COMPANY PROFILE

Paul Sunnen

President

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Paul spent the first 12 years of his working life at Sunnen Products Company in St. Louis.  In that capacity he worked his way up from the ground floor, ending up his tenure at Sunnen in the Honing Research Lab.  During this time he also attended Washington University in the evenings, achieving an Associates Degree in Business Administration in 1980, and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Production and Management in 1982.

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Paul joined Guspro in the fall of 1983 to help his father, August Sunnen, run the family business.  He started working in Sales, but rapidly was promoted to management, ending up as President.  During his tenure at Guspro, the company has grown and diversified into many different markets. Paul is a strong believer in giving back to the community, and as such has held positions as President of the Chatham and District Chamber of Commerce, President of the Business and Community Development Corporation, President of the YMCA Foundation, as well as serving on numerous Boards of Directors.

Brian Sunnen

Vice President & G.M.

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Before joining Guspro in January of 2010, Brian was an Engineering Manager for Quantum Corp. in Denver, CO.  Brian initially served as Guspro’s Director of Business Development and was promoted to his current executive role as Vice President and General Manager in July of 2012.  Brian is the fourth generation of leadership for the Sunnen family business. 

Brian brings a diverse range of experience to Guspro, having previously worked in the automotive, aerospace, and high technology industries.  In 2012, Brian championed the relocation of the company’s headquarters and manufacturing operations to a more modern facility, and most recently oversaw Guspro’s expansion into the curling market with the acquisition of Ice King™.  Brian holds a B.A.Sc. degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the University of Colorado.

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Matt Larkin

Operations Manager

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Matt joined Guspro in 2006. During Matt’s early tenure he has held roles as Supervisor of paint and assemble departments, production control and purchasing. foreman, production manager, and became the Operations Manager in 2021. He has always taken pride in ensuring the site is running smoothly and safely. Matt is a hands-on manager and has championed the Health and Safety Committee and JHSC program to ensure the company is compliant and workers are protected.  

Prior to joining the Guspro team, Matt worked in the manufacturing industry as a Production Coordinator, Lead Hand and later promoted to Supervisor. It was his flexibility, dedication, sound judgment and persistent determination that drove his professional advancement. After 22 years in manufacturing, Matt still demonstrates those attributes daily while leading our organization forward.

Dave Uzonyi

Director of Operations

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Dave joined the Guspro Team in January 2020 as the Engineering and Quality Manager. A Mechanical Engineering Tech by trade, Dave began his journey back in 1987 with Waltec Components as a forge press operator and machinist, where he quickly excelled to become a senior design engineer and R/D project manager. In 2006, Dave traveled to Italy to coordinate and facilitate a complete start up of a state of the art fully automated manufacturing facility (Metal Forming Technologies) located in Chesterfield Michigan, where he was positioned as the AI programmer and plant manager for 4 yrs.

In 2010 Dave became the research and development manager for CARBER manufacturing where he streamlined the development and production processes for all new manufactured products, restructuring the Engineering department and implementing a 3-D design modeling and its JobBoss manufacturing software, as well as implemented and certified CARBER with ISO-9001-2008 quality management system. In 2012, Dave was promoted as the General Manager of CARBER manufacturing where he was responsible for overseeing the day to day operations of the facility and staff. Recently promoted, Dave is now our Operations & Quality Director, where he oversees day to day production operations. 

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Danielle Blommers

Sales & Marketing Manager
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Danielle began her career with us in Customer Service and has steadily demonstrated her skills as she’s grown into larger roles within Sales and Marketing.  Now into her second decade with the company, Danielle was most recently promoted to the role of Manager – Sales & Marketing. Among those key accounts, the SPHEM group (incl. NHL), and our 40+ Blademaster distributors all know Danielle personally and routinely reach out to her as their first point of contact. 

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Danielle has been instrumental in the growth of our web and social media presence.  You’re just as likely to find her facilitating an OHL training program, or managing the equipment for use at pro-level events like the CHL’s Memorial Cup, the IIHF’s World Juniors, or the NHL’s 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff Series.  A hockey enthusiast, Danielle is nearing the completion of her Global Sports Management program at NYU.

Mike Canniff

Engineering and Support Manager​

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Mike started with Guspro in 2002 shortly after graduating from the University of Western Ontario with a B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering. He joined the engineering department as a project manager. He started by focusing on product improvements, quality issues (developing a corrective action report system), and technical support across all product lines. 

Mike’s duties also extended to supervise the engineering group – responsible for developing/updating prints, providing complete design packages (prints/bills of materials/routings) for new products across all lines, designing/quoting custom applications, as well as research and development.

Mike has been involved is designing and developing several R&D projects across all product lines and has been the key contact in developing design patents for new products.

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