Douglas Wolfson
Founder
Douglas is responsible for the operations of Van Dien and its acquisition strategy. Upon acquisition, Douglas will work directly with the previous ownership to ensure the smooth transition of managing day to day operations.
Douglas has a track record of successfully creating value for businesses through both revenue growth and operational improvements with over fifteen years of experience as both a senior leader and CEO running his own company.
Prior to founding Van Dien Capital, Douglas ran his own consultancy practice in London, UK focusing on Senior Management roles and Growth Strategy planning. He also served as the CEO and Founder of Ohayo Tomorrow, helping to create the first nationally recognized hangover prevention drink in the UK.
Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Douglas worked at Maple Leaf Foods where he held various senior roles across both N. America and Europe ranging from working with the COO as his manager of business analysis to running the company’s largest European account.
Investors
Dan Curtin
Dan is the President of Green Leaf Foods, SPC, a leading company in the plant-based food space with brands including Lightlife Foods and Field Roast Grain Meat co.
Starting his career in New York food brokerage business before joining McCain Foods juice division, Curtin was responsible for building an array of private label and brands throughout his nearly ten-year tenure. Curtin then moved on to Boca Burger, where he served as partner and helped grow the business to double-digit millions before selling to Kraft Foods. Curtin returned to Maple Leaf Foods in 2008, taking on the role of Senior Vice President of Sales at Maple Leaf Frozen Bakery, where he was promoted to President in 2012. Just two years later, he played an integral role in the sale of the company to Grupo Bimbo, the largest bakery company in the world. Here, he continued to serve as President under the company’s new name, Wholesome Harvest Baking, until summer of 2017.
Richard Lan
Richard Lan has over 40 years of experience in the global food industry, most recently as a Senior Adviser to both Boston Consulting Group and The Riverside Company (a global private equity company).
Previously, Richard was the CEO of Canada Bread Company and COO of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. where he oversaw a CAD$5 billion business. In his role at Maple Leaf Foods, Richard led the restructuring and strategic growth of the bakery business, and assumed overall operating leadership for the food businesses, harvesting synergies between the meat and bakery business.
He was President of Dell Products Corp., until that business was sold to McCain Foods in 1988. Richard then assumed the position of President and CEO of McCain Citrus, where he remained until he joined Maple Leaf Foods.
Richard sits on a number of boards including Chairman Mills Inc., Parker Products Corporation and NuStef Baking Corporation.
Wesley Lang
Through his vehicle WML Partners, LLC, Wes invested in smaller middle-market companies and aided their development, provided private equity services to institutional investors, and made private equity investments in Vietnam and Cambodia through Indochina Development Partners LP. Previously, he was a Managing Director of GSO Capital Partners, an investment firm that specialized in leveraged finance and prior to that was a partner in a middle-market private equity investment adviser to Moore Capital Management, LLC. For most of his career, Wes was a partner with Weiss, Peck & Greer a nationally recognized investment management firm that managed $18 billion when sold in 1997. For eight years, Wes served on Governor Christie’s Commission on Sports and Gaming
Robert Manzo
Robert is the Founder and Managing Member of RJM I, LLC, a provider of consulting services to troubled companies, a position he has held since 2005.
Robert has made a name for himself Nationwide as an expert in turnaround and crisis management, mergers and acquisitions, and bankruptcy consulting. He has over 30 years of restructuring experience and has advised on over 500 situations involving major corporations, money center and investment banks and other creditors on numerous transactions. His track record includes Chrysler, Refco, Adelphia Communications, Federal-Mogul, Regal Cinemas, Bruno’s Supermarkets and Crown Paper.
Additionally, Robert serves on the Board of Directors for Visteon Corp (NYSE), Advanz Pharmaceutical Corp (Toronto Stock Exchange), Kopetz LLC, and Starstruck LLC and is also the co-founder of private equity firm LMW2 LLC.
Michael McCain
Michael McCain is President and Chief Executive Officer of Maple Leaf Foods, one of Canada’s flagship food companies, with sales of $3.3 billion and employing over 11,500 people in Canada and the United States.
Michael has devoted his career to the food industry, starting at McCain Foods in the late 1970s where he held a variety of roles, including President and Chief Executive Officer of McCain Foods USA. He joined Maple Leaf Foods in 1995. Since then, he has been instrumental in establishing Maple Leaf as a strong and sustainable, values-based company with leading brands and market share across its businesses and a bold vision for the future.
Michael is a director of McCain Capital, Maple Leaf Foods and the Royal Bank of Canada. He is a member of the Richard Ivey School of Business Advisory Board, the Business Council of Canada, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation. He is also the Honourary Chairman of the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security.
Kevin McMahon
With a career spanning multiple decades, Kevin is considered one of the most influential leaders in the Engineering and Construction industry having acquired/integrated over 25 firms and selling 1.
Most recently, Kevin joined Jacobs in 2007 when Jacobs acquired Edwards and Kelcey, a major North American Engineering firm where he was Chairman and CEO. At Edwards and Kelcey (EK), Kevin led a transformation which saw EK grow significantly and increase profitability five fold over an eleven year period. From 2007 through 2013, Kevin was the leader of the North American Infrastructure group for Jacobs, leading the transformation for Jacobs to becoming one of the largest Infrastructure firms in North America. He oversaw major projects for Highways, Rail, Aviation, Telecom, Water and Utility clients, with a staff of 3,000 employees. Following Jacobs acquisition of SKM in 2013, Kevin served as Group VP, Asia where his team of 2500 performed Engineering and Construction services in the Chemicals, Oil and Gas, Pharmaceutical, Power, Infrastructure, Buildings and Mining sectors.
Outside of work, Kevin is well known and active in the industry as a member of the Moles, Past President of the Design Professionals Coalition, and Board Member of The Construction Industry Round Table.