2023 ACG CIN_February Lunch

Krista Combs has over 24 years of global, business-based HR experience, and is currently the Vice President of Human Resources with ProMach, a packaging machinery and integration company with over 80 manufacturing and sales offices in more than 27 countries around the world.  In this position, she oversees all aspects of global human resources management for more than 5,000 employees.

Prior to joining ProMach, Krista has held various HR leadership roles in the areas of Training, Organizational Development, Talent Management, and Total Rewards for large global manufacturing companies like Givaudan and Kao Brands. 

Krista is an active member of several industry and HR Management panels including The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies and Women in Engineering & Technology. She resides in Covington, Kentucky with her husband, has two sons that she is very proud of, and very spoiled miniature Goldendoodle, Roxy.

Dan is a twenty-three (23) year banking and financial services executive. Dan joined Bannockburn Global Forex as a managing partner in charge of business development in May 2016. Bannockburn Global Forex is a capital markets trading firm specializing in currency advisory and execution services. They help companies doing business internationally mitigate their currency risks. His firm is purely client-oriented and their basic model is to combine expert counsel and pre-trade analytics with low-cost execution. Their mission is to be the most trusted foreign exchange partner in the market. Prior to joining Bannockburn Global Forex, Flanigan worked at Fifth Third Bank as a Managing Director of their Foreign Exchange(FX)/Capital Markets group for the commercial division. He was tasked with growing the overall footprint of their FX desk. Under his leadership the desk grew from mostly a regional player to include a more national/international focus. A native of Cincinnati, Dan received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing, Management and International Business from the University of Cincinnati and a Masters of Business Administration from Xavier University. Dan and his wife Beth have been married for 17 years and have three wonderful children.

While the appearance of John Gierl’s office might suggest otherwise, John is not an avid collector of paperweights. But he is proud of the many stories those paperweights represent.

Perhaps more than any attorney at Katz Teller, John’s shelves overflow with mementoes from the significant lending and financing transactions and mergers and acquisitions John has closed over the years. Those glass collectibles trace the range and scope of matters he has handled—from $3.4 million in private equity financing and $125 million in senior secured credit facilities to a $1.4 billion acquisition of hotels throughout the United States.

John’s corporate practice includes corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, financing and private securities transactions. In addition, John has been involved in a variety of franchisor and franchisee organizations, including representation of the Skyline Chili Franchisee Association.

Ripple Junction is a licensed, pop culture, apparel company based in West Chester, OH.  Ripple was founded over 30 years ago by 2 guys selling t shirts out of a van at Grateful Dead shows and has grown to sell to retailers all over the country.   In 2022 Ripple became a multinational corporation by acquiring a screen printing, manufacturing facility in Tijuana, Mexico.  At the same time Inc Magazine named Ripple Junction one of the fastest growing privately owned companies in the USA and the 29^th fastest growing company in the Cincinnati region.

Courtney Rice joined Ripple Junction in 2020 after a 25 year career in Retail and Healthcare Operations and now leads Operations in Cincinnati and Mexico for Ripple Junction