Executive Staff
Nick Bruno - Owner & President
Nick graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1981 with a degree in Industrial Engineering. In 1985 he joined Harris and Bruno, the company his father started in 1948.
Nick transformed Harris & Bruno from a small machine shop to a global printing equipment supplier with offices in Roseville, Germany, and Japan along with distributors worldwide.
Nick has travelled extensively throughout the U.S. and International markets to promote his products as well as educate various industry leaders on coating and printing technologies. Nick is involved with several local boards and is active in promoting manufacturing careers for tomorrow’s generation.
Nick and his wife reside in Loomis with their three children. They own and operate Bruno Cellars, a boutique winery. Nick’s hobbies include water sports, fishing, hunting, restoring old cars, golf and coaching his kids’ sports.
Ed Lee - Chief Operations Officer/Chief Financial Officer
Ed graduated from San Jose State in 1981 with a BS in Accounting. After a five-year stint with a CPA firm and a large public company, Ed was hired as the Controller for a label company in the Silicon Valley. In 1989 he was promoted to Vice President where his responsibilities included finance, human resources, strategic and business planning, facilities management, information technology, risk management, manufacturing and sales. While Ed was on board the company grew from 35 employees to more than 300. In 2005, Ed was one of the primary facilitators of selling the business to a Fortune 200 Company, for which he then assumed full responsibility of all organizational work as the General Manager.
Ed joined Harris & Bruno International in 2007. He has extensive training in focus, business philosophies, leadership, production throughput, strategic planning and long-range planning. Some of the strengths he brings include providing vision and focus in all facets of business operations, being a change agent, building structure, and hiring/developing core people that fit into our team-oriented culture. Combining human resources, operations and finance his focus is on the bottom line.
Ed and his wife live in Rocklin with their two children. His hobbies include fitness, golfing, bowling, music and landscaping.
Scott Michels - Vice President – Sales & Marketing
Scott graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He worked several years as a mechanical designer for a large press manufacturer. From there he joined a printing/coating production plant as a design engineer working on various capital projects and plant upgrades.
In 1993, Scott joined Harris & Bruno as a sales engineer. In 2000, he was promoted to Product Manager and then in 2003 was asked to take over as Vice President of Sales & Marketing. From a young age Scott always wanted to work in a technical sales capacity and have the opportunity to travel on a global basis.
“Working for a smaller company, like H&B, with a global presence is a good fit for me,” Scott said. “I like the fact that we have some strong international exposure but we’re nimble enough to adjust and make changes quickly.”
Scott has been to every State in the USA except for Hawaii. He’s hoping to check that one off the list very soon. He’s also travelled extensively throughout many parts of the world to promote H&B products and set up international distributor networks.
Scott spent nine years working out of the H&B corporate office in California and then moved back to the East Coast where he lives now with his wife and three children in Plymouth, Massachusetts. His hobbies include boating, skiing, golfing and home improvement projects.
Gerhard Palinkas - Managing Director of Harris & Bruno Europe
In his native Germany, Gerhard was educated 3 ½ years in mechanical engineering and 3 ½ years in business/sales administration. He worked two years for a machine manufacturing company, three years as an insurance broker and three years as a sales manager representing English and American companies manufacturing printing products for the graphic arts industry.
With a technical understanding of the printing industry, as well as a strong understanding of administrative procedures, laws and regulations of running a business, Gerhard’s background made him the perfect person for which Harris & Bruno President Nick Bruno was searching to lead H&B business in Europe. Based on the recommendation of the owner of a press manufacturing company that Gerhard was representing at the time, Nick and Gerhard met.
In 1998, Gerhard started Harris & Bruno Europe out of the basement of his home in Germany. Today the HBE office is in Schwaebisch Gmuend, Germany, and employs approximately 15 people. An HBE warehouse was completed in December 2010 and an adjoining administration office is scheduled to open in December 2011.
Gerhard’s work philosophy is to always help employees and customers be successful at what they do. He believes success comes from focusing on core products for strength while always looking for future innovations.
Gerhard and his wife, Karin, live in Schwaebisch Gmuend with their three children – two boys and one girl. Bilingual in German and English, Gerhard’s hobbies include golf, motorcycling, hiking and staying fit and healthy.
Jim Riga - Director of Engineering & Service
Jim graduated from Chico State in 2000 with a BS in Manufacturing Technology and a minor in Production and Operations Management. After working four years as a Manufacturing Engineer specializing in CNC tooling and optics manufacturing, Jim started working at Harris & Bruno International in 2001. First hired as a Project Engineer, he was promoted to Engineering Manager in 2003. In 2009 Jim was promoted to Director of Engineering & Service where he now focuses on building and developing strong, capable teams that will continue to make Harris & Bruno successful through the development of cutting-edge products and top-notch service.
Jim has been around machinery his whole life, from childhood memories of working in his dad’s metal shop to throughout his schooling and career. Jim started working at a young age and never stopped, including working his way through college fulltime. This strong work ethic and lifelong experience with machinery allows Jim to confidently lead Engineering & Service staff while bringing a practical approach to the technology in Harris & Bruno equipment.
Jim and his wife reside in Loomis with their daughter. His hobbies include hunting, fishing, gardening and home improvement projects. In both his personal and professional lives, Jim’s goal is to be the best at whatever he does.
United States: 8555 Washington Blvd. ● Roseville, CA 95678 ● Phone 916-781-7676 ● Fax 916-781-3645 ● www.harris-bruno.com
Europe: Auf der Hohe 15 ● 73529 Schwäbisch Gmünd ● Germany ● Phone +49-7171-94704-0 ● Fax +49-7171-94704-20 ● www.harris-bruno.de
Japan: 2-8-26-201 Ushikubo Higashi ● Tsuzuki-ward ● Yokohama-city ● Kanagawa-pref. 224-0014 ● Phone +81-(0)45-264-7555
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