LEADERSHIP TEAM
Byron Whetstone
CEO
Byron is the CEO of American Direct. Since starting the company in 1991, his vision and devotion to creating a culture of constant innovation has led American Direct on a trajectory of success. In early 2016, Byron’s progressive thinking lead to the acquisition of AccessNsite access control solution, an unprecedented move for a traditional door, frame, and hardware company. This innovative approach put American Direct on track to become the only company in the nation able to combine Division 28 and Division 8 product, service, and expertise to deliver totally integrated safety and security solutions at the door opening. Since its first full year in operation in 1992, American Direct’s revenue has grown from $1.8 million to $100+ million in 2016.
Jerry Glynn
Chief Information Officer
Jerry’s past experience as an IT consultant to business and government executives, CEO of an online search marketing startup, and Senior Vice President of Information Technology at a financial services company, brings a broad depth of perspective to his roles at American Direct and AccessNsite. As the CIO for American Direct and CTO for AccessNsite, Jerry’s key responsibilities include leadership and strategy to align the company’s IT infrastructure with business priorities, advising on the most effective use of technology to enhance the company’s product offering, and serve as the company’s top technology architect.
Martin Cortes
Chief Financial Officer
Martin has over 20 years of executive management experience in finance and operations in public and private companies. These companies were privately-held (ranging from $45M-$1 billion; family and private equity), and a publicly-traded international multi-brand company with over $3.5 billion in annual revenue.
Martin has held various executive positions including CFO and COO, and VP of Finance and Strategic Planning. In these positions Martin had oversight of finance, accounting, technology, legal, purchasing, operations, risk management, loss prevention, marketing, human resources and distribution functions. Martin has proven success in leading organizations through critical phases of growth, or in adverse situations. Martins has expertise in turnarounds, capital restructures, mergers & acquisition (buy & sell), systems development and integration, process re-engineering, and cultural transitions. Throughout his career Martin has participated, negotiated and closed on over $2 billion in debt and equity offerings, and mergers & acquisitions transactions exceeding $2.5 billion in value.
Jerry Pennington
Senior Vice President – Projects & Engineering
Jerry is a 42 year veteran of the openings industry, and has been with American Direct for over 18 years in both sales and operations roles. Jerry earned his Bachelors of Arts from the University of Missouri – Kansas City.
Brian Ashley
Vice President of Sales
Brian brings more than 26 years experience in integration, security, and the life-safety field. Throughout his career, he has provided consulting and system engineering for schools, industry, government and businesses in design/build security and surveillance solutions. As Vice President of Sales, Ashley is responsible for the design, deployment, and implementation of life safety and security systems for the enterprise market, more specifically the merger of Electronic Physical Security (Division 28) and Physical/Architectural Door Systems (Division 8).
Kate Jones
Vice President – Project Management
Kate joined the D/F/H industry in 2006, primarily focused on construction billing. She quickly progressed onto project management, operations, and finally senior management. Kate’s experience is rooted in earning her Accounting Degree from Nichols College in Massachusetts.
After helping to implement cERP over a 10 year period at her previous employer, she joined the AccessIT team to support clients across the United States as they worked to implement cERP systems of their own. Kate joined American Direct in June of 2021, working with various parts of the operations teams, always maintaining a primary focus on the Project Management team.
Christina Mallory
Vice President – Human Resources
Christina brings more than 25 years of experience in a variety of Human Resources roles in the construction and manufacturing industries. The variety of Human Resource roles, industries and organizational sizes contributes to her vast knowledge and expertise. As Vice President of Human Resources, Christina is responsible for managing and providing oversight in all areas of Human Resources, including employee relations, benefits, talent acquisition, performance management, compensation, and human resources strategy for the American Direct Procurement team.
