Dennis E. Hiller
President and Chief Executive Officer

As President and Chief Executive Officer of GST AutoLeather, Dennis E. Hiller, is responsible for the daily operations of each division of the company, including all operations, finance, business development, global sourcing, and human resources.

Dennis joined the company in 2004 after a nearly 30-year career in the automotive components industry, including 25 years with Collins & Aikman, and most recently as chief executive officer of Guide Corporation and president and CEO of Automotive Component Systems.

His vast experience at Collins & Aikman includes being president of North American Automotive Interior Systems, president of the Carpet and Acoustics Group and president of Collins & Aikman Accessory Mats.

Dennis' experience and product responsibilities has included a wide variety of automotive products such as exterior lighting, fascia bumpers, steel stamping systems, carpeting, accessory mats, and acoustics.

Dennis received his B.S. in Textile Engineering from North Carolina State University. Upon graduation Dennis began his career as an Industrial Engineer. During his career and prior to becoming president of three successive larger operating divisions, Dennis has worked in such varied areas as a Plant Industrial Engineer, Plant Administrative Manager, Division Quality Assurance Engineer, Division Customer Quality Assurance Manager, Sales Executive, and Director of Sales and Marketing.

Thomas Bee
General Manager Seton Autoleather Europe

As General Manager, Thomas Bee has overall responsibilities for Seton AutoLeather Europe. Thomas joined the Seton AutoLeather Company in 2000 after a 26 year career as Sales and Marketing Manager in specialty chemicals servicing the tanning and textile industry. 

Thomas started his career in sales at Stockhausen (today's TFL Leather Technology, Ltd.) in 1974 working in sales of mainly chemicals to the world tanning industry. After three years at Pfersee Chemicals Company as Sales Manager for textile chemicals Thomas went back into the leather industry as Manager at Böhme Chemicals Company servicing mainly the global tanning industry with wet-end products.

In 2000 Thomas joined Seton company in Mülheim a.d.R. as its Director of Martketing and Sales. In 2006 he was appointed General Manager, Global Sales & Research and Development.

César Hugo Escobedo
Senior VP of Operations Excellence
GST Autoleather de Mexico

Cesar Hugo Escobedo joined GST in September 2006 as Senior VP of Operations Excellence GST Autoleather de Mexico after the merger operation between GST Autoleather, Inc. and Cueros Industrializados del Bajío S.A. de C.V. (“CUINBA”). In January 2007 Cesar was promoted to Senior VP of Operations Excellence and in his new role, he is responsible for all the daily operations of GST Autoleather de Mexico, including operations of three manufacturing facilities.

Prior to GST, Cesar worked for CUINBA, where he held several senior management positions, most recently being Director of Planning and Strategic Projects. He was also the Director of General Electric Transportation Systems Mexico. Previous to that, Cesar worked for the Mexican government holding several positions.

Cesar obtained his degree as a Certified Public Accountant from the Escuela Bancaria y Comercial in Mexico. He has several studies in the Management field, including Executive MBA studies at the University of Quebec at Montreal and Innovation and Strategy techniques seminars at Harvard University. He also obtained a diploma degree from the United Nations and CECADE for his participation in a Planning and Economic Policies intensive program. Cesar resides in Leon, Mexico. He enjoys baseball and is married with four children.

Eric Evans
Vice President, Managing Director – South Africa

Since May 2008, as Managing Director of Seton AutoLeather South Africa, Eric Evans has been responsible for the daily operations of this vertically integrated tanning, retanning, finishing and cutting operation. In addition to a fully compliant R&D Development Center and automotive leather Testing Laboratory, responsibilities include Manufacturing & Logistics operations, Quality control/Quality assurance; Sales & Marketing, Finance & Accounting, Human Resources, Safety, Health & Environmental compliance; Information Technology and overall business development.

Eric joined Seton Company in July 1999 as Corporate Controller. In 2002 he was promoted to Vice President, Chief Financial Officer responsible for Seton’s global finance and control functions. Prior to GST/Seton, Eric spent 15 years with FMC Corporation’s Agricultural Products Group and its Armaments System Division. During his tenure at FMC Eric held a number of leadership positions in Finance, Operations, Sales and Marketing and Business Development. Eric holds a Masters of Business Administration from The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Dickinson College. Eric brings a unique combination of international business and cross functional skills to the GST Autoleather family of companies.

Stephen Jeske
Senior Vice President - Sales, Marketing, and Product Development

As Senior Vice President of Sales/Marketing and Product Development, Steve Jeske is responsible for directing the global organizations and initiatives in support of OEM and Tier I customer requirements.

Steve joined the company in 2004 after a 25 year career as a senior sales/marketing executive in the automotive industry, including 23 years with Collins & Aikman. Most recently, he held a sales/marketing executive position with American Axle and Manufacturing.

At Collins & Aikman, the majority of his career was focused on the fabric and corresponding interior trim market. He was also involved in the carpet, acoustic, and plastic trim product lines during his tenure as Sr. VP Sales/Marketing-North American Interior Group. His extensive industry experience and global knowledge will be a tremendous asset in the development of the GST growth strategy.

Steve received a B.S. in business from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. and is currently located in the GST Southfield, MI headquarters.

Francisco Ríos Jiménez
Vice President Business Development

As VP of Business Development, Francisco Rios is responsible for global business development activities as well as supporting our purchasing group for hide procurement. He handles the main negotiation issues with customers and strategic suppliers of GST Leon.

Francisco joined the company in September 2006 through the CUINBA acquisition process. During his tenure with CUINBA, he was Sales Manager, Marketing & Sales VP and Senior VP. In these roles, he helped the company to obtain automotive industry awards and grow from 110 associates to more than 1,500. Francisco began his career with Procter & Gamble where he held various Sales and Marketing positions.

Francisco received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Monterrey Technology and he attended several seminars at Pace University NY, Texas University, MIT and Harvard in different areas such as Top Management, Sales & Marketing, Negotiation, Market Innovation and Leadership. 

Francisco is an active member on the board of several local Leon companies. From 2004 to 2006, he was a member of the General Motors de Mexico Purchasing council, and is also a member of the board of COFOCE (State of Guanajuato International Commerce entity)

Brad Johnson
Vice President – Global Purchasing and Supply Chain Management

As Vice President of Global Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, Brad Johnson leads a professional team in strategic sourcing, material planning, and logistic optimization. Linking GST between its suppliers and customers, the supply chain organization coordinates the supply of raw material, the planning and conversion of products, and ultimately the delivery of world class leather to GST’s customers.

Prior to joining GST, Brad spent his entire career with Ford Motor / Visteon Corporation where he held various management positions within the supply chain organization. His experience includes materials and production planning, supplier quality, purchasing, inventory optimization, and lean manufacturing.

Brad received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Michigan State University, and an MBA from Eastern Michigan University.

Daniel W. Lough
Director - Quality

As Director of Quality, Daniel W. Lough leads a professional and experienced team in automotive quality, systems, laboratory testing, warranty analysis and customer satisfaction necessary for GST AutoLeather's daily manufacturing process and continuous improvement.

Dan has 22 years of automotive experience. Prior to joining GST, he held senior management positions with leading Tier 1 companies in the interior and exterior trim applications including instrument panels, door panels, interior hard trim, carpet and acoustics, head liners, fascia bumpers, window glass and exterior ornamentation, most notably with Collins & Aikman and Guardian Industries. Dan was on the Quality Roundtable Top 100 Executive Committee Team for Ford Motor Company and the DaimlerChrysler Quality Steering Committee for the top 50 DCX suppliers for many years.

Dan received his Master of Science degree from NLU in Evanston, Illinois. A native of Canton, Michigan, he currently lives near his boyhood home. In his spare time he enjoys golf, snowmobiling, motorcycles, hockey, and camping in northern Michigan.

Edward P. McAvoy
Senior Vice President – Chief Financial Officer

Ed McAvoy, as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, is responsible for the integrity of GST AutoLeather’s books and for leading the organization to meet short, intermediate and long term financial goals. Ed joined GST in January 2007 with over 22 years of finance/business leadership and experience.

Prior to joining GST in January 2007, Ed was Vice President and General Manager of SPX Corporations’ Automotive Aftermarket Products and Services businesses, with over $300M in Revenue. His prior SPX experience was Vice President and CFO of one of SPX largest multi-industry segments, Transportation & Industrial Solutions, with Revenue of $1.4B.

Before joining SPX in January 2002, Ed was with The Stanley Works where he held various Finance positions, including CFO of Stanley Mechanics Tools division with $800M in Revenue and as Director, Operations Finance, with responsibility for all Operations/plant Finance personnel and over $2.0B in input costs. He also led the Y2K compliance team, reporting directly to the CEO and Audit Committee of the Board of Directors.

Prior to joining Stanley in 1998, Ed spent five years with AlliedSignal and ten years with General Electric. His AlliedSignal experience was filled with successful finance leadership positions in the Chemicals and Fibers industries. His GE experience included key leadership positions in manufacturing & engineering finance. He progressed rapidly throughout his GE tenure and left after GE divested its’ Aerospace business in late 2003.

Ed earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA and completed General Electric’s Financial Management Program.

Weili Seng
Managing Director GST China & Korea

As Managing Director of GST AutoLeather (Zhongshan) Co., Ltd, Weili Seng is responsible for the daily operations of all wholly foreign-owned enterprises and strategic alliances of the company in China, including manufacturing operations, finance, human resources, sales, marketing and overall business development.

Weili joined the company in March 2009. Prior to GST, Weili had been with Delphi Packard in Shanghai where he was most recently the Global Managing Director of Device Channel, Delphi Connection Systems. Wei-li has held a number of other leadership positions during his 12 plus years at Delphi including Global Supply Management Director; Managing Director, Customer Executive, and Manufacturing Engineering Director at Delphi Packard Asia Pacific. Before Delphi Packard, Wei- Li worked in IBM as service specialist and Space Bureau of China . Wei-li holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. As evidenced by his unique background, Wei-li has experience that covers engineering, operations, supply chain management as well as direct customer responsibilities.

William D. Walker
Director, Corporate Human Resources

As Director, Corporate Human Resources, Bill Walker has direct responsibility for the human resource accountabilities within the U.S and ensuring that GST AutoLeather has an overall comprehensive global approach to human resource policies and procedures in Mexico, China, Japan, and Argentina.

Bill joined GST AutoLeather in June 2004, following a 28-year career in human resources within the chemical/fibers manufacturing industry. He is a senior human resources leader with comprehensive experience in HR planning and organizational development, change management, and employee and labor relations.

Bill began his career as employment supervisor with a chemical company in Houston, TX, and he subsequently held multiple HR leadership roles with increasing responsibilities within that company. Bill was also the On-Site Manager for a contract technical staffing company in the Houston area.

Bill received his Bachelor's of Science Degree in Business and his MA Degree in Human Resources /Industrial Relations from the University of Houston.