Brett C. Carter
Mr. Carter, 56, is Executive Vice President and Group President, Utilities and Chief Customer Officer of Xcel Energy Inc., a major U.S. electric and natural gas delivery company. He assumed this position in March 2022. Mr. Carter served as Executive Vice President and Chief Customer and Innovation Officer from May 2018 to March 2022. Prior to that, Mr. Carter served as Senior Vice President and Shared Services Executive of Bank of America, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, from October 2015 to May 2018, and as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Bank of America from March 2015 to October 2015. Before joining Bank of America, Mr. Carter held several leadership roles at Duke Energy Co. from 2005 to 2015, including most recently as Senior Vice President and Chief Distribution Officer from 2013 to March 2015. Mr. Carter has been a director of Graco since February 2021. Among other qualifications, Mr. Carter brings to our Board substantial experience overseeing key business areas of operations, marketing, information technology, cyber and physical security, customer service and brand strategy at several major public companies. He has been designated by our Board as an audit committee financial expert.
R. William Van Sant
Mr. Van Sant, 84, has been a Senior Advisor at Yukon Partners II, LLC, a provider of mezzanine financing for middle-market private equity transactions, since 2014, and an Operating Partner at TJM Capital Partners, an operationally-focused private equity firm, since 2015. He also serves as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Tenamec, Inc., a portfolio company of TJM Capital. In addition to actively advising private equity funds and their portfolio companies, Mr. Van Sant may from time to time take ownership interests in the funds and portfolio companies he advises. From 2013 until June 2017, he was a Senior Operating Partner at Tenex Capital Management, L.P., a private equity firm, and from 2012 until 2013, he served as a Senior Advisor. During this time, he also served as the Chairman or as a director of several portfolio companies of Tenex. From 2008 until 2013, he was an Operating Partner of Stone Arch Capital, LLC, a private equity firm. From 2006 through 2007, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Paladin Brands Holding, Inc., which manufactures attachments for construction equipment. From 2003 until 2006, Mr. Van Sant was Chairman, and from 2003 until 2005, he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, of Paladin Brands, LLC. He was an operating partner with Norwest Equity Partners, a private equity firm, from 2001 through 2006. Mr. Van Sant has been a director of Graco since 2004. Mr. Van Sant served as a director of H.B. Fuller Company from 2001 until April 2021, and as Vice Chairman of the Board from 2011 until April 2021. Among other qualifications, Mr. Van Sant is an expert in management, finance and manufacturing operations, experience he has acquired over many years as an executive and/or director of various manufacturing companies, including those listed above as well as Nortrax, Inc., Lukens Inc., Blount, Inc., and Cessna Aircraft Company. He also held roles of increasing responsibility over a nearly thirty year career at John Deere Company. Mr. Van Sant’s strong leadership experience and seasoned business valuation skills make him a key contributor to our Board on strategy and growth topics, particularly with respect to mergers and acquisitions. He has been designated by our Board as an audit committee financial expert.
Directors whose terms continue until 2025:
Eric P. Etchart
Mr. Etchart, 66, was Senior Vice President, Business Development of The Manitowoc Company, Inc., a manufacturer of cranes and foodservice equipment, from 2015 until his retirement in 2016. Mr. Etchart served as President of Manitowoc Cranes and Senior Vice President of The Manitowoc Company, Inc. from 2007 until 2015. From 2001 to 2007, Mr. Etchart was Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific and President, Zhang Jia Gang Company of the Manitowoc Crane Group, in Shanghai, China. Prior to that, Mr. Etchart held various management positions at Potain S.A., until it was acquired by Manitowoc in 2001, and at PPM Cranes S.A. Mr. Etchart has been a director of Graco since 2010. He also serves as a director of Alamo Group Inc. and of WD-40 Company, and is Chair of the Nominating/Corporate Governance Committee of Alamo Group Inc. and is Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee of WD-40 Company. Mr. Etchart is also a director of UPERIO Group, which sells, rents and services tower cranes and self-erecting cranes, and chairs its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee. Mr. Etchart is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Board Leadership Fellow, and has successfully completed the Diligent Climate Leadership Certification, which focuses on climate risk and related business strategy, the board’s related fiduciary obligations, climate-related government regulations, reporting and disclosure requirements, and investor engagement. Among other qualifications, Mr. Etchart brings to our Board over thirty years of global manufacturing experience, as well as extensive knowledge of and expertise in finance and marketing. Mr. Etchart, a French-national with over twenty years of experience in management positions outside of the U.S., including positions in China, Singapore, Italy, France and the Middle East, is particularly well-suited to provide an international perspective to the Board as we develop our business in global markets.
8
Graco Inc. 2023 Proxy Statement