Meet the Speakers

2026 Summit Speakers

Morning Keynote - Brandon Seadorf - PAI Manufacturing

Automation in Manufacturing:  From Cages to Collaboration

The Big Four Benefits

• EFFICIENCY - While the Machine Works, the Robot Works. Robotic multitasking.  One operator, multiple machines.
• QUALITY - Continuous improvement requires a stable process. Automation ensures repeatability.
• ERGONOMICS – Less lifting, less bending, fewer injuries.
• BETTER CULTURE - Operator free to do higher-value, higher-pay work. Not job loss — only job growth & evolution.

Brandon Seadorf is leading PAI Manufacturing, which is a 53 year old precision machining and assembly contractor manufacturer. As Director, he serves as a strategic leader bringing the latest technologies, robotics, and automation into their USA manufacturing operation.

A keynote speaker with over 30 years of experience driving operational excellence and transformative growth across manufacturing, distribution, and organizational development. As the former General Manager & SVP of Operations at Omix-ADA (a Truck Hero Company), he grew sales by 369%, improved margins by 381%, and scaled the business from 180 to over 3,000 daily shipments—all while building a culture of respect and high performance.

Brandon specializes in helping leaders align strategy, culture, and execution to exceed organizational objectives. He has led business system upgrades, multi-brand strategies, global expansion, and successful transitions for private equity and IPO readiness. His hands-on leadership at Bosch and Hayes Lemmerz delivered double-digit cost reductions, world-class quality improvements, and cultural turnarounds.

He holds an M.S. in Organizational Leadership and a B.S. in Business Management from Cornerstone University. Brandon speaks on strategic leadership, lean transformation, benefits of robotic & automation, cultural development, and scaling for exit, offering audiences a blend of operational expertise and actionable leadership. 

10:30 Educational Sessions

Salon A: Manufacturing A Better Bottom Line 

Walden Mergers and Acquisitions

Session Summary

Manufacturing a Better Bottom Line brings together the advisors who help manufacturing owners run a stronger, more profitable business — whether or not a sale is anywhere on the horizon. The panel moves from the financial fundamentals that quietly separate healthy companies from struggling ones, to the deal structure decisions that determine what an owner actually walks away with if and when they do sell, to the banking relationships that fund growth without just piling on debt, to the margin and cash flow discipline that should start years before any transaction is on the table. The conversation closes with what buyers are actually looking for when they evaluate a business — perspective drawn from advising both sides of the table. Whether an owner is scaling, stabilizing, or eyeing an exit down the road, this panel offers a clear-eyed look at what builds real value and how to protect it.

What You'll Learn:

• Build a stronger, more profitable manufacturing business by improving financial fundamentals, margins, and cash flow.
• Fund growth and protect business value through smarter banking relationships, capital decisions, and deal structures.
• Understand what drives company valuation and what buyers look for—whether an exit is years away or not on the radar at all.

Panelists:

John Phillips is President & CEO of Walden Mergers & Acquisitions, a boutique investment banking firm serving lower-middle-market companies across Industrials, Technology, and Business Services. He brings 35+ years of experience as a business leader and decorated US Army Retired Colonel to guide business owners through the M&A process — helping them build value, position for a successful exit, and navigate the complexities of buying or selling a company.

John's career spans banking, community development, technology, and transportation and logistics, where he repeatedly increased business value through operational, strategic, and analytical agility. His entrepreneurial background includes 15 years as founder, owner, and president of his own businesses, during which he completed and integrated three acquisitions — giving him firsthand experience on both sides of the deal table. Along the way, he's delivered value-added solutions for corporations, state and federal governments, and the DOD.

John's military career includes multiple positions in the US Army Reserves before being called to active duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He earned early promotion to Colonel and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Bronze Star, and Legion of Merit. He completed 30 years of service, retiring after serving as Division Operations Officer, where he planned and managed all operations for a 3,000-soldier division.

Daniel Dinur, Partner, Dinur and DeLuca, LLP  has represented manufacturing companies and their owners in all facets of their businesses in Texas and the Southeast for the last forty years. The area where his experience and expertise add the most value to an owner is in selling the company, whether to a strategic buyer, a private equity firm or in an internal buyout to family and/or employees. In the process, over the years, he has developed the right skill set in M&A, corporate governance, tax and estate planning to help the owner navigate the unique terrain presented by each of these alternative ways to sell a company. His mission has always been: to maximize the net amount the owner keeps from the gross proceeds of the sale.

Dan has graduated with an Industrial Engineering degree from Georgia Tech and a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Shawn McBride, Sr. VP Commercial Banking, First Horizon Bank, brings more than 30 years of experience in commercial lending, including 26 years based in Atlanta, focused on driving operational efficiency and expanding access to critical capital within the industrial and healthcare sectors. Throughout his career, he has been deeply engaged in professional and industry associations across Georgia, contributing leadership, strategic insight, and operational expertise.

His past leadership roles include Board Member of the Georgia Healthcare Financial Management Association, Healthcare Advisory Board  Georgia State University in their Center for Health IT, Committee Chair for the Georgia Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Operations Lead for the Operations Excellence Module with the Georgia Association of Manufacturers, Board Member of the Georgia Motor Trucking Association, and Board Member of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, where he also served on the Business Climate Policy Committee.

 Through his longstanding investment in these industries and his commitment to advancing education at the executive level, Shawn has played an influential role in supporting operational excellence, innovation, and growth-capital access, across Georgia’s industrial and healthcare communities.

Laura Madajewski, is a Shareholder and the Manufacturing, Distribution & Supply Chain Practice Leader at HLB Gross Collins, P.C. She also leads the HLB North America Manufacturing Group. With a strong background in accounting, advisory, and client service, Laura works closely with domestic and international companies to provide practical guidance and solutions tailored to each client’s goals. Known for her collaborative approach and attention to detail, she helps clients navigate complex financial and business matters with clarity and confidence. Laura is committed to building long-term relationships, delivering responsive service, and supporting clients as they grow, plan, and make informed decisions.

Bill McDermott, Founder, The Profitability Coach, graduated from Wake Forest University and launched a career in banking that spanned 32 years. He first started out as the “repo man” as part of Wachovia Bank’s management training program before locating to Atlanta to work for Peachtree Bank, which later became SunTrust. There, he distinguished himself as a great producer of loans and deposits for the bank, climbing the ranks to ultimately become a Group Vice President in the Commercial Banking division. In 2001, Bill’s group won the SunTrust Cup for being the highest performing commercial banking group in the company. Over the next 8 years, Bill worked in community banking, becoming a top producer for IronStone Bank and later helping to double Embassy National Bank’s initial capital in loan production within 15 months. However, in early 2009 as the Great Recession was rapidly altering the economy, Bill’s position as Chief Commercial Lender was eliminated. As Bill searched for what was “next”, he realized that he had built a treasure trove of knowledge of banking and financial acumen and had a desire to share it. Bill combined his sales success from his banking/insurance experience with his deep financial/analytical skills and launched McDermott Financial Solutions in April 2009. His purpose quickly became “making business owners better financial managers”. Over the past 11 years he has served over 200 clients by delivering results-oriented insights, helping to take them from financial confusion to financial clarity. Bill currently sits on the board of directors for Vallant Bank. When Bill is not working, you can find him on the golf course, gardening, spending time with his family, and leading a small group at his local church.

Salon B: Legal Landmines in Manufacturing: What Georgia Leaders Need to Know Now

Session Sponsored by Buchalter and moderated by Russ Dunlap

Russ Dunlap is a Shareholder at Buchalter in the Firm’s Atlanta office and a member of the Intellectual Property practice group. Mr. Dunlap’s expertise includes reviewing his clients’ products and processes to provide advice on best strategies for protecting their intellectual property through a combination of patentability and noninfringement searches, utility and/or design patents, trade secrets, copyrights, or trademarks. Mr. Dunlap also works hard to understand the realities behind these strategies, including product development timelines and costs, sales and licensing opportunities, and potential competitors’ responses.

Mr. Dunlap has drafted and prosecuted numerous patent applications and managed large patent portfolios in a wide range of technologies in the mechanical arts, including construction equipment, fall protection devices, firearm accessories, water infrastructure components, cosmetics, clothing and other textiles, architectural products, medical devices, corrugated cardboard products and packaging, venting and drying technology, equestrian and pet equipment, and many varieties of consumer goods.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Dunlap worked as a mechanical engineer at a mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection commercial design firm designing plumbing and HVAC systems. 

Micah Dickie, is a partner in Fisher Phillips’ nationwide Workplace Safety and Catastrophe Management Practice Group, focusing his practice on defending manufacturers during OSHA inspections, litigating OSHA citations, and counseling clients on best practices for mitigating the risk of workplace incidents, OSHA inspections, and citations.

Session Summary:

This presentation will discuss guidance for employers on what to do when OSHA shows up to their worksites, including a step-by-step discussion of an initial visit from OSHA including the opening conference, walkaround, document and interview requests, Fourth Amendment concerns, OSHA's burden of proof to sustain a citation if issued, and balancing cooperation with protecting the employer's rights.

What You'll Learn:

• What your rights are during an OSHA inspection and how to confidently manage an OSHA inspection to reduce legal risks.

Erica Opitz is a Partner at Buchalter in the Firm’s Atlanta office and a member of the Corporate practice group. With over 15 years of experience, Ms. Opitz has a proven track record of delivering successful outcomes for her clients in mergers and acquisitions, loan and finance transactions, capital raises, and commercial contracts.

Ms. Opitz focuses on serving privately held businesses across various industries, such as software, chemical, professional services, and technology and software. She often acts as general outside counsel for her clients, providing them with guidance and support on corporate governance, franchise agreements, securities matters, and other legal needs.  Ms. Opitz is passionate about helping her clients grow and thrive with legal solutions that are tailored to their goals and challenges.

Additionally, Ms. Opitz provides advice and counsel to 501(c)(2), 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(7) nonprofit organizations, including after school youth organizations, educational organizations and sororities.

Session Summary:

This presentation will discuss legal landmines in conjunction with the sale of your manufacturing business through the lens of past manufacturer sales transaction horror stories. We will discuss steps you can take prior to starting the sales process to avoid these pitfalls and ensure that your future sale transaction runs smoothly. Covering legal issues from ownership of the company to sales tax to immigration, the attendees will walk away with practical tips to avoid future sales roadblocks.

What You'll Learn:

• Steps a manufacturing business can take now in preparation for a future sale
• Practical tips on how to get organized now to make the due diligence process easier in the future
• Participants will receive a checklist of items to consider now before the sales process begins

Salon E: Where IT Meets the Plant Floor: The Realities of Securing Operational Technology

Moderator: Richard Warner of Aware Force

Session Summary

Manufacturers are connecting more equipment, systems, vendors, and facilities than ever before. This increased connectivity creates real opportunities for greater visibility, automation, and efficiency, but it also expands the operational and cybersecurity risks on the shop floor. This session will examine the practical realities of operating, securing, and monitoring operational technology environments, moving beyond theory to the technical, organizational, and business challenges manufacturers face when protecting the systems that keep production running.

 The panelists will bring together perspectives from three leading technology companies: Leapfrog Services, a managed IT and security services provider that delivers enterprise-grade IT services specifically tailored to mid-sized manufacturers; Arctic Wolf, a cybersecurity company that provides cloud-native security operations and managed detection and response services to more than 10,000 organizations globally and Fortinet, a global cybersecurity and networking company that provides firewalls, software, and security systems to protect enterprise networks.

What You'll Learn:

2:30 Educational Sessions

Salon A: The High-Performance Plant: Leadership, Culture & Continuous Improvement  

Beau Groover and Shay Foley

Session Summary:  Get out of “Ground Hog Day

Come learn from two industry vets on how to break through the feeling like every day you’re dealing with the same problems: your team is worn out, you’re busier than ever, and you’re unsure if anything is actually getting better or if you're just treading water.  Shay Foley, former GM of ALCON Johns Creek and Beau Groover, President of The Effective Syndicate will share the real formula for how you break free from everyday feeling the same by tried and true strategies from 2 men with a combined 60 years in the manufacturing space. 

• Leadership is the foundation, and how you can do it better.
• The culture you have is based on the leadership that your people are receiving.
• When Leadership and Culture are aligned, Continuous Improvement becomes second nature. 

Shay and Beau won’t be sharing academic and theory, but real-world steps you can take tomorrow to get away from “Ground Hog Day” and start making real progress.  If you want to learn how to GSD (Get Stuff Done), you don’t want to miss this session.

Beau Groover, Master Black Belt and founder of The Effective Syndicate (TES), has spent over 25 years helping manufacturing leaders achieve transformational results. He’s implemented thousands of “bullet-proof” processes, saved millions of dollars, and built exceptional teams nationwide. Along the way, Beau discovered two core truths: leadership and culture drive success, and execution is everything—because even the best plans fail without action.

To address common industry struggles—too many projects, unclear priorities, poor teamwork, and low morale—Beau created the GSD System: “Get Sh!t Done.” This no-nonsense framework simplifies leadership and processes, delivering sustainable results through clarity, teamwork, discipline, and energy.

TES expanded into TES Recruiting, connecting manufacturers with skilled talent, and Swiftemp, offering flexible staffing solutions. GSD Manager Training equips leaders with practical tools to build stronger, more effective teams.

Together, these brands empower manufacturing leaders to overcome challenges, drive results, and confidently Get Sh!t Done.

Shay Foley is President & CEO of the Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce, where since joining in 2024 he has helped grow membership by 40% and revenue by 45%. Prior to joining the Chamber, Shay served as VP and General Manager of Alcon Atlanta Manufacturing in Johns Creek, leading approximately 1,700 associates across R&D, distribution, and a highly automated 24/7 manufacturing operation producing more than one billion contact lenses annually. During more than 20 years with Novartis/Alcon, he held senior leadership roles in the U.S., Europe, Singapore, and Malaysia, with responsibility spanning manufacturing, engineering, quality, R&D, and new product launches. Earlier in his career, Shay spent a decade with Gillette in global engineering, R&D, manufacturing, and product development roles and later led Engineering & R&D for SOLA Optical in Europe. He holds master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Polymer Science from University College Dublin and an MBA from the University of San Francisco. Throughout his career, Shay has been recognized for building strong safety and quality cultures, developing talent, and creating engaged, high-performing teams. 

Salon B: Winning More Business: AI, Marketing & Relationship Strategies That Drive Growth

Nathan McGill and Jason Moss

Session Summary

In today's competitive manufacturing market, companies need more than great products—they need a strategy to attract prospects, build trust, and turn relationships into revenue. This interactive session brings together practical AI marketing tactics with proven networking and relationship-building strategies that help manufacturers grow.

What You'll Learn:

• Leverage AI to amplify your marketing with better branding, video content, and digital strategies that attract the right customers.
• Build relationships that convert into business using proven networking and follow-up systems from Manufacturing YOUR Network.
• Create a repeatable growth engine by combining technology, marketing, and authentic human connections to generate more leads, referrals, and long-term customers.

Nathaniel Thomas McGill is President of 13 Oaks Creative, a strategic content agency that helps manufacturers and business leaders grow by building trust through authentic storytelling. His team develops Customer Stories, Expert Answers, and Brand Films that strengthen AI search visibility, SEO, social media, and sales while positioning companies as industry authorities.

With more than 15 years of experience in filmmaking, Nathaniel has produced and directed 17 independent films and documentaries, including the nationally released American Made Movie. A graduate of Georgia State University with a degree in Film, he now applies cinematic storytelling to help organizations clarify their message and connect with the customers they serve.

Nathaniel's approach is rooted in a simple belief: companies don't need more content—they need a compelling story that builds credibility, earns trust, and drives growth. Through StoryBrand principles and strategic media, he helps manufacturers become the obvious choice in their market.

Jason Moss is the founder and CEO of the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance (GMA) and author of the Amazon bestselling book, Manufacturing YOUR Network. For more than 18 years, he has helped manufacturers across Georgia build meaningful relationships that drive business growth through networking, education, and strategic partnerships.

As the leader of GMA, Jason has connected thousands of manufacturing professionals through plant tours, networking events, educational programs, and the Georgia Manufacturing Summit. His practical approach focuses on helping leaders grow their impact, influence, and income by building authentic relationships before they need them.

During this session, Jason will share proven strategies from the Manufacturing YOUR Network system, demonstrating how manufacturers can strengthen customer relationships, generate referrals, and turn everyday connections into long-term business opportunities. His presentation combines real-world experience with actionable tools that attendees can immediately apply to accelerate sales, expand their networks, and build lasting business success.