Executive Team

Kevin Bense joined McWane, Inc. as Group President-Waterworks in 2018. Prior to joining McWane, Inc., Kevin Bense served for five years as president of A.J. Oster, a division of Global Brass and Copper Holdings.Previously he served as vice president and general manager of the company's Somers Thin Strip division. From 2007-2011, Bense served as a global business leader for Honeywell International, Inc.'s specialty additives business units. Prior to that he served in various domestic and international executive, marketing and management positions of increasing responsibility in the chemicals industry. Bense holds a degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. 

Nate began his career at Kennedy Valve, March of 2006 as an Accounting Clerk, and rose to the level of Assistant Controller.  Following four years in the Finance Department his attentions turned to the Kennedy’s Lean/Continuous Improvement transformation in the role of Lean Manager.  Over a period of two years he lead the implementation of the Kennedy’s overall lean strategy.  Since 2011 Nate has held ever increasing roles of responsibility on the operational side of Kennedy Valve; which have lead to his current role as VP/GM.

Nate graduated from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania in 2004 with a B.S. in Accounting.  In 2017 he earned is Master of Business Administration from Capella University. Nate serves on the Board of Directors for Southern Tier Economic Growth, The Alliance for Manufacturing and Technology (AM&T), and the United Way of the Southern Tier of New York.

Nate currently resides in Middlebury Center, PA with his wife and two sons.

Alex Fresonke joined the Kennedy Valve Team in 2023. He comes to us from Florida, where he fulfilled multiple high-level roles in equipment sales and dealership operations with manufacturers John Deere, SCAG, STIHL, Honda, Bobcat, and more.  Alex graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2010 with a B.S. in Construction Engineering, where he also competed in Men’s Collegiate Water Polo.  Alex enjoys participating in faith-based and non-profit community youth programs, has a history of involvement as a 4-H Foundation Director, and has served as a United Way 365 Business community leader.  In his free time, Alex enjoys car shows and racing, hiking, and spending time with his family.  Alex currently lives in Horseheads, NY with his wife and 4 children.

 Priot to joining McWane, Tommy served four years as Vice President of North America for  Kamstrup Water Metering, LLC. Before Kamstrup, Tommy served 15 years at Badger Meter. While at Badger Meter, he served int he roles of Distribution Manger, Sales Solutions Manager, Regional Manager and Director of Sales (Distribution). Previous to Badger Meter, TOmmy served in various sales and management roles with Pharmacia and Mitsubishi Electric. Tommy is a graduate of Shorter College in Rome, GA with a B.S. in Business and a M.B.A. from the university of Georgia. He is also an US Air Force veteran. Tommy and his wife Julie have two daughters and a grandson who also live in Atlanta. 

Karie joined the Kennedy Valve Team in April of 2008. Throughout the years, Karie has held the roles of Assistant Controller and Credit Manager until 2020 when she took on the role of Plant Controller.  Karie graduated from University of Maryland in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She then went on to obtain her MBA in from the University of Maryland Global Campus in 2012.  Karie has held several board positions for the water products division of the National Association of Credit Managers most recently as Chairman. Outside of Kennedy Valve, Karie has served as the Treasurer for The Elmira Youth Hockey Association as well as her current role of  President of EC Youth Hockey. Karie is very passionate playing an active role in local youth sports. Karie lives in Elmira with her husband Joe and two children, Grace and Brady. 

Elliot joined the Kennedy Valve Team in 2021. After serving in the USAF and earning a degree in Psychology from Mansfield University, he worked in various HR specialties with Arnot Health.  He then entered employment with Cargill, Inc. as a Senior Employee Relations and Employee Experience Specialist, providing high-level HR consultation to operations management throughout the northeast.  Elliot then joined the ranks of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs as the HR Officer / Senior Strategic Business Partner for the Finger Lakes Healthcare System.  Elliot holds the professional credential of Senior Certified Professional with the Society for Human Resource Management.  

Matthew Hicks is the Health and Safety Manager at Kennedy Valve. Matthew joined the Kennedy Valve team in 2005, shortly after graduating from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with his bachelor's degree in safety science. Matthew started his career at Kennedy Valve with an internship for the Health and Safety Department and later became the Safety Engineer. In March of 2010, Matthew was promoted to Health and Safety Manager.

Matthew currently resides in Sayre, Pa., with his wife and two children.

Cherise joined the Kennedy Valve Team in 2023. While earning her Bachelor of Science in Health Science at SUNY Cortland, NY, she concentrated on environmental emergency response programs. She is a Certified Chemical Hygiene Officer with over 25 years of extensive experience interpreting and applying governmental regulations for environmental, health, and safety compliance, emergency planning and response, hazardous materials, and waste management. Also having experience as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician in NY and PA, she has hands-on experience with the proven ability to accomplish multiple priorities in hectic and emergent situations that ensure safe, clear, and concise response, mitigation, and collaboration through transparent communication.  Cherise believes in providing quality leadership and demonstrates this by supporting diversity, teamwork, inclusivity, creativity, and multi-cultural environments.  In her spare time, as an avid outdoors woman, she enjoys gardening, preserving/canning food and foraging for wild edible and medicinal plants.

Greg Davis is the National Sales Manager for Kennedy Valve Co. and M&H Valve Co. Greg started his career with Kennedy/M&H Valve in 1997 as a District Sales Manager covering Georgia and South Carolina. In 2001, Greg relocated to Anniston, AL to become the Inside Sales Manager at M&H Valve. After 9 years as Inside Sales Manager , he was promoted to Assistant National Sales Manager and in 2013, promoted to National Sales Manager reporting to Tommy Braxton, Director of Sales for the McWane Valve and Hydrant Division.

Mr. Davis graduated from The University of West Georgia with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and is very active in many activities within the community.

Greg and his wife Lisa have three adult children - Jessica, Chris, and Macie - and he enjoys golf, camping and spending time with his family and friends.

Barry joined the Kennedy Valve Team 2010. He was previously the Director of Plant and Industrial Valve until accepting the UL FM National Sales Manager position in 2018.  Barry was away from the company for an 18 month period, however, he started his career with McWane in Jan of 2010 as a Regional Sales Manager with then American R/D.  He ultimately served as the General Manager of American R/D and was instrumental in consolidating  American R/D as a stand-alone company into the Kennedy Valve Plant & Industrial Valve Group.  Barry also spent 18 years at Victaulic in a variety of assignments in sales and sales  management.  He is a graduate of Norwich University holding a B.S. degree in Business.  He is also veteran of the USAF rising to the rank of Captain.  Barry is married and has two children.