NCR, now owned by AT&T, performed low volume, high mix contract manufacturing for multiple tier 1 customers in both circuit board and complete system builds. From there Scott moved to Plexus as the Director of Customer programs, overseeing multiple defense and aerospace customers where he concluded his time with Plexus as VP of Operations overseeing all of Plexus’s manufacturing sites and ~1000 employees.

After Plexus, Scott was President of EMT International, a vertically aligned OEM machine manufacturer for the digital print and label industry. While at EMT, he oversaw all aspects of the company, working directly with customers to identify needs and create products to meet/exceed the needs of the market and completed an add-on acquisition in Europe.

Scott then moved to Pioneer Metal Finishing as President and COO overseeing 7 facilities spread throughout the U.S. and Mexico. During his tenure with Pioneer, he focused on standardizing operations and customer service excellence. At Pioneer, Scott was involved with multiple add-on acquisitions under PE ownership.

Scott lives in Hutchinson, MN with his wife, four children and four grandchildren. He’s gone back to his small town, farming roots buying a farm and adding chickens and soon to be beef cattle. His best days are spent with his grandchildren followed close behind by fixing and restoring anything old. Scott’s current line up includes a 1940 Ford tractor, 1946 Indian Chief, 1984 Harley plus various other bikes and tractors.

Charles Paquin
Operating Advisor

Charles is an accomplished business leader with over 25 years of experience driving strategic and financial growth across diverse industries and geographies. Known for his transformational leadership and consistent value creation, Charles has successfully led organizations in construction, manufacturing, value added distribution, logistics, financial services, and business services. He is particularly recognized for his ability to build, mentor, and empower high-performing teams.

Charles has experience in private equity-backed ventures, offering expertise in strategic planning, operational execution, and board-level governance. He recently served as an Independent Director at Vesta Modular, where he played a key role in supporting a disciplined acquisition strategy and steering the company through a successful sale exceeding $400 million.

Previously, Charles served as Chief Executive Officer of Mac Papers + Packaging, where he led a transformational post-pandemic recovery. Under his leadership, the company surpassed its five-year financial targets in just fifteen months, launched a new business unit that generated $20 million in its first year, and reengineered operations for significant margin expansion.

Earlier, as President and CEO of Modular Space Corporation (ModSpace), Charles led the $1 billion acquisition and integration of General Electric’s Modular Space Division. Over a 15-year tenure, he and his team transformed ModSpace into the definitive market leader by driving innovation, introducing panelized modular units, establishing industry-first e-commerce platforms, and setting new service benchmarks — culminating in a highly successful strategic sale.

Charles began his career with General Electric’s Corporate Audit Staff before moving to Volvo Commercial Finance, where he served as CFO for North America. There, he helped scale the start-up finance business from inception to more than $3 billion in assets across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

He holds an MBA from the University of Ottawa and is fluent in both English and French. Charles has served on several boards, including Mac Papers + Packaging, Vesta Modular, Modular Space Corporation, and Volvo’s Latin American financial subsidiaries.

Bob Simko
Operating Advisor

Bob is an experienced middle market private equity Board member, advisor, and C-Suite executive. He has over forty years of experience across the Packaging, Specialty Chemicals, and Building Products Distribution sectors.

Early in his career, expertise in Chemicals was gained with Emery Oleochemicals and BTL Specialty Resins. Key leadership roles in Packaging included Plant Manager of Mobil Chemical’s OPP Films facility (now Jindal Films) in Shawnee, OK, Site Director of Sealright / Huhtamaki’s paperboard converting plant in Fulton, NY and Senior Vice President, Mills for Graphic Packaging International based in Atlanta, GA.

Following his exit at GPI, Bob was the CEO of Platinum Equity owned Broadleaf Logistics, which was the successor to Weyerhaeuser’s Canadian wholesale residential Building Product distribution business with a sixteen facility national network.

Bob’s most recent CEO role, beginning in 2013, was leading a successful roll-up in the pressure sensitive label market. Bob steered Resource Label Group’s organic growth and helped orchestrate and integrate eleven acquisitions during a five year period that saw the RLG manufacturing footprint grow from three to fifteen sites.

He has a BASc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto.

Bob lives in Franklin, TN with his wife and enjoys golfing and the local music scene.