Meet Our Leadership Team

Dave Knecht is the CEO of Bender Inc., where he leads strategic growth and innovation across the Americas. Since joining Bender in 2008 as an applications engineer, Dave has steadily advanced through roles in engineering, product management, and sales leadership, culminating in his appointment as CEO. His journey reflects a deep commitment to operational excellence and customer-centric innovation.

With a strong foundation in business strategy and a degree in Electrical Engineering from Wilkes University, he began his career designing electrical distribution systems for commercial, educational, and institutional facilities—emphasizing safety, sustainability, and regulatory compliance. At Bender, he has played a key role in transforming the company from a traditional component supplier into a leading provider of integrated electrical safety solutions

Dave is deeply committed to driving organizational growth, shaping forward-thinking product strategies, and cultivating a culture of continuous improvement. He has led multiple initiatives from initial concept through full-scale implementation and has been a key force in expanding Bender’s presence in the Americas from a modest regional office to a prominent industry leader—while remaining firmly aligned with the company’s core values

Outside of work, Dave enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, cheering on the Eagles, Phillies, and Sixers, tackling spontaneous home "improvement" projects, 3D printing "un"necessary items, and relaxing with his family along the Jersey shore. He’s traveled to almost all 50 states and several countries outside the continent including Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific Rim.

Before joining Bender Inc., Torsten attended trade school, where he earned his electrical degree with a specialty in electrical motor rewinding. After 3.5 years of trade school, he graduated as a journeyman. He then served 15 months in the military with the signal corps. After his service, he pursued studies in electrical engineering at USGH, specializing in transmission distribution and power generation. Following school, Torsten worked as a freelance electrician, spending much of his time field, wiring equipment in refineries, paper mills, and industrial facilities. 

At Bender, Torsten leads sales and business development for our EV and EVSE-related products at Bender Inc. Over the years, he has contributed to many areas of the company, beginning as a liaison engineer when Bender was still operating with faxes and phone calls. He helped launch our first website, supported UL certifications for medical panels, and later transitioned into sales, where his strengths became clear. While much of his career has been in industrial sales, for the past nine years he has focused on EV/EVSE solutions. Torsten also initiated our “one insulation monitor per team” program, donating over 1,000 devices to student racing teams such as Formula SAE and Formula Hybrid. He regularly attends trade shows and conferences to promote our EV and EVSE products.

When asked what he enjoys most about working at Bender, Torsten highlights the positive culture and adaptability of the company. He said, “I like the good vibes across departments. In the early years, every day brought a new application, which kept things exciting. I appreciate our culture and survivability. The diversity of what we do allows us to weather any crisis, like the 2009 market crash and Covid. We aren’t just a one-pony show.” 

Outside of work, Torsten enjoys fixing things, especially motorcycles, cars, and home renovation projects. He is an avid snowboarder and skilled at just about anything with wheels, from skateboarding to roller skating. Torsten also played catcher for a German baseball team for seven years. He has two grown children and two cats. 

Torsten’s favorite Bender product is The LifeGuard, which brings back fond memories of its use in unique applications such as the Bellagio Fountains and movie sets. 

Before joining Bender, Mike had the opportunity to work in various leadership roles, including General Manager and Area Manager, where he focused on operations, logistics, and team management. His career spans multiple industries, including manufacturing, Aerospace, cabinetry, industrial fasteners, heavy equipment, and woodworking. He's consistently worked to improve processes, lead strategic projects, and mentor teams to drive efficiency and performance across these diverse sectors. 

At Bender, Mike oversees key areas such as operations, logistics, inventory, and warehouse management. His responsibilities include managing the department, developing operational budgets, and ensuring proper staffing levels. He works to identify and implement process improvements, mentor and coach staff. Additionally, he applies his experience with the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) to streamline business processes and drive operational efficiency. Mike is on the Executive Leadership Team and likes to be available to employees with an open door for them to express any concerns or questions. 

When asked about what he enjoys most about working at Bender, Mike said "I like working at Bender Inc. because of the collaborative atmosphere that promotes teamwork and open communication. I appreciate the focus on innovation and opportunities. The strong leadership and commitment to quality make me proud to be part of the team, and I enjoy the emphasis on work-life balance." 

In his free time, he likes to make knives, which lets him be creative with his hands. He also enjoys lifting weights to stay active and fit. Woodworking is another hobby of his, as he likes making useful things for his home. Mike has been married for 30 years and has 4 kids, 3 boys (29, 27, 24) and a girl (18). He has 3 German Shepherds named Odin, Runa, and Zeus.  

His favorite Bender product is the MarinaGuard because it offers excellent protection while being easy to install. He appreciates its durability and how it effectively enhances safety in marine environments.  

Quote from his manager, Dave Knecht, CEO:  

"During a critical time, Mike excelled at streamlining processes and improving efficiency in our transformer throughput. Under his leadership, the team has successfully completed multiple projects, including optimizing our supply chain and enhancing production workflows & increasing shop floor visibility. His proactive approach ensures smooth day-to-day operations while driving continuous improvement."  

John spent about half of his career with a small, family owned manufacturer, Kemper Equipment, and advanced to the position of Controller.  Similar to Bender, this company allowed him to wear many different hats. He also spent several years working for the manufacturing side of a large, multi-billion distribution company, Airgas, where he learned much more about accounting compliance and auditing.

He is involved in the strategic planning of the company and also the day-to-day decision making to ensure Bender stays in line with budgetary constraints, and remains in compliance with various regulatory authorities and agencies. He also oversees HR and IT, which means he is involved with most of the “back office” administrative areas.

He enjoys working with small organizations where he has the opportunity to be involved in many different projects. He appreciates the diversity in workload which keeps things interesting and challenging. Bender’s benefit programs are very generous, especially in a world of increasing healthcare costs, and John believes it shows the intention to provide employees with a higher quality of life. Last but not least, John thinks the employees at Bender are very dedicated and hard working. John says, "I am always impressed by the number of employees that have worked here 20 to 30 years. Bender wouldn’t be where it is today without those pillars, and we need more employees like that to take us through the next 20 years!"

When asked about his favorite product, John immediately chose the Isolated Power Panels for operating rooms. He believes the IPPs perfectly exemplify who Bender is since they are sold by our technically-minded salesteam, designed in-house by our engineers, and built by our highly-trained production staff with domestically procured materials. The IPPs provide isolated power to electrical systems in operating rooms and other critical care areas and ensure electrical ground-faults are located fast and automatically, while exceeding industry standards.

Before joining Bender, Andy was involved in a mixture of microelectronics processing equipment (machinery to assemble electronics, fiberoptic switches), and defense work (smart weapons interface, hardened LCDs).  What my specific roles were:  electronics design and electromagnetic compatibility. Electronic circuit board design between aircraft and weapon systems and the electromagnetic compatibility makes sure the products don't interfere with other electronics in the vicinity (for example, in prior times if you turned on a vacuum the TV might become fuzzy).  

At Bender, he manages the engineering department. Our primary tasks are new product development, creation of submittals to support BUH sales, and creating new parts in SAP to support new configurations of BUH product.  We’re also responsible for working with UL to maintain or obtain the appropriate regulatory approvals on current and new products. Andy is a member of the Executive Leadership Committee and he likes to leave his door open for employees to come to him with any concerns or questions. 

When asked what he enjoys about Bender the most, this is what he said: "When I first came to Bender, it was refreshing to be working on product to protect people, rather than military jobs.  I enjoy the culture, as a few examples there’s lots of good people at Bender, we try to develop our staff and we do promote from within far more often than I am accustomed to seeing. I personally appreciate the work – life balance." 

In his spare time, he enjoys outdoor activities, reading, I’m an amateur historian (focused on American history, up to and especially the Civil War, his dad was extremely interested in history and specifically the family history which passed on to Andy), enjoy sampling different flavors of beer, whiskey, and the occasional cigar. Andy has one daughter in college, attending the University of Vermont.  

His favorite Bender product is PowerGuard – it will be the first Bender product that is entirely Bender Inc. in origin. The first variant will be designed for commercial kitchens but there are plans for followup variants that will be similar to the LifeGuard family for general purposes like fountains, and a Special Purpose GFCI for greenhouses and emerging markets.  

Before joining Bender, Jeff worked in the electrical protection relay market with various manufacturers since 1995. His roles have included sales engineer, U.S. sales engineering manager, vertical market manager for fuses and relays, and product manager. His primary responsibility has been sales development and support in the U.S. market, but secondarily he has assisted in business development in South America and Canada. 

In 2016, Jeff was hired to help Bender develop and expand the neutral grounding resistor market in the Americas Region. The first project he was involved with was the product launch of the NGRM700 relay in 2017. He has helped develop marketing materials, webinars, technical white papers, and many blogs. Jeff says, "I enjoy helping customers solve unique application challenges and becoming a resource for them." He also takes support calls from customers from his pre-Bender days and loves to talk them through the transition to Bender's yellow boxes.   

Jeff enjoys working for a family-owned business with long-term goals and global reach. Even with the numerous challenges over the past six years, he believes we continue to grow as a company in competency and will gain customer loyalty for years to come.    

When Jeff is not traveling, he enjoys spending time with my two boys, Drew and Brody. In the summer, Jeff enjoys golfing and long Saskatchewan summer days. In the winter, he enjoys volleyball, snowmobiling, and bonfires.   

Before joining Bender and shortly after college, Dan started his career as an electrical project engineer at Johnson Controls in PA. He worked there for 2 years and realized he enjoyed working with customers and fixing issues/providing solutions. He began searching for a job in applications engineering which led him to Bender. At the time, Bender was looking for an OEM Accounts Manager and Applications Engineer. Throughout his career at Bender, he has held multiple positions such as Regional Sales Manager for Mexico and Central America, Regional Sales Manager for Eastern Region. 

At Bender, his top priority is to ensure customers have the best possible customer experience that they can have. He manages the Customer Service, Technical Applications, Field Service, and Product Management teams. Dan is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and assists with making company-wide decisions with other members of the team. An important part of his role is to make sure Bender has strategies and processes in place to ensure customers receive feedback in a timely fashion, whether it is order status, a technical question on their application, or providing urgent support due to customer equipment failure 

Dan says, "What I enjoy about Bender is the people I get to work with. We are able to achieve our goals as a team. The culture that Bender has developed over the years has become a strong selling point for our company that shows we are hardworking and enjoy each others' company while doing so." 

In his spare time, Dan enjoys spending time with his family and two dogs. Dan married his high school sweetheart and has been with her since they met 22 years ago. He also enjoys playing guitar, but the activity he enjoys the most is watching and playing soccer (while he still can).  

Before joining Bender, Amir worked as an electrical engineer for a large OEM. While there, he worked with a team to design, plan, and manage large electrical projects. When the project was finished,  he would go to the job sites to make sure everything was installed properly, and provide on-site training. Amir is very passionate about electrical safety and has decided to dedicate his time to become an industry expert in the fast-growing and dynamic field of electrical safety. His goal is to help people in various industries identify effective solutions to meet today's ever-changing electrical safety requirements and build robust power systems.  

Amir is the Managing Director at Bender Canada Inc., where he leads the company and sets the overall strategic direction of the company alongside the board. Amir's day starts with a team meeting to plan the day. Afterwards, he checks emails, prioritizes projects, focuses on the plan for the month and year, and tries to see where improvements and modifications can be implemented. He travels about 80% of the year to trade shows, conferences, consultant visits, and to other large project sites. In addition to his travels and priorities at Bender, he supports various standards communities such as CSA Z32 (electrical Safety and essential electrical systems in health care facilities), CSA C232 (integrated committee on electric vehicles) and IEEE P45.1 (recommended practice for electrical installations on shipboards) to help define upcoming technology and develop a roadmap to clarify standards, while maximizing the safety of every application. 

He says, "it's fascinating to work with such a wide range of industries and applications. It’s like one day you help a customer on a solar project, and maybe tomorrow you work on an EV job. The other day we supported a consultant in a wastewater treatment plant, the next, a data center. We learn a lot from all these exciting industries." Amir's favorite memory while working at Bender was the grand opening of the brand new headquarters in Grunberg, Germany. Bender invited all employees from around the globe to see the new state-of-the-art building. Grunberg is a rather small town and all of a sudden it was overflowing with Bender employees. It was a 2-day event filled with happy memories of getting to know Bender employees from around the globe and get an up-close look at soon-to-be released Bender products. 

Amir's hobbies include reading books, exercising, and running. Amir enjoys spending time with his wife and 4-year-old daughter, Elena. When he is not traveling, he focuses his time on his family, often going to the beach and park, or finding nice trails to explore. There are many fantastic cottages overlooking the water in Canada and this is where he preferers to spend his free time. 

The NGRM700 is Amir's favorite product because he has seen how reliable the product is first hand. He remembers a time when he visited an oil and gas platform where the machine was aging and was affected by the weather. Amir happened to be in the city for a conference and when he had a break he dropped by the job site. He realized that there was something wrong and the maintenance team wanted to go into the electrical panel to determine the issue. The moment they wanted to go in, the Bender relay tripped the whole system. If the relay hadn't tripped, they could have gone to the panel and something catastrophic could have happened. When they looked into it, they realized there was a ground-fault in the system caused from a VFD.