people

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Richco is comprised of over 1000 employees, partners, and alliances world-wide. Here are some of the key executives located at our Morton Grove headquarters and our offices in the Chicagoland area and overseas.

Samantha Richardson
Chairman/CEO

Samantha Richardson became Executive Director in 1997. Mrs. Richardson traveled worldwide for Richco as a sales person covering conventions both international and domestic. She served as Secretary on the Steering Committee, and is responsible for Corporate Charitable Funding and Public Relations. Ms. Richardson was born and educated in England.

Rick Streicher
President

Rick Streicher brings to Richco more than 25 years of broad based experience in general management, operations, distribution, marketing, development and applications engineering and strategic planning. In this role, Rick is responsible for the worldwide operations of Richco. Prior to joining Richco in March 2000, Rick was Senior Vice President at a Fortune 500 company, with responsibility for three global business units, each having multiple product lines. Rick graduated from the University of Chicago with a Master of Business Administration degree and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois.

Jim Fegen
Vice Chairman

Jim Fegen has been at Richco since 1966 and is the company’s Vice-Chairman. Involved with manufacturing since 1954, Mr. Fegen has more than 45 years experience in the tooling, machining, electronic and manufacturing industries. He has been instrumental in the development of company policy and strategic direction and was involved in the initial acquisition phase through Europe and Asia. Mr. Fegen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Northwestern University.

Tony Barfoot
Managing Director of European Operations

Tony Barfoot was initially recruited as European Accountant in UK during the initial acquisition phase through Europe. Moving quickly to the dual role of Financial Director for UK and Financial Controller of the 13 International Operations in 1994, Mr. Barfoot was promoted to Managing Director of International Operations in 1999. His initial training was gained working for Unilever and his two positions prior to joining Richco were as Commercial Manager including working for the Esselte group in London. Mr. Barfoot is a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Kunio Yasui
Managing Director of Asian Operations

Kunio Yasui joined Richco on February 1, 1988 as the Sales Manager of plastic parts in Japan. He has since become the Managing Director in charge of all of the Richco operations in Asia. Mr. Yasui worked for Avery Dennison Co. as the Sales Manager, Asian Region, for 15 years and established sales agents throughout Asia for the sale of plastic fasteners (cable ties, price tag pins and machines, etc).

Mario Pieroni
Vice President of Sales/Marketing

Mario Pieroni oversees all corporate marketing and new product development activities for Richco Inc. and is also responsible for sales in the America's. Mr. Pieroni brings to Richco over 25 years of marketing, product management and sales experience with companies that have marketed and sold products worldwide.

Bob Reisel
Vice President of Technology

Bob Reisel is responsible for Richco's corporate Product Engineering and R&D functions. Bob has over 15 years of experience in engineering management and new product process development. Prior to joining Richco in May of 2001, Bob held positions ranging from Chief Engineer, Director of Sales and Applications Engineering with a Fortune 500 company. Bob graduated from Keller Graduate School of Management with a Masters in Business Administration degree and from Iowa State University with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Steven Poulsen
Vice President of Finance

Steve Poulsen joined Richco in 1994 as Controller and was promoted in 1996 to Vice President, Finance. Mr. Poulsen has extensive domestic and international experience in finance and accounting, and also serves as the company's Treasurer. Mr. Poulsen became a Certified Public Accountant in 1975 and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lewis University and Master of Business Administration from Northern Illinois University.

Diane Vlcek
Vice President of Human Resources

Diane Vlcek joined Richco in 2001 as Vice President Human Resources. In this role, she is responsible for developing and leading Richco's human resource function globally. She has more than 18 years of human resources experience gained in a variety of manufacturing and service industries. Prior to joining Richco, Diane was General Manager of Human Resources for a division of 25,000 employees within a telecommunications company. Diane graduated from Valparaiso University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.

David Decker
Director of Worldwide Manufacturing

Dave Decker oversees Richco's worldwide manufacturing facilities. He has over 25 years of extensive experience in the plastics industry at various custom and captive molding facilities. Mr. Decker has been employed at Richco Inc. since 1980. A graduate of Illinois State University, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology with a plastics emphasis.