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About Us: Our Staff
Executive Team
 Anthony Morris Ridnell, CEO/Owner
Anthony M. Ridnell was born in New York City on January 1, 1961 and grew up in Bronxville, New York and Sydney, Australia. He graduated a 2nd Lieutenant in 1982 from the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. Having served as a Field Artillery Battery Commander from 1986-88, Anthony decided to leave the army and pursue a rugby career and an opportunity in the chemical business. His rugby career flourished and he was fortunate to represent the USA Eagles (USA National Team) in three separate Rugby World Cup events (1987, 1991, 1993) and is one of only three people to have represented the USA in three such events.
Anthony M. Ridnell founded TRInternational, Inc. (TRI) in 1994 and currently sits on the Board of Directors, National Association of Chemical Distributors (2000 - Present) and the Board of Advisors, Seattle University Albers School of Business. (2006 - Present).
He lives on a small family farm in Issaquah, WA (www.foxhollowfamilyfarm.com) with his wife, Autumn, and three beautiful daughters (Kyra, Maddy, and Gabby) and his son, Harrison, where they tend to a variety of farm animals including many horses, peacocks, chickens, cats and a dog.
Jeffrey Wright, President
jeff@tritrading.com
Jeff Wright has worked in finance and management for over 20 years, with companies ranging from Fortune 500 conglomerates to $10 million distribution companies, and says he “can honestly say that TRI has the best team of individuals, top to bottom, that I’ve ever had the privilege to work with!” As the President of TRI, Jeff is directly responsible for Operations, Accounting, Finance & Banking, Human Resources and IT, and is indirectly responsible for Sales, Marketing and Purchasing.
Education/Experience:
1987: Graduated summa cum laude from DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, with a B.S. in Finance
1987-1996: Held successive positions in financial analysis and financial management for two Fortune 500 manufacturing companies in the Chicago area: CBI Industries (Oakbrook, Illinois) and Eagle Industries (Chicago, Illinois).
1997-2001: Chief Financial Officer, Gerry Sportswear Company, Seattle, Washington (manufacturer of skiwear and technical outerwear)
2001-2003: Financial Consultant (clients in sportswear, wholesale distribution, and cable television)
2003-Present: Chief Financial Officer/President, TR International
Hobbies/Interests: I am an avid sports fan, and enjoy participating in, coaching and officiating soccer, basketball, baseball and skiing with my sons Alex and Daniel.
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: “Always exceed expectations”
Marjalena Santos, Executive Assistant
marjalena@tritrading.com
Marjalena Santos joined TRI as the first Seattle University Intern in 2004; since then she has held many positions in Accounting, Customer Service and Office Administration. As TRI’s Executive Assistant, she handles the day-to-day business of our Executive Team and the TRI office with a primary focus on our CEO/Owner, Mr. Anthony Ridnell.
Education/Experience: Marjalena graduated with a BABA in Marketing and a 4-year Varsity Letter in Fastpitch Softball from Seattle University.
Hobbies/Interests: Scrapbooking, playing softball, cooking, camping, canoeing and gardening.
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: “Don’t tell me what I can’t do."
Sales Team
Richard McNamara, Northeast Sales Manager
rich@tritrading.com
Rich joined TRI in May of 2000 as the Northeast Sales Manager with a focus on chemical distribution customers and over the years has proven to be a leader in the industry. His exceptional communication skills, industry knowledge and willingness to help his customers and his co-workers has developed and maintained long-term relationships and new business for TRI.
John Godina, Mid-West Sales Manager
john@tritrading.com
John Godina joined TRI in April of 2002 as Sales Manager for the Mid-West. Since then he remains a driving force of our sales team bringing new products, customers and ideas to the table to continually grow our business day to day. John enjoys hunting, traveling, coaching soccer and baseball for his son’s teams.
Joe Riverman, West Coast Sales Manager
joe@tritrading.com
Joe Riverman joined TRI in May of 2004 from Great Western Chemical as the TRI West Coast and Southwest Sales Manager. With 32 years in the chemical industry and an excellent understanding of Oil & Gas Industry, Joe brings knowledge to our sales force and steady business relationships to TRI.
Brian Gilbert, Northeast Sales
brian.gilbert@tritrading.com
With 25 years experience in the chemical industry, Brian has been fortunate enough to work with many customers who use a wide range of raw materials. He takes a personal interest in each customer, sourcing their requirements for high quality raw materials from all over the world and says his objective is to provide value to both the manufacturer and customer by taking responsibility for the marketing, technical approvals, and establishing credit and inventory requirements to meet each customer's needs. Brian says he is amazed at the creativity of his customers to manufacture valuable products from the raw materials which TRI provides.
Education/Experience: BS Chemistry from University of Delaware and MBA Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University in NJ
Hobbies/Interests: Soccer, bicycling and a volunteer at Good Works, a ministry that repairs homes for low income families. Scholarship Chairman of the Philadelphia Society of Coating Technology.
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: "My goal is to help my customers identify the raw material that best meets their needs. By providing them with a great value and an excellent product, we all succeed. I am proud to represent some of the finest suppliers of raw materials from all over the world."
Austin Britts, West Coast / Mid-West Sales
austin@tritrading.com
Austin started with TRI fresh out of the University of Washington in September 2003 . Moving from Sales Assistant to full time Sales, Austin has worked for TRI in the Seattle Headquarters, Chicago, and his current location in the San Francisco Bay Area. He enjoys his job the most when he is on the road visiting with current and prospective customers. Austin focuses on selling a select grouping of products to large end users within the Oil and Gas, Paint and Coatings, and HI & I industries.
Education/Experience: BA, International Economics from the University of Washington/University of Aberdeen, Scotland.
Hobbies/Interests: Playing and Coaching Rugby, Cycling, Skiing, Playing the Guitar and Banjo, Listening to Music, Choir.
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: “Work Hard, Play Hard”
Kevin Fuller, Sales - Food Additives
kevin@tritrading.com
Kevin Fuller came to TRInternational after living abroad in New Zealand & Australia for 2 years and has been with the company for going on 4 years. One of Kevin’s favorite things to do is travel so he really enjoys the international/export side of the business which keeps him in touch with many interesting parts of the world. Beyond the export side of the business, Kevin has taken an interest in the Food/Beverage, Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic industries and hopes to be able to grow this particular area for the company moving forward.
Education/Experience: BA, Economics from the University of Washington
Hobbies/Interests: Traveling, rugby, cycling, scuba diving, snowboarding ... most anything outdoors!
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: “Everybody Wang Chung Tonight”
Christopher Karber, Business Development Manager
Christopher Karber joined TRI after spending a few years consulting for an engineering firm and almost five years working in the chemical industry where he focused on sales, business development and product line management. He will use this skill set to work with our purchasing department to develop supplier relationships and opportunities, develop marketing campaign strategies and improve information retention techniques.
Education/Experience: BS, Chemical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines
Hobbies/Interests: Soccer, tennis, football, economics, forex, music and traveling
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give"
Jim joined TRI on August 30, 2010 with over 25
years of experience in the chemical industry, including specialty chemical
distribution and CASE industry management. His knowledge stems from 19 years of
experience with Mozel, Inc., where he spent nine years as President. When
Mozel was acquired by Univar USA in 2007, Jim became the General Manager for
Univar Specialty Products. With a focus on raw materials for the CASE
Industry, Jim will collaborate with TRI’s Regional Salesmen, Global Sourcing
& Trading Offices, Purchasing, Business Development and Marketing Teams to
establish and execute a strategy for products used in CASE industries,
such as: Epoxy Resins, VOC-Exempt Solvents, Hydrocarbon Resins, Pigments,
Rheology Modifiers and UV Stabilizers, to name a few.
Hobbies/Interests: Family and golf
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: "Think bigger"
Waheeb joined TRI in June 2009 as our Global Trade Manager for our TRI Middle East operation. His experience in chemical sales and distribution along with his outstanding knowledge of Asian and Middle Eastern markets makes Waheeb a valuable addition to TRI. Waheeb says he “Always aims high and delivers his best.”
Education/Experience:
BS (2 years) Electrical Engineering and Advanced Level A degree from Cambridge University, UK external program.
Hobbies/Interests: Traveling, music, cricket
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: "Every problem has a solution!"
Purchasing Team
Shondra Garrigus, VP Purchasing
shondra@tritrading.com
Shondra Garrigus joined TRI’s customer service department in August of 2001, managed TRI’s Operations Team from 2003-4, then transitioned to Purchasing in 2005. Today, as the VP of Purchasing, Shondra works with TRI’s Sales Department and Vendors to find new opportunities for business.
Bin Li, Purchasing Manager
bin@tritrading.com
Bin joined TRI in September 2004 as a CSR and became the TRI Logistics Manager shortly there after. She left TRI in 2007 for 2 years in Africa, but has returned to TRI in October 2009 to help develop our business in the Middle East and China. Now as Purchasing Manager as of May 2010, her main responsibilities include: Securing pricing, products and negotiating with new and exiting suppliers and manufacturers, reviewing and maintaining minimum inventory levels for regular products, and running purchasing reports and records for market analysis, among many other things.
Education: MBA in Finance, 2002-2004, City University, Bellevue, WA. BA of Economics in 1991 from Xi'an, Shanghai Institute of Finance and Economics, China. Operations Manager at Baxville Minerals Nigeria, 2002-2004, Import/Export Manager at Auss Trading Co. in Bejing, 1997-2002.
Hobbies/interests: Hiking, fishing, ping-pong, travel, music, movies, watching sports and cooking.
Dave Miller, Purchasing
dave@tritrading.com
Dave Miller joined TRI in June of 2008. He has had the privilege of joining the purchasing team here at TRI with most of his time being spent working directly with our VP of Purchasing, Shondra Garrigus. Key responsibilities include cutting and managing purchase orders, securing ship advice, updating ocean freight rates, and calculating delivered costs for material offers that we receive from vendors. Dave is in contact with many of our vendors on a day to day basis and is proving to be a valuable team member here at TRI.
Education/Experience: BA from WSU (We win again)
Hobbies/Interests: Saltwater reef keeper, gun enthusiast, auto mechanics/custom fabrication
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: “Take the bull by the horns… or get gored.”
Stacey Li, TRI China
staceyli@sina.com
Stacey Li joined TRI in July 2006 as our China Souring Agent in Shanghai. She works to consolidate TRI's relationships with suppliers and find additional product sources for TRI in Chinese markets.
Education/Experience: After graduating from a local university, she spent two years working as an export salesman for Jiangsu Sanmu Group where she developed her knowledge and understanding of international trade and chemical products.
Hobbies/Interests: Playing badminton, shopping and spending time with her family.
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: No pain, no gain.
IT and Marketing
Paris Lockhart, IT Manager
paris@tritrading.com
Paris joined TRI in August of 2007 as IT Manager to manage all of TRI's systems and technologies. Paris has made vast improvements in the day to day TRI IT Operations over the past year with various implementations Exchange Server 2007, Blackberry Enterprise Server, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. TRI has placed itself on the cutting edge of technology and with the ability to communicate day and night this has placed us in the position to achieve and move forward on business opportunities.
Education: BS Engineering Management, Grantham University
Certifications: MCSE/MCSA
Hobbies/Interests: Computers, all sports in general and especially football those Purple People Eaters (Minnesota Vikings). He also like to play video games (SOCOM and MADDEN = PS3 all day PLOCK77 Look me up).
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: "There is no Downtime" 24x7 365.
Jennifer Calvery, Marketing Manager
jennifer@tritrading.com
Jennifer Calvery joined TRI in March of 2005 as an Operations Assistant and quickly moved into a full-time Customer Service Representative role where she learned the daily operations of the business; then one year later onto Sales Assistant. As of July 2007 Jennifer has been the Marketing Manager where her primary duties include tradeshows, print publications, CRM implantation, product/industry research, email marketing, website development and managing the TRI sample program.
Education/Experience: Jennifer graduated with a BABA in Marketing from Seattle University as an All-American Fastpitch Softball Pitcher, 2004 Female Athlete of the Year for SU and 2004 Pitcher of the Year for the GNAC.
Hobbies/Interests: Event planning, art & design, baseball/softball, canoeing, cooking, board games, and spending time with my family and friends.
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: “It’s all what you make it.”
Adam Patchett, Sales & Marketing Assistant
adam@tritrading.com
Adam began his journey with TRI in June of 2008 as an intern after taking a full year off after college to dedicate his time towards rugby and travel. In April of 2009, Adam was promoted to sales assistant where he plans to hone his skills in sales and become a part of TRI’s stellar sales team. Adam currently plays for our owner’s late rugby club, Old Puget Sound Beach.
Education/Experience: BA Financial Economics, University of Washington
Hobbies/Interests: Playing rugby, snowboarding, golf, reading, and traveling.
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: “Work smart, not hard.”
Customer Service, Operations and Logistics Team
Sandra Fuller, Logistics Manager
sandy@tritrading.com
Sandra Fuller has been with TRI since 2004 when she first started as a Customer Service Representative, she was able to utilize her experience in the chemical business to quickly move up in the company to be the current Operations Manager. Sandy now has five employees in her department which handle the daily freight and logistics, warehousing and inventory, and over all support for our customer service needs.
Education/Experience: Started in the chemical industry in 1973 working for Ashland Chemical. When Ashland closed the Kent, Washington facility, I then went to work of ChemCentral and worked there until they regionalized with the Houston facility in 2004. The elimination of my position with ChemCentral afforded me the opportunity to come to work for TRI.
Hobbies/Interests: Fishing, gardening, if the weather allows I will be outdoors doing something. If the weather is bad I will be cooking or baking.
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: “It is better to sleep on what you intend to do than to stay awake over what you have done. “
Jill Thompson, Regional Account Coordinator - East Coast
jill@tritrading.com
Jill Thompson was born and raised in Kirkland, WA. She started her career off with TR International in January of 2006. After one year with TRI Jill left to move to sunny Los Angeles, only to return to the company in October 2007. She now works as a one-on-one CSSR with our East Coast Sales Representative Rich McNamara.
Education/Experience: She then went on to attend college at Washington State University where she graduated with a BA in Communication.
Hobbies/Interests: In her spare time Jill enjoys dancing, running, girls weekends, and playing with her Mini Dachshund.
Esther Yu, Regional Account Coordinator - Midwest & Southeast
esther@tritrading.com
Esther Yu joined TRI in June 2007 and handles customer supply and service for the Mid-West region. Working directly with Mid-west sales manager John Godina, she provides inside sales support and helps to develop and maintain relationships with new and existing customers.
Education: Foster School of Business at the University of Washington.
Hobbies/Interests: Outdoors, concerts, cooking, spending time with family and friends, Seahawks, traveling, working with children
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up. “
Michelle Connor, Operations - Customer & Supplier Service Representative
michelle@tritrading.com
Michelle Cedergreen joined TRI in March of 2008 as a Customer Service & Operation Representative for Joe Riverman and Rowland Morgan. She follows through on all her salesman orders from “cradle to grave”.
Education/Experience: Before Michelle came to TRI she worked for a high end candle company for 8 years. She started in customer services/order entry position and learned the way of the business and was the Office and Sales Manager.
Hobbies/Interests: Camping, family and football (to sons Rookie team to the Seahawks).
Kara Anderson, Operations - Customer Service & Supplier Representative
Kara joined TRI in August 2010 as our newest Customer Service & Supplier Rep. She will utilize her seven years of international logistics and sales experience, primarily in the EMEA regions, to expand and improve TRI's export business.
Education/Experience: BA in Business Finance and Japanese from the University of Oregon and Japan's Women's University - Tokyo, Japan.
Hobbies/Interests: Running, water skiing, Special Olympics coach, reading, any team sport. Project manager for two non-profits in Kenya.
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: Work hard, play hard and honor others above self.
Carlos de la Torre, Controller
carlos@tritrading.com
Carlos de la Torre began working for TRInternational in December of 2005 and says it has been a pleasure (and challenge) watching the company grow in every respect. My TRI co-workers are truly problem solvers and get the job done. And as frosting on the cake, the downtown Seattle location cannot be beat!
Education/Experience: Graduated from California State University, San Bernardino, 1988, B.S. Business Administration/Accounting. Except for a short stint with a manufacturing firm straight out of college, I have been working in the finance department of chemical distribution companies my entire career.
Hobbies/Interests: Enjoy mountain biking, traveling and most recently, trying to learn to ski without becoming disabled.
Personal Motto/Work Philosophy: “Work hard…..idle minds/hands are the devil’s playground.”
Kurt Owens, Financial Analyst
kurt@tritrading.com
Kurt Owens has been with TRI since May 2007. He started with the company as an intern in the operations department and took over as the Financial Analyst in October 2007. As the Financial Analyst, he is responsible for processing all invoices and payments as well as other Accounts Payable functions.
Education/Experience: Kurt is originally from Olympia, WA, but moved to Seattle, WA in 2001 to attend the University of Washington, which he graduated in 2005 with a B.A. in Economics
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