Leadership at Lewis

Joe Buckler serves as a Regional Vice President for Lewis. In this role, he is responsible for the safety, productivity, and growth of the company’s operations in the newly-formed Midwest Growth Region.

Buckler joined Lewis as a senior executive with more than 20 years of industrial services experience and concentrated leadership in the utilities and energy sector. Over the course of his career, Buckler has amassed extensive acumen in the electric utility industry and notable expertise in the clean energy space.

A seasoned team and organizational leader, Buckler has successfully managed distributed workforces across the globe and is passionate about developing staff in pursuit of operational excellence and individual growth. Buckler’s commitment to positive engagement with his teams extends to positive customer partnerships as well, in correlation with his favorite Lewis operating principle: respect.

“When we treat our coworkers and our customers with respect, it builds a long term relationship that is able to flourish during the good times and overcome adversity when things get tough.”

Buckler earned a bachelor’s degree from Miami University and an MBA from Kent State University. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife, son and two daughters, playing golf, and watching his favorite Cleveland sports team.

Brian McBrairty joined the Lewis team in 2019 and is currently a Regional Vice President. He is responsible for five operating divisions throughout the Northeast, ensuring that all front line work is carried out safely and as cost-effectively as possible.

McBrairty has broad-based expertise in regional operations, multi-location leadership, financial management, and business development. Previously, as regional manager with another company, he won their operational excellence award for new business development and profitability, as well as the company’s presidential safety award.

His favorite Lewis operating principle is responsibility, which he sees as a core component of everything he does because responsibility drives results and is the differentiator between under-performing and high-performing teams.

McBrairty holds a bachelor’s degree in labor and industrial relations from Penn State University. He enjoys offshore fishing on the east coast, both competitively and for recreation, and is the proud father of three daughters.

“With the current complexity of our daily work and the amount of change that exists, leaders must be adaptable. Without this, many leaders hit a career plateau.”

As Regional Vice President for Lewis, Matt Meador is responsible for the safety, productivity, and growth of the company’s operations in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. He has been with the company since 2014.

During his career at Lewis, Meador grew a startup division into one of the company’s largest regions, chaired the EVSAB, and became a Certified Treecare Safety Professional. Prior to joining Lewis, he worked for the Alabama Rural Electric Association. He has spent more than a decade in vegetation management leadership.

The leadership quality Meador values most is humility. “People do not want someone over them, they want someone in front of them.”

His favorite Lewis operating principle is respect; he believes that how we treat each other matters. Outside of work, his faith, family, and friends are what’s important.

Meador has been married for over 20 years to his high school sweetheart.

Eric Scherer is a Regional Vice President of Operations for Lewis. In this role, he oversees 700 employees and manages customer relationships from Michigan to Florida. He has been with Lewis since joining the company as a Division Manager in 2013. As a Division Manager, Scherer won five different safety awards.

Scherer is passionate about empowering individuals and teams to achieve their full potential. He believes that supporting and developing people is critical to an organization’s success.

Before joining Lewis, Scherer served in the U.S. Army. Scherer earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida and an MBA from Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He is a proud father and a pilot who has visited more than 35 countries.

“I am a strong believer that if you find the right person for the job, who has the potential, you should develop that person, support them, and participate in their growth and success.”

Gordon Spaugh has served as a Regional Vice President at Lewis since 2016, when Carolina Tree Care merged with Lewis. In this role, Spaugh leads a large team of employees distributed across the Southeastern United States. He is responsible for relentlessly pursuing strong partnerships with Lewis customers to ensure their success.

Spaugh highly values courage in leadership and enjoys reading books about leaders who have demonstrated courage by leading their teams to success in the face of great adversity. He appreciates Lewis’ operating principle of integrity, which he says is foundational for effective leadership and teamwork.

Outside of work, Spaugh spends time with his wife and three children. He has served as an elder in his church for 20 years and was the Scoutmaster for a Boy Scouts of America troop. He has been on three, 10-day backpacking trips at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.

Spaugh earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MBA from the University of Virginia. He is an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Certified Arborist and Utility Specialist and a Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) Certified Treecare Safety Professional.

“I’ve always admired leaders who have the courage to lead their teams to success in the face of great adversity.”

Jim Barr is a co-founder at Mengel, Metzger, Barr & Co., LLP, Certified Public Accountants, and was its managing partner until 2000. As a member of the firm’s medical, construction, and tax committees, Barr brings a wealth of relevant experience and insight to his board service.

In addition to being a Lewis Board member, Barr has served on the University of Rochester/Thompson Health System board, headquartered in Canandaigua, New York, since 2001. He was Board Chair in 2017 and currently sits on its Finance and Quality and Safety Committees.

In 2020, Barr received the Rochester ICON Award from the Rochester Business Journal, which recognizes Greater Rochester area business leaders over the age of 60 for their notable success and demonstration of strong leadership, both in and outside of their field. In 2019, he was awarded the annual Trustee Leadership Award from Healthcare Trustees of New York state. This award is presented to trustees whose skills, commitment, and effective decision-making have a profound impact in their boardroom.

A graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Barr is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Barr believes that providing timely services to clients is a strong motivator for success and is the most rewarding part of his profession. He and his wife, Wendy, live on Canandaigua Lake, where he enjoys spending time with his children and grandchildren.

Jeff Corbett is a former utility executive with nearly 40 years of experience in the power industry. He retired in 2018 from Duke Energy Corporation, one of the largest investor-owned electric power holding companies in the U.S.

Over the course of his career, Corbett worked in progressively more responsible roles in engineering, distribution operations, customer service, and corporate services, including Senior VP & Chief Procurement Officer, Senior VP Distribution Engineering and Customer Services, and Senior VP, Carolinas Delivery Operations.

Corbett has served on, and chaired, industry committees for the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies and the Southeastern Electrical Exchange. In his local community, he sits on the board of trustees and executive committee of the North Carolina Symphony Society, where he is a past chair.

In addition to the North Coast Holdings, Inc. and Lewis Tree Service, Inc. boards, he serves on the board for The Texas Reliability Entity, Inc., the regional Electric Reliability Organization under the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.

Corbett earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and is a registered Professional Engineer. He and his wife, Jean, live in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Dawn DePerrior was most recently a Managing Director, Advisory Services, for Ernst & Young. She led multiple business transformation initiatives powered by technology and aimed at improving customer experiences and business results.

A lifelong digital leader, DePerrior has led all aspects of information technology, including business transformation, cyber security, digitization, data, analytics, innovation, mergers and acquisition integration, finance, and strategy. Her 40-year career is defined by its breadth and depth of experiences, enabling her to bring creative ideas and inspire large teams to solve their most complex problems.

DePerrior and the team she led received the University of Rochester’s prestigious Meliora Award for digitizing patient care delivery processes and electronic health records. She was twice recognized as one of Rochester’s “Technology Women of the Year.” She also serves on the board and is past chair of Villa of Hope and is a board member for Greater Rochester Regional Health Information Organization (GR-RHIO). Previously, she was a member of the board of directors for Fairport Savings Bank.

Oksana “Sandy” Dominach is Constellation Brands’ Senior Vice President of Finance and Treasurer. She is responsible for creating shareholder value through the proactive quantitative management of risk, improving cash flow generation, and optimizing the company’s capital structure. In addition, Dominach leads the company’s enterprise risk management, finance planning analysis and reporting, and financial system and RBA development. Constellation Brands is a leading international producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits, with operations in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, and Italy.

Throughout her 20-year career at Constellation Brands, Dominach has led financial strategies for many acquisitions and divestitures, initiated the first common stock dividend, led its investment grade, and developed a strategic risk analysis supporting the management of foreign exchange, commodity, and interest rate risk. She also spearheaded the historic public financing of Constellation’s investment in the cannabis industry and developed the company’s first crisis committee and enterprise risk management program.

Before joining Constellation, Dominach was Director of Treasury at Gleason Corporation in Rochester, New York.

In addition to her work on the Lewis Board, Dominach serves on the boards of Transcat, Inc., the M&T Bank Advisory Board, and as Treasurer of the Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center in Canandaigua, New York. She graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA.

Cary Pappas is founder and CEO of Innovation in Action LLC (IIA), a startup that creates products to address “porch pirates,” people who steal packages from front doors, as well as personal shields that provide mobile protection in the event of a mass shooting event. Pappas was granted three U.S. patents in the space of 18 months and is in the process of manufacturing prototypes.

Pappas is a seven-time recipient of FedEx’s prestigious Five Star Award; he spent 36 years at FedEx prior to IIA. He was president and CEO of three different FedEx companies and held Senior Vice President or Vice President roles in numerous areas of the corporation.

Pappas joined FedEx in 1983 as a courier in Dallas. Throughout his career, he embraced the traditions that define the FedEx brand; his leadership inspired over 5,000 FedEx team members to deliver daily with a people-first philosophy, which was integral to the company’s culture. Pappas leads by example and is a proponent of servant leadership.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Memphis.

Michael Rodriguez serves on the audit and finance, compensation, and enterprise risk management committees of the Lewis board. His background includes financial, operational, and transactional expertise to drive growth, raise capital, develop organizations, and maximize value. For the past 30 years, he has led the growth and development of early-stage businesses in multiple industries. He is a seasoned fund-raiser and board member, and has led companies through scaling for high growth, turnarounds, and distressed circumstances.

Rodriguez is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Accounting at Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University and serves as an advisor for Waco Ventures, LLC and WeCreate Media, LLC. Previously, he served for over 20 years in various chief financial officer roles and was most recently chief business officer of Magnolia Business Ventures, a global brand associated with the Fixer Upper TV series franchise.

Rodriguez is a “Big-4” Certified Public Accountant and actively mentors business owners, leaders, and young professionals. He has been married for over 25 years and has two children. He enjoys running, travel, family time, music, and USC Trojans football.

In addition to Manny San Miguel’s role as an advisor to the Lewis board, he is Chief Financial Officer for AmesburyTruth, a leading international supplier of engineered components for the window and door industry, and subsidiary of Tyman plc.

San Miguel previously served as COO and Chief Strategy Officer for QualiTech, where he led manufacturing, supply chain, and shared services, and VP and General Manager of Business Solutions for CHS Inc., creating and implementing a new business model that led to a record 37% increase in revenues in less than 12 months. Earlier in his career, as PepsiAmericas’ Global Vice President of Corporate Planning, San Miguel led a team that reduced volatility, increased accuracy, and improved visibility around forecasting results.

Growing up in Latin America, San Miguel’s life was impacted by unorganized governance and complex commerce which regularly affected daily life, limiting access to vital resources such as power, water, and food. These factors ignited the passion for governance and accountability that has fueled his career.

In his free time, San Miguel enjoys the company of his wife and four children, tinkering in his garage, playing guitar, or cooking up a new dish in the kitchen.

Phil Saunders is the founder of several notable companies, including Genesee Regional Bank, Truck Stops of America, Griffith Energy, TravelCenters of America, and Sugar Creek Corporation. He owns several businesses, including Countryside ALF, a commercial real estate holdings company, and has ownership interests in Sugar Creek Farms, Western New York Energy, and American Rock Salt.

In addition to serving on the Lewis Board, Saunders serves as Chairman of Genesee Regional Bank. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), American Rock Salt, the New York State Trooper Foundation, and Western New York Energy. Saunders was formerly the Executive Vice President and Director of Ryder Systems, Owner/CEO of Econo-Car International, and Owner/CEO of Richardson Foods Corporation.

Another of his notable achievements is the eponymous Saunders College of Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

James Stenger joined Lewis in 2010 as Senior Vice President and CFO, retiring from that position in 2018. Prior to joining Lewis, he worked as CFO for Brinkman International Group, as Vice President of Finance and CFO for Diamond Packaging, and as Vice President and Treasurer for The Alling & Cory Company. In 2014, the Rochester Business Journal and Rochester Chapter of Financial Executives International named Stenger Financial Executive of the Year - Large Organization Winner.

In addition to his duties on the Lewis Board, Stenger has been a board director for the Rochester Chapter of Financial Executives International (FEI) since 2005 and is past president of the chapter. He is active in the national FEI, the Employee-Owned S Corporations of America (ESCA), and the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Association, and has served on the boards of several other organizations.

Stenger holds a CPA license and graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a B.S. in accounting. He served in the United States Navy and enjoys tennis, woodworking, and traveling.