#46 Mitch Kaeser & Brad Kaeser

Kaeser & Blair (asi/238600)

2024 Rank: #47

Mitch Kaeser – Co-CEO

Industry Experience: 9 years

Previous Appearances on Counselor Power 50: 1

Brad Kaeser – Co-CEO

Industry Experience: 14 years

Previous Appearances on Counselor Power 50: 1

Change isn’t always easy – especially for a distributorship with over 130 years in business. That proved to be the case for Counselor Top 40 distributor Kaseser & Blair (asi/238600) and Co-CEOs Mitch and Brad Kaeser. The fourth-generation leaders of the company – who took over the role from their father Kurt in 2023 and made their debut on the Counselor Power 50 list last year – undertook what Brad describes as a “significant transition in our teams and management structure.”

“We’ve enhanced our efficiency and workflow by consolidating separate teams into a cohesive unit that better leverages our employees’ talents,” he adds. “Alongside this restructuring, we have made pivotal enhancements to the roles of our team leads, elevating our customer service tiers.”

Still, implementing and communicating those changes proved to be a challenge, so the co-CEOs took steps to build “an unprecedented level of transparency,” says Mitch. “We utilized regular webinars to provide crucial updates on K&B and to introduce key changes in our policies. Additionally, we made sure each webinar was an open forum to ensure everyone had an opportunity to openly engage with senior leadership.”

The Batavia, OH-based distributor grew 1% in 2024, and the Kaeser brothers are enhancing profitability, broadening its network of dealers and sales reps and adding advanced tools to streamline processes and hasten integration. In the meantime, the two CEOs say they continue to put their trust in the company leaders and approach problems with an open mind.

“We pride ourselves on listening to every idea brought to the leadership team by any and all solution makers across the company, from team members to dealers to the leadership team,” Brad says. “It’s imperative to listen to and give respect to everyone who makes your business run.”