Meet Our Leadership Team

Our success is built by our employees and cultivated by the vision of our leadership team. Together, they drive the strategic decisions that support and spur on the industry-leading innovations and improvements that set new quality standards and technological advancements year on year.

Albert Grobmyer

CEO

Albert joined the Company as Vice President in 1993 and has served in a variety of corporate staff and business unit leadership positions. In 2000, he was promoted to Executive Vice President and was elected to the Company’s Board of Directors. In 2007, Albert was elected Chairman and CEO of the Company.

Prior to Puffer-Sweiven, Albert was a manager with Arthur Andersen / Andersen Consulting’s Houston practice. Albert has served on the Board of Aquinas Companies, LLC; the Board of Strategic Growth Partners (SGP), the trade association for the Emerson Impact Partners in North America; and, the Board of Advisors for Fannin Innovation Studio, an early-stage life sciences development company. Albert has also served on the Board of the Houston Musician’s Benevolent Society and the Board of the Memorial Endowment Fund for the Church of St. John the Divine.

He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from Rice University and has served on the Board of the Rice Engineering Alumni Association and as an advisor to the Rice University Chemical Engineering Department.

Carlos Garza

President

Carlos was elected President of Puffer-Sweiven in 2024.

Prior to Puffer-Sweiven, Carlos was a Process Engineer at Lubrizol Deer Park. Carlos joined the Company in 1996 and served in a variety of sales roles supporting international and domestic sales. In 2005, Carlos became the Regulator Technologies Business Unit leader.

After the Company’s acquisition of Ineco Chile (now Puffer Chile) in 2009, Carlos and his family relocated to Santiago, Chile. Carlos served as National Sales Manager for Final Control and Measurement Solutions. In 2013, the family moved to Bogota, Colombia, where Carlos served as Regional General Manager for Colombia and Ecuador.

Carlos assumed the role of Vice President of International operations in 2014 and was elected to the Board of Management in 2016. In 2018, Carlos assumed the role of Vice President Oil & Gas sales, Final Control. In 2019, Carlos was elected to the Company’s Board of Directors. In 2020, Carlos assumed the role of Senior Vice President of sales for Process Systems and Reliability Solutions. In 2023, Carlos was appointed Executive Vice President leading domestic sales.

Carlos earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas in Austin and an MBA from the University of Houston.

Kirk Emiliani

Executive Vice President, International & Strategic Accounts

Kirk has executive responsibility for our Latin American entities and also leads the Strategic Accounts program for the Company.

Having earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, Kirk began his Puffer-Sweiven career as a Sales Associate in the Systems business unit in 1990. He was promoted to Account Manager in 1993 selling distributed control systems and other automation solutions. Kirk has held key leadership roles in his tenure, including Sales Manager of Oil & Gas and Manager of Systems Services. In 2010, Kirk was elected Vice President and became a member the Company’s Board of Management. Kirk served as Vice President, General Manager of Puffer-Sweiven International from 2010 to 2016. He then served as Executive Vice President of Sales for the Final Control business until 2023. Kirk was elected to the Company's Board of Directors in September 2018.

As a strong supporter of the Alzheimer's Association, Kirk serves on the Board of the Houston & Southeast Texas Chapter and as co-chair for the annual Fort Bend Walk to End Alzheimer's raising awareness and funds for care, support, and research.

Tate Cunningham

Senior Vice President, EPC Sales Final Control

Tate holds responsibility for all sales activities for the Company’s Final Control EPC business. Tate joined the company in 2001 as an Account Manager in the Isolation Valve business serving customers in the Houston Ship Channel and Texas City markets.

In 2005, Tate transferred to the Flow Control and Pressure Management business unit in the Houston Ship Channel where he focused on selling control valves, regulators & pressure management products and services in the same territory. In 2010, Tate was promoted to Sales Manager, Process End Users for the Flow Control and Pressure Management Business Units in the Houston Ship Channel and Freeport. Tate assumed the role of Sales Manager for EPC Sales, Flow Control & Pressure Management in Stafford in 2013. In 2018, Tate was promoted to Vice President, EPC Sales Final Control and was elected to the Company’s Board of Management the following year.

Tate began his career with Invensys Flow Control (now owned by Flowserve) where he worked ten years as a Regional Sales Manager in various territories including Southeastern and Southwestern United States where he managed the distribution network for multiple brands of ball valve and actuation products. Tate graduated from Lamar University with a major in Communication and a minor in Management.

Mike Daniels

Senior Vice President, Process Systems & Solutions Business Leader

Mike leads the execution and planning of the Process Systems and Oil & Gas Automation businesses along with providing executive leadership for the Systems, Reliability and Oil & Gas Automation service businesses. He also serves as the executive sponsor for the Company’s Rotating Equipment business unit and the Company’s Integrated Solutions business.

Mike joined the Company in 2001 as a Sales Associate on the Stafford EPC sales team specializing in Pressure Management. In 2006, he was promoted to Account Manager, selling Fisher Control Valves and Regulators as well as Pressure Management products to customers on the Houston Ship Channel. He returned to the Stafford EPC business in 2008 as an Account Manager and was promoted to Manager, Inside Sales for the group in 2010. Mike accepted the challenge to learn a different aspect of the business and served as an Account Manager in Stafford’s Systems Sales team from 2012-2014.

Mike was again promoted to a leadership role in 2014, serving as Manager, Process End User Sales with responsibility for Fisher Valve & Regulator sales on the Houston Ship Channel and in Freeport. In 2016, Mike was promoted to Director, Final Control Process End User Sales for all branch locations. In January 2018, Mike was elected Vice President and later this same year was elected to the Board of Management and assumed the role of VP, Business Unit Leader for Systems and Solutions. In 2019 Mike was elected to the Company’s Board of Directors.

Mike holds a Marketing degree from Texas A&M and an MBA from the University of Houston.

Daniel Storey

Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Daniel Storey joined the Company in 2020 as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and a member of the Company’s Board of Management.

Daniel has well-diversified financial leadership experience across several industries including the oilfield services sector, global manufacturing, and technology.

He started his career as an auditor with the public accounting firm, Ernst & Young. During his career he has served as the CFO for Hewlett-Packard’s Americas Software Business and later as the CFO at GSE Environmental.

Prior to joining Puffer-Sweiven, Daniel was the CFO for Axip Energy Services, a private equity backed contract compression services provider for upstream and midstream oil and gas operators. Daniel has also served on the Board of Cypress Christian School.

Daniel earned his Bachelor of Business Administration and Master’s in Professional Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Tom Kovacs

Vice President, Flow Controls Business Leader

Tom serves as Vice President, Flow Controls Business Unit Leader. He leads the Flow Controls Business Unit and provides executive leadership for the Final Control Business Units (Flow Control, Regulator Technologies, Pressure Management, Isolation Valves, and Actuation Technologies).

Tom joined the Company in 1993 as a Sales Associate on the Freeport Sales Team specializing in Fisher Control Valves and Regulators. In 1997, he was promoted to Account Manager, selling Isolation Valve (IV) solutions to the Houston EPC Market. Tom moved into his first leadership role in 2002 as Inside Sales Supervisor of the Stafford EPC sales team. He was promoted in 2004 to Inside Sales Manager of Stafford’s IV sales team and to Sales Manager of the EPC sales team in 2007.

In 2009, Tom assumed the Sales Manager role for the Stafford Oil & Gas sales team. He was elected to Vice President in 2012 and assumed the role of IV Business Unit Leader in 2016. Tom was elected to the Company’s Board of Management in December 2020. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University.

Doug Sellers

Vice President, Chief Information Officer

Doug joined the Company as Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Vice President in November 2018. As CIO, he has responsibility for all of the Company’s information technology (IT) functions, with particular focus on business transformation and the use of information technology to better enable our business to differentiate itself to our customers. In addition to his CIO role, Doug assumed responsibility for Puffer’s Reliability Solutions (RS) Business Unit in October 2020 and the newly created Digital Transformation (DX) Business Unit in 2021.

Prior to joining Puffer, Doug spent 25 years at the global management consulting firm, Accenture. There he served as a senior partner in the oil and gas practice. Throughout his Accenture career Doug served Energy Industry clients including Exxon, Shell, Baker Hughes, and Halliburton. Doug joined his long-time client Halliburton in 2013 where he served in a variety of global information technology leadership roles including Merger Integration, Application Services, and Infrastructure Services.

Doug received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1988. He has served as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Engineering at Texas A&M. He is currently a member and past chair of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Advisory Council for the College of Engineering at Texas A&M.

Ellen Smith

Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Ellen joined the Company as Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) in September 2022. She has responsibility for all of the Company's Human Resources and Safety and Environmental functions. She is a member of the Board of Management.

Ellen has significant experience in human resources leadership, particularly in the oilfield services sector. Her experience includes human resources roles with Schlumberger, Shell Technology Ventures, and she served as the Vice President of Human Resources for CARBO Ceramics, Inc.

Ellen earned her Bachelor's degree in Personnel Administration from Michigan State University.

Mitch Gammons

Vice President, Process End User Sales Final Control

Mitch Gammons serves as the Vice President Sales responsible for all Final Control End User Sales Teams. His teams are responsible for all sales activities related to mechanical products and services supporting our End User Customers.

Through his tenure, Mitch has held various sales and leadership rolls across the organization. He joined the company in 1998 as a Flow Control (Fisher) sales trainee. Mitch served as an Inside Salesperson until 2000 when he was promoted to Flow Control Account Manager on the Houston Ship Channel. In 2004, Mitch assumed Inside Sales Supervisor responsibilities for the Flow Control EPC team until his promotion to Freeport Branch Manager in 2006. In 2009, Mitch returned to Stafford assuming leadership of IT until 2010 when he became the Flow Control Business Unit Leader. Mitch assumed his current responsibilities in 2018.

Mitch is a nine-year veteran of the United States Air Force, holds a Chemical Engineering Degree from Oklahoma State University and an MBA from the University of Houston.

Keith Erskine

Vice President, Systems & Reliability Solutions Sales

Keith serves as Vice President, Systems & Reliability Solutions Sales. In this role, Keith has responsibility for our Distributed Control Systems, Safety Systems, Machinery Health Management and Plant Asset Management sales teams. These teams provide product and service support to our customers across multiple industries spanning Chemicals, Refining, Oil and Gas, Life Sciences, Industrial Gasses, and Sustainability.

Keith joined the Company in 2003 as a Sales Associate in the Foundations Accounts team in Stafford. In 2005, he joined the Flow Control EPC team in Stafford as a Sales Associate, before being promoted to Sales Asset Manager in 2006, and Account Manager in 2008 on the same team. In 2013, Keith began working with the broader organization, assuming the role of Regulator Business Unit Leader. In 2016, Keith took on the role of Sales Manager, Systems and Reliability Solutions, with responsibility for our EPC and OEM account teams. He then was promoted to Vice President, Systems and Reliability Solutions in September 2019, and was elected to the Board of Management in 2024.

Keith holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Distribution from Texas A&M University and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Houston.