“I am excited about our growth prospects and the new business opportunities we have created for 2014 and beyond,” says CEO.
Atlas Oil has made some key executive appointments to its leadership team.
Edwin “Skip” Herbert, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary, Faiz “Victor” Simon, vice president of real estate and Michael Ruehring, vice president of transportation, bring significant experience in their respective fields.
“As we continue to grow our operations and our national footprint, we are adding strategic leadership positions,” said Sam Simon, CEO and owner, Atlas Oil Co. “We have expanded our retail business with the acquisition of the Hadi Group and our new Earth Market convenience stores in the Chicago area. We are also presently expanding our Emergency Fueling Solutions (EFS) division nationally and we are expanding our crude transloading and hauling operations to meet domestic oil demand. I am excited about our growth prospects and the new business opportunities we have created for 2014 and beyond.”
Edwin “Skip” Herbert is Atlas Oil’s chief legal officer, responsible for the management and oversight of all legal, regulatory, compliance and government affairs for Atlas Oil and its affiliates. Herbert has responsibility for the Legal and Safety Departments at Atlas Oil and is a member of the Leadership Team.
Herbert’s career spans more than 30 years. He spent more than 10 years as general counsel of several public companies and also held positions in the legal departments of two Fortune 100 companies. In addition, he spent time in private practice, including serving as an equity partner in an Am Law 200 law firm. Herbert has extensive mergers and acquisitions, financing, regulatory and compliance experience.
Herbert obtained his J.D. with honors from the Ohio State University College of Law and obtained a B.A. with honors from the University of Notre Dame. Herbert is a member of the Michigan, California, Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin bars.
Faiz “Victor” Simon has been promoted to vice president of real estate for Atlas Oil Company and is responsible for acquisition and development of gas station properties as well as securing real estate for future development. He is also involved in the acquisition of distressed assets from banks and other financial institutions for redevelopment and resale.
In the retail gas station business since 1988, Simon joined Atlas as director of real estate in 2003. He developed the WOW brand of company stores under the Company’s Fast Track Ventures business and was instrumental in divesting over 100 locations in several large retail gas station transactions.
A member of the Simon family, and the brother of the founder of Atlas Oil, Victor has been instrumental in the Simon Family company’s growth since an early age. At 18, he was one of the youngest people to ever complete dealer training with Shell Oil. He subsequently completed similar training with Mobil, Marathon and Chevron Oil. He was responsible for growing the family business into new markets including California and Arizona.
In 1984, Simon took over another family business – Great Lakes Ice Co., where he grew the business from one ice machine with 350 accounts to 1,365 accounts and into a thriving business that eventually sold for $2.5 million in 1995.
In addition to being an industry veteran of more than 35 years, Simon is also active in several industry organizations including NACS, Turnaround Management Association (TMA) and The Michigan Bankers Association. An avid sportsman, Simon is also involved in many community and charitable activities including running in the Boston Marathon for Dana Farber Cancer Institute, the Detroit Free Press Marathons among others. He is also an active participant in various bicycle and other relays raising money for local charities such as Multiple Sclerosis.
Michael Ruehring is vice president, transportation for Atlas Oil and is responsible for transportation and logistics operations. He joined Atlas from BAE Systems where he was senior director of performance excellence, responsible for world-class supply chain processes and led technology initiatives to implement demand planning, workflow and inventory controls. He also developed and streamlined transportation and receiving organizations and processes.
Prior to joining BAE, Ruehring was vice president of logistics and operations at Maxum Petroleum in Greenwich, Conn. from 2008-2010. Before that, Ruehring held executive positions at Home Depot Supply in San Diego, Calif. and General Electric Corp. in Atlanta. He also spent 10 years with the U.S. Navy as a Naval Aviator and Squadron Operations Officer, responsible for $450 million in aircraft and support equipment assets.
Ruehring earned a Bachelor of Science degree in General Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. He is also a Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma process improvement and speaks fluent German.
