Corporate Governance

Ms. Seaberg has been Chairman of the Board since December 2014 and a Board member since 2009. She is a member of the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee. Karen serves on the Heartland chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Kansas City Chapter of Women Corporate Directors. She has been an executive travel agent and minority owner of Travel Center of Atchison for 31 years.

Ms. Seaberg is active in civic affairs at both the local and national level. She was instrumental in the creation of a $4.2 million Riverfront Park in Atchison, Kansas, in 2004 and was the Kansas Governor’s Chair for the national Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration in 2002-2006, bringing one of 15 national events to Atchison, Leavenworth and Kansas City in 2004. She also served on the Lewis & Clark Trail Heritage Foundation Board, a national not-for-profit based in Great Falls, Montana, from 2003 to 2007 and was its president from 2007 to 2008. Karen has been the Chair of the annual Amelia Earhart Festival since 1997, which brings over 30,000 people to Atchison every year in July.

Ms. Seaberg served on the Atchison Hospital Board from 1990 to 2004, and presently serves as Vice President on the Board of the Cray Medical Research Organization at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas. In addition, she is a Board member of the national Lewis & Clark Trust and Chair of the Atchison Amelia Earhart Foundation. In 2015 she was the recipient of the Hall of Fame award from the Atchison Area Chamber of Commerce and the Vision of Excellence award from the Santa Fe Depot Trustees in Atchison.

David Colo, a member of the MGP board of directors since 2015, assumed the role of president and chief executive officer on June 1, 2020. He has more than 30 years of leadership experience in general management, operations and supply chain management within the food industry.

He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of SunOpta, Inc., Toronto, from February 2017 to February 2019. He had been Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Diamond Foods, Inc., San Francisco, since June 2013 and was Executive Vice President of Global Operations and Supply Chain at Diamond Foods for a year prior to that.

Before joining Diamond Foods, Mr. Colo spent approximately three years as an independent industry consultant, focusing on organizational optimization and planning. From 2005 to 2009, he held leadership positions in the consumer products division of ConAgra Foods, Inc., including roles as Senior Vice President of Sales and Operations Planning, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Manufacturing and Senior Vice President of Operations. From 2003 to 2005, he served as President of ConAgra Food Ingredients.

Mr. Colo had previously served for several years with Nestle-Purina Pet Care Company in roles of increasing responsibility, including Vice President of Supply for the company’s Golden Products Division, and Vice President of Store Brands and Venture Development. He also served for two years as President of the American Dehydrated Onion and Garlic Association.

Ms. Clark joined the board in June 2021. Ms. Clark has been the Senior Vice President of Enterprise Finance at Brunswick Corporation, a leading global designer, manufacturer, and marketer of recreational marine products, since May 2022. She served as the Chief Financial Officer of Brunswick Boat Group, a division of Brunswick Corporation, from March 2019 to May 2022. She joined the company in March 2019 after serving as Chief Financial Officer at Lifeway Foods, Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of beverages and dairy products, from August to November 2018. Prior, she served more than two-and-a-half years as the Chief Financial Officer of Coveris North American Food and Consumer Flexibles/Chief Transformation Officer of Coveris Americas, a leading producer of flexible packaging. From 1999 to 2015, she held roles of increasing responsibility at Kraft Foods, ultimately assuming the role of Director of Finance—Grocery Business. From 1997 to 1999, she was a senior auditor with Grant Thornton LLP.

Mr. Gerke joined the board in June 2021. Thomas Gerke is a Senior Vice President and previously served as the General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer at global consumer tax services provider H&R Block. Since joining H&R Block in January 2012, at various times he has held additional responsibilities, including interim Chief Executive Officer and leadership of the human resources function. From January to April 2011, Mr. Gerke served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of YRC Worldwide, a Fortune 500 transportation service provider.

He also held executive roles for more than 15 years with the former Sprint Corporation and related telecommunications companies, most recently as Executive Vice Chairman of CenturyLink, a Fortune 500 integrated communications business, from July 2009 to December 2010. Prior, he was President and CEO at Embarq, then a Fortune 500 integrated communications business, and prior to that he held the position of Executive Vice President and General Counsel – Law and External Affairs from May 2006 to December 2007. From October 1994 through May 2006, Thomas held a number of executive and legal positions with Sprint, serving as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for more than two years.

Thomas currently serves as a board member of Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc., a leading broadband and business communications provider. He is a former director of organizations including Tallgrass Energy GP, LLC, the general partner of Tallgrass Energy, LP; CenturyLink; Embarq Corporation; and the United States Telecom Association. He served previously on the Rockhurst University Board of Trustees and The Greater Kansas City Local Investment Commission Board of Trustees.

Mr. Lux joined the board June 2021. He served in leadership roles at Luxco, Inc., a leading branded beverage and alcohol company, from 1991 until March 2021, including as President and then later as Chairman & CEO, from 2005 until March 2021, before it was acquired by MGP on April 1, 2021. He also served as Chairman and CEO of Luxco-affiliated companies Limestone Branch Distillery, LLC, and Lux Row Distillers LLC, before the acquisition. During his tenure with Luxco, Donn was active in industry organizations including the American Distilled Products Association; The National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (Industry Advisory Committee) and The Kentucky Distillers Association.

He is a member of The St. Louis Regional Business Council (RBC). Donn’s philanthropic activities include serving on the boards of Social Venture Partners (RBC), the University City Children’s Center, The Michele & Donn Lux Charitable Foundation, The Legacy Ice Foundation, the St. Louis Blues for Kids Foundation and serving as a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight Central Wing and the Veteran’s Airlift Command.

Ms. Michelson joined the board in June 2022. She is Vice President of Human Resources for CVS Health, an American healthcare company that owns CVS Pharmacy, a retail pharmacy chain; CVS Caremark, a pharmacy benefits manager; and Aetna, a health insurance provider, among other brands. She joined the company in November 2022, after serving as Chief People Officer at AHEAD, a leading provider of enterprise cloud solutions, since March 2022. Prior, she was with United Airlines, where she served as Managing Director of Human Resources beginning in 2019. In this role, she supported more than 35,000 union and M&A employees worldwide. Before joining the airline, Ms. Michelson served five years in increasingly senior HR leadership positions at Molson Coors.

Her career includes several years at Beam Suntory and PepsiCo, where she held leadership roles in a wide range of strategy and finance disciplines. Ms. Michelson was with Beam Global Spirits & Wine from 2010 to 2012, where she ultimately served as Director of Marketing Strategy. From 2005 to 2009, she was Senior Manager of Strategy for the Tropicana Beverages division of PepsiCo, following five years as Director of Strategy, Planning & Analysis for the Chicago Tribune Company. From 1999 to 2000, she worked for Ernst & Young as a manager in its Mergers and Acquisitions practice group.

Ms. Mingus joined the board in June 2020. She is a third-generation member of the founding Cray family to serve MGP and the Atchison community. Since 2005, she has been the executive designer and owner of Torpa Design Co., specializing in all facets of graphic design, and interior and exterior design. Ms. Mingus began her graphic design career in 1996 and worked as a designer for public companies, national associations and an advertising agency. In Atchison, she serves as a Trustee for the Evan C. Cray Historical Museum and is a member of the Amelia Earhart Foundation board. Additionally, she is a board member of the Cray Medical Research Organization at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. Ms. Mingus received B.F.A. and B.G.S. degrees from the University of Kansas. She is the daughter of MGP Chairman Karen Seaberg.

Mr. Rauckman joined the board in June 2021. He is a financial consultant at Rauckman Advisors, LLC, founded in November 2017. He served as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Garmin Ltd. from January 1999 until December 2014 before taking early retirement. During his tenure at Garmin, he was named CFO of the Year by the Kansas City Business Journal in 2008. He currently serves as a board member and is the Audit Committee Chairman of CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc., a role he has held since May 2016. Kevin also is a board member and the audit committee chairman of JE Dunn Construction Group, a role he has held since January 2017, and has served on the board of Tesseract Ventures, LLC, since December 2018.

Mr. Siwak joined the board in June 2022. He is a founding partner of The Encore Group, a private equity fund focused on the consumer services sector.  

Prior, Mr. Siwak served as the President and Chief Business Officer of Ferrero North America and, prior, the Chief Executive Officer of Ferrara Candy Company, a $3 billion confection and snacking organization and a related company of the Ferrero Group. During his tenure he oversaw more than $6 billion in integrations, acquisitions, and divestitures, 20 manufacturing and distribution facilities, more than 7,500 team members, and dozens of globally recognized iconic consumer brands.

Before joining Ferrara, Mr. Siwak was an operating partner at L Catterton Partners, a private equity group dedicated to growing middle market companies and emerging high-growth enterprises. He also was a founding partner of the private equity group Mindseye Group.

Additionally, Mr. Siwak served as President and CEO of TRG Accessories, a multi-million-dollar global luggage, travel gear and accessories company co-founded with his brother, Greg. TRG Accessories included notable consumer brands such as Swiss Army, Timberland and Callaway Golf.

Early in his career, he was a practicing Mergers and Acquisition attorney and made the transition to the consumer goods sector where he held positions in the areas of distribution, operations, sales, marketing, and acquisitions.

A Missouri native, Mr. Siwak received a J.D. from St. Louis University School of Law and a B.S. in economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia.