Transtar Holding Company

Transtar Holding Company Executive Team

Transtar Holding Company is a collection of industry-leading automotive brands focused on world class customer-service, quality, and innovation.

Each member of the executive team has a diverse background and brings a unique perspective in their individual areas of expertise. The team is dedicated to the company becoming the best-in-class in all areas.

  • Monte Ahuja EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, TRANSTAR HOLDING COMPANY

    Monte Ahuja is the founding entrepreneur of Transtar Industries. Under his leadership Transtar grew from a two person start-up in 1975 to the largest distributor of transmission and driveline-related parts in the world.

    Ahuja has been a lifelong philanthropist and is involved in many charitable endeavors, including the Naples Children & Education Foundation, where he continues to serve as a Trustee. Ahuja also served as Chairman of the Board for both Cleveland State University and University Hospitals, where he remains deeply engaged as a board member and on the executive committee. The Monte Ahuja College of Business and Ahuja Medical Center bear his name.

    Monte received his undergraduate degree in Engineering from The Ohio State University and MBA from Cleveland State University. He is the recipient of numerous awards including:


    - Distinguished Alumni Award from Cleveland State University
    - George Dively Award from Harvard University Business School
    - Ellis Island Medal of Honor
    - International Executive of the Year Award by the World Trade Center of Cleveland
    - Distinguished Alumni Award from The Ohio State University
    - Northeast Ohio Business Hall of Fame Inductee

  • Neil Sethi PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, Transtar Holding Company

    Neil Sethi is the President and CEO of Transtar Holding Company, LLC.  He is a 15-year veteran of the automotive industry through progressive roles at Transtar and previously was the co-founder and CEO of Transmaxx, LLC a technology driven automotive parts distributor that was acquired by Transtar in 2017.  Neil serves as President of MURA Holdings, LLC a family office focused on direct investments in value add distribution, niche manufacturing, and technology businesses.  Earlier in his career, Neil was a healthcare consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP.  

    Neil is Chair of the Board of Ahuja Medical Center and serves as Director for University Hospitals, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, University School, and is a member of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization).  His prior board appointments include Great Lakes Science Center, Cleveland Orchestra, and TIE Global.  He also previously served on For-Profit Boards of private businesses that were private equity owned of which MURA Holdings was a co-investor.  In addition, Neil is a member of Crain’s Business "40 under 40" Class of 2010. Neil received his undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.  He obtained a Doctorate of Medicine from University of Cincinnati, and an MBA with concentration in Finance from Georgetown University where he was a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. 

    Outside of work and philanthropic commitments, Neil enjoys spending time with his wife and their three children. 

  • Joseph Levanduski EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, Transtar Holding Company

    Joe has been with Transtar Industries a little over 2 years, however he has been in CFO and other finance/accounting roles for 35 years.  Joe brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this position, having been CFO of two publicly-traded companies, including Hawk Corporation, a holding company of diversified, global manufacturing businesses that previously owned Wellman Products, a Transtar supplier. Over his fifteen year tenure at Hawk, which began as a two facility operation, Joe held various roles during its organic growth and acquisition phase before taking the Company public and ultimately selling Hawk to Carlisle Companies at the end of 2010. Most recently, Joe was EVP/CFO of A. Schulman, Inc., a $2.5 billion global manufacturer of high performance plastics before being sold to LyondellBassell.  Joe currently Chairs the Board of Robin Industries, a privately held global manufacturer of rubber components used in the OE automotive and medical markets with revenues of $100+ million.

    Joe Levanduski is a member of the 2003 Class of Leadership Cleveland as well as a 2011 inductee in Cleveland State University’s Business College Hall of Fame. He holds an MBA in finance from Case Western Reserve University and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Cleveland State University. Joe is a lifelong resident of northeast Ohio and resides in Bath, Ohio, with his wife, Cheryl who serves on the regional Board of Directors for the Make-A-Wish organization, and their two school-age children, Matt and Emily.

OTHER EXECUTIVES

Benjamin DePompei is the President of Transtar Manufacturing. Ben joined Transtar Industries, Inc. in April, 2012 as Executive Vice President, CHRO. Over the past 7 years Ben had increasing levels of responsibilities including direct management of Transtar’s remanufacturing operations, Chief Administrative Officer & Legal, Nickels Performance, and Alma Products and ATCO. Additionally, Ben served as Interim CEO of Transtar upon emergence, while transitioning to the current management team. Currently, Ben serves as President of Transtar Manufacturing which includes Remanufacturing (RECON), Alma Products, ATCO, and Transtar Autobody Technologies.

Prior to joining Transtar Ben held executive leadership positions with privately-held E.P. Management Corporation (formerly Eagle Picher Corporation) for 15 years.

Ben holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources and Operations Management from The Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business, and attended the INSEAD Global Executive Management Program in France.

Tom DeMille is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Transtar’s US Distribution business and is responsible for regional and branch management across all US regions, Transtar’s marketing efforts, and the Pro-King retail business. Tom graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 1992 with a BS in Accounting and is a 26-year veteran of the transmission industry. He began his career at Metran Automatic Transmission Parts, a regional transmission parts company in New York. Tom was promoted through positions of increasing responsibility with Metran until its acquisition by Axiom Automotive. During his tenure with Axiom he served as Regional Vice President and then joined Transtar from 2002 until 2013 where he served as Regional Vice President and then Vice President of Sales & Branch Operations. Tom became Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Transmaxx, LLC, a start-up transmission parts distributor until 2017 when Transmaxx was acquired by Transtar. Tom rejoined Transtar in 2017 in his current role. He is a member of the Ohio State Center for Automotive Research (CAR) External Advisory Board. Tom is married to Nicole and they have two children. His hobbies are golf, cycling and hockey.

Kevin Rozsa is the Vice President of Supply Chain, and has been employed by Transtar for 18 years. He has held several leadership roles with the company, originally hired by Monte Ahuja in 2001 as VP, Corporate Marketing, and later named VP, International Sales. Throughout Transtar ownership and CEO changes, Kevin was asked to lead other areas of the company, including Pro King, Nickels Performance, Category Management, and for the past two years, Supply Chain. In this role, he is responsible for Purchasing and Inventory Management, as well as Product and Content Management, the Cleveland Distribution Center, International Sales and eCommerce sales.

Prior to joining Transtar, Kevin held sales, marketing and product management leadership positions with Schaeffler, a supplier to Transtar since the mid-1980s when he first introduced the Schaeffler LuK RepSet program to the company. Kevin joined Schaeffler in 1985, and worked there for 16 years.

Kevin Rozsa earned his Executive MBA from Kent State University Graduate School of Management and his Bachelor of Arts, Business Administration, from Washington and Jefferson College. Kevin is married to Debbie and they have 3 grown daughters. In his spare time he enjoys social activities with his family and friends at their lake community in Silver Lake, OH, traveling to college swim events to watch their youngest daughter compete for Ohio Wesleyan University, and watching football games, especially as an avid Pittsburgh Steelers and Ohio State Buckeye fan.

Anna Gluck is the Vice President of Human Resources at Transtar Industries. She brings a proven track record of success in the creation and execution of a well-developed talent management strategy. In addition to being a 2017 Finalist for Crain’s Cleveland HR Archer Award in the category of Innovation, accomplishments include implementing development programs focused on employee career advancement and designing an employer brand campaign centered on fostering a multi-generational and modern workforce.

Anna earned her BS in Education from Cleveland State University and her MBA from Cleveland State University. She also holds her Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) designation through the Society of Human Resource Management.

Bryan Chaikin is the Vice President of Technology at Transtar Industries, where in 2 years, his accomplishments include developing transend™, a proprietary ecommerce solution, and migrating datacenters to a virtualized cloud environment, saving the company millions year over year.

Bryan’s technical acumen was honed through launching several technology-based businesses, most recently founding and co-operating eFuneral, a software startup that was purchased and commercialized nationally. From eFuneral, he helped launch Transmaxx, where he held the title of Vice President of Technology. Bryan earned his BS in Computer Science from Kent State University and his MS in Computer Science from Case Western Reserve University.

Bruce joined Transtar’s Canadian distribution arm – King-O-Matic Industries – in 2015 as National Sales Director, and became General Manager of the business in 2018.

He received his B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto, and is a licensed Professional Engineer. He received further training in Sales, Marketing and Operations Management at Penn State University’s ISBM, York University’s Schulich School of Business, and Air Academy Associates.

Since taking on the lead role in King-O-Matic, Bruce has focused on growing sales, adding product lines, improving operational efficiency, expanding service and building on King-O-Matic’s already strong customer relationships. In his first year as General Manager, the company has made significant gains on all of these fronts.

Bruce is 58 years old and lives in Markham Ontario with his wife Daphne, a 30-yr veteran of the wine agency business in Canada, and their two children. He enjoys playing the piano, skiing, driving, investing, and wine tasting.

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