$KAVL Kaival Brands Appoints Three New Members to its Board of Directors
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/20...ctors.html
Former Turning Points Brands and Altria executive Barry Hopkins
appointed Chairman of the Board
Appointees bring decades of senior leadership experience in tobacco,
public company finance and accounting and governance to Kaival Brands
GRANT-VALKARIA, Fla., March 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kaival Brands Innovations Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: KAVL) ("Kaival Brands," the "Company" or "we,” “our” or similar terms), the exclusive distributor of all products manufactured by Bidi Vapor, LLC ("Bidi Vapor"
, including the BIDI® Stick electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS), which are intended for adults 21 and over, announced today the appointment of Barry Hopkins, David Worner and Mark Thoenes to Kaival’s Board of Directors.
The appointments bring senior leadership to Kaival Brands covering key areas of tobacco industry experience, public company financing and accounting and corporate governance.
The new board appointments coincide with the retirement of Paul Reuter as Chairman of Kaival Brands’ Board of Directors. Existing independent directors Roger Brooks and George Chaung will continue to serve on Kaival Brand’s board.
Eric Mosser, Chief Operating Officer, President, and a director of Kaival Brands, commented: “We are excited to welcome new independent directors Barry Hopkins and David Worner to our board. With their combined backgrounds and expertise as established senior executive leaders within the tobacco and public company accounting and finance sectors, we believe they will make an immediate impact on our company as we execute on both current and future growth initiatives. I am also excited to announce that Mark Thoenes, our Interim Chief Financial Officer, has also joined our board. In his current role, Mark has proven invaluable in assisting with key decisions as our company navigated an exceptionally difficult regulatory environment. Finally, on behalf of our board and company, we would like to thank Paul Reuter for his service to our board and shareholders through several milestone moments. We wish him the best in retirement.”
About Barry Hopkins
Barry Hopkins joins Kaival Brands as Chairman of the Board with decades of senior executive experience within the traditional tobacco vape, and CBD spaces. Mr. Hopkins spent most of his decades-long career primarily in senior sales and marketing roles for Turning Point Brands and Altria. Most recently, before retiring, Mr. Hopkins served as Senior Vice President of Executive Organizational Development of Turning Point Brands, where he led that company’s senior management team in building the infrastructure for an enhanced performance management system and development of a new strategic planning process with a focus on mission critical initiatives to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. These initiatives contributed to eight record-setting quarters in terms of revenue growth.
Mr. Hopkins stated: “After spending more than 40 years within the industry, I am excited to join Kaival Brands at such an extraordinary inflection point. Management has done an exceptional job over the past two years navigating not only COVID-19 related hurdles, but an extraordinarily challenging regulatory environment brought on by the FDA’s PMTA process. I believe my experience at the highest levels of management can significantly contribute to the ongoing efforts by both board and company leadership as Kaival Brands embarks on future growth initiatives, as evidenced by the recently announced national distribution agreements.”
Mr. Hopkins earned an undergraduate degree in Business Administration, Management and Operations from his studies at Staten Island College and Bernard Baruch University. Mr. Hopkins will serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Governance and Nominating Committee of the board.
About David Worner
David Worner brings to the Kaival Brands board a diverse combination of finance, fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, technical accounting and operational experience gained over nearly 20 years. Mr. Worner is currently the Chief Executive Officer & Founder of GrowthPath Partners, a transactional accounting & advisory firm that services companies going through fundraising, mergers and acquisitions and public offering events. Prior to founding GrowthPath, Mr. Worner was a partner at NOW CFO, an outsourced chief financial officer and financial consulting firm.
Mr. Worner earned an undergraduate degree in Accounting from the University New Orleans. Mr. Worner will serve as the Chairman of the Compensation Committee of the board.
About Mark Thoenes
Mark Thoenes, the current Interim Chief Financial Officer of Kaival Brands, has more than 35 years of diverse financial and operational leadership. He has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant since 1984 and began his career with Ernst & Young Global Limited. From 2000 to 2010, Mr. Thoenes served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Rentrak Corporation (“Rentrak”), a publicly traded company listed on Nasdaq and headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1977, Rentrak went public in 1986, and remained a public company until it was acquired by comScore, Inc. in 2016. For the past eleven years, in addition to his role at the Company, Mr. Thoenes has been the President of MLT Consulting Services, LLC, a full-service business/financial consulting firm.
Mr. Thoenes earned an undergraduate degree in Business Administration, Economics, Finance and Accounting from Portland State University.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/20...ctors.html
Former Turning Points Brands and Altria executive Barry Hopkins
appointed Chairman of the Board
Appointees bring decades of senior leadership experience in tobacco,
public company finance and accounting and governance to Kaival Brands
GRANT-VALKARIA, Fla., March 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kaival Brands Innovations Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: KAVL) ("Kaival Brands," the "Company" or "we,” “our” or similar terms), the exclusive distributor of all products manufactured by Bidi Vapor, LLC ("Bidi Vapor"
, including the BIDI® Stick electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS), which are intended for adults 21 and over, announced today the appointment of Barry Hopkins, David Worner and Mark Thoenes to Kaival’s Board of Directors. The appointments bring senior leadership to Kaival Brands covering key areas of tobacco industry experience, public company financing and accounting and corporate governance.
The new board appointments coincide with the retirement of Paul Reuter as Chairman of Kaival Brands’ Board of Directors. Existing independent directors Roger Brooks and George Chaung will continue to serve on Kaival Brand’s board.
Eric Mosser, Chief Operating Officer, President, and a director of Kaival Brands, commented: “We are excited to welcome new independent directors Barry Hopkins and David Worner to our board. With their combined backgrounds and expertise as established senior executive leaders within the tobacco and public company accounting and finance sectors, we believe they will make an immediate impact on our company as we execute on both current and future growth initiatives. I am also excited to announce that Mark Thoenes, our Interim Chief Financial Officer, has also joined our board. In his current role, Mark has proven invaluable in assisting with key decisions as our company navigated an exceptionally difficult regulatory environment. Finally, on behalf of our board and company, we would like to thank Paul Reuter for his service to our board and shareholders through several milestone moments. We wish him the best in retirement.”
About Barry Hopkins
Barry Hopkins joins Kaival Brands as Chairman of the Board with decades of senior executive experience within the traditional tobacco vape, and CBD spaces. Mr. Hopkins spent most of his decades-long career primarily in senior sales and marketing roles for Turning Point Brands and Altria. Most recently, before retiring, Mr. Hopkins served as Senior Vice President of Executive Organizational Development of Turning Point Brands, where he led that company’s senior management team in building the infrastructure for an enhanced performance management system and development of a new strategic planning process with a focus on mission critical initiatives to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. These initiatives contributed to eight record-setting quarters in terms of revenue growth.
Mr. Hopkins stated: “After spending more than 40 years within the industry, I am excited to join Kaival Brands at such an extraordinary inflection point. Management has done an exceptional job over the past two years navigating not only COVID-19 related hurdles, but an extraordinarily challenging regulatory environment brought on by the FDA’s PMTA process. I believe my experience at the highest levels of management can significantly contribute to the ongoing efforts by both board and company leadership as Kaival Brands embarks on future growth initiatives, as evidenced by the recently announced national distribution agreements.”
Mr. Hopkins earned an undergraduate degree in Business Administration, Management and Operations from his studies at Staten Island College and Bernard Baruch University. Mr. Hopkins will serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Governance and Nominating Committee of the board.
About David Worner
David Worner brings to the Kaival Brands board a diverse combination of finance, fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, technical accounting and operational experience gained over nearly 20 years. Mr. Worner is currently the Chief Executive Officer & Founder of GrowthPath Partners, a transactional accounting & advisory firm that services companies going through fundraising, mergers and acquisitions and public offering events. Prior to founding GrowthPath, Mr. Worner was a partner at NOW CFO, an outsourced chief financial officer and financial consulting firm.
Mr. Worner earned an undergraduate degree in Accounting from the University New Orleans. Mr. Worner will serve as the Chairman of the Compensation Committee of the board.
About Mark Thoenes
Mark Thoenes, the current Interim Chief Financial Officer of Kaival Brands, has more than 35 years of diverse financial and operational leadership. He has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant since 1984 and began his career with Ernst & Young Global Limited. From 2000 to 2010, Mr. Thoenes served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Rentrak Corporation (“Rentrak”), a publicly traded company listed on Nasdaq and headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1977, Rentrak went public in 1986, and remained a public company until it was acquired by comScore, Inc. in 2016. For the past eleven years, in addition to his role at the Company, Mr. Thoenes has been the President of MLT Consulting Services, LLC, a full-service business/financial consulting firm.
Mr. Thoenes earned an undergraduate degree in Business Administration, Economics, Finance and Accounting from Portland State University.
