Menu

Our People

In 1981 company founder and CEO Keith Rhodes had a vision to materially change the way magnets were designed and used in the industry. His strong belief that an educated customer could achieve realistic and reliable performance results using the company’s products and services became a mission of the company’s founding charter. He also envisioned a company that rewarded the entrepreneurial spirit of its employees. MPI is a company that strives to make company culture impact a part of every decision made where high performance employees are recognized for their contributions. Today MPI’s primary focus remains directed towards its customers and the employee culture that has enabled the company to prosper as an industry leader for over 40 years. Product invention, customer education and company culture are an integral part of MPI’s DNA.

 

MPI Employees are Amazing

Executive Leadership

KEITH RHODES
Founder
MICHAEL HADJINIAN
President
Kyle Rhodes about our team
KYLE RHODES
Executive Vice President
RONALD KWASNIEWICZ
Research & Development
Matt Wiggins
MATTHEW WIGGINS
Operations Manager
MPI Director of Sales Kris Tennyson
KRIS TENNYSON
Director of Sales and Marketing
PROJECT SHOWCASE

ECO-FLOW | HARCO BRAKE COMPONENTS

When a manufacturer suspects that a drilling operation could cause plugs inside a precision brake component, he knows that the resulting damage will be more costly and require greater action than a simple phone call . . .

Read More
PROJECT SHOWCASE

SHAKERS | RADAR INDUSTRIES

Like any maintenance supervisor at a busy stamping plant, 30-year manufacturing veteran Mike De Vitt's goal at Radar Industries in Warren, Michigan, is to keep his presses up and running  . . .

Read More
PROJECT SHOWCASE

SHAKERS | TOLEDO TOOL AND DIE

Toledo Tool and Die (TTD), of Toledo OH, approached MPI looking for an improved method to remove scrap from their stamping press. MPI recommended that TTD consider MPI’s M-50 electric shaker . . .

Read More
PROJECT SHOWCASE

MINI FREE FLOW | GLOBAL FOOD PROCESSOR

When raw materials arrive at a food plant, they can contain many types of contaminants, including metals. Metals find their way into raw materials from the time of harvest through the many material handling processes needed to turn them into a product ready for packaging . . .

Read More
PROJECT SHOWCASE

BLM | MAJOR MANUFACTURER

Removal of scrap metal is a vital, constant and costly function faced by plant managers worldwide. Untimely removal of scrap can endanger workers and damage machinery . . .

Read More
PROJECT SHOWCASE

MAGNETIC CHUTE | MAJOR CO-PACKER

Ensuring that there is no cross-contamination, coupled with dustless operation were their biggest concerns . . .

Read More
KEITH RHODES
Founder, CEO

MPI founder and President Keith Rhodes began his career in magnets as a teenager — first as a production employee building magnets before moving into sales where he began designing magnetic solutions for customers. As he gained more experience Keith had a vision of materially changing the way magnetic equipment was designed and used in industry.

Challenging the status-quo and frustrated with traditional “that’s the way we’ve always done it” thinking, Keith decided to go out on his own and in 1981 founded Magnetic Products, Inc.

Keith is passionate about having his customers equally understand the importance of the capabilities and limitations of magnets. With this knowledge, they could achieve realistic and reliable performance results.

Early in MPI’s life as a company, Keith developed a simple presentation titled “A Magnet Is Not Just A Magnet” to explain the laws of physics and how they impact the fundamental principles of magnet design. His strong belief was that an educated customer would always be an MPI customer because they would understand the design, engineering and quality put into every MPI product.

From the beginning, Keith envisioned a company that rewarded the entrepreneurial spirit of its employees. He put in place a committee to nurture and foster company culture growth and presence within the employee population.

Throughout the company’s lifespan, Keith has made sure that MPI management is dedicated to always giving back and taking care of their employees — they are the company’s greatest asset. Keith prides himself on the dynamic and talented team that is MPI today. With every employee’s combined efforts, MPI has experienced continual growth and prosperity as an industry leader for over 40 years.

MICHAEL HADJINIAN
President

MPI founder Keith Rhodes and Michael Hadjinian had known each other for several years before Michael joined MPI. They developed a friendship based on mutual respect and shared values.

Keith then asked Michael to join the MPI team in mid-2018 with the objectives of enabling Keith to devote a larger percentage of his time to projects outside of MPI, to provide mentorship to the MPI management team and, very importantly, to help accelerate MPI’s growth.

Michael has over 40 years of B2B experience and is an experienced growth President/CEO and board member at manufacturing firms – both smaller and larger than MPI. His industry experience is in leading several manufacturing companies in B2B industrial products, machinery and consumer durables. He has successfully spearheaded several lean transformations and loves manufacturing. Through these leadership responsibilities, he has gained broad experience in marketing and sales, international business and deal making (mergers and acquisitions.) His track record includes sales growth via acquisition and aggressive new product development, both of which are planned for MPI’s future.

KYLE RHODES
Vice President – Business Development

Kyle Rhodes is Vice President of Business Development at MPI. Kyle joined MPI in 2009 and has held positions is manufacturing, purchasing, sales and marketing. He has spent the majority of his career in the metal control industry, removing, sorting, and moving metal across many industrial manufacturing sectors. He earned both his Bachelor of Arts and MBA from Michigan State University.

As a road warrior, he has the unique opportunity of visiting and learning about many of our customer’s manufacturing processes because of the diverse range of applications that MPI products support. Kyle is passionate about learning his customer’s processes and the unique challenges and opportunities they face. Understanding how products are manufactured and make it to the end user consumer markets is a passion of his. He has had the honor to serve a wide range of manufacturers from some of the largest manufacturing companies in the world to local, family owned startup businesses.

Kyle actively participates and supports organizations including PEMA, NARA, PMA, IAOM and Vistage. He currently serves as a Board Member for the Process Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA) and on the Marketing Committee. He is also a Board Member for his fraternity’s chapter at Michigan State University. He continues his journey of personal growth through active membership in Vistage.

Kyle has a passion to serve, focusing on his family, his team and his customers.

RONALD KWASNIEWICZ
Research & Development

Ron “Kwas” has been with MPI for over 27 years.

Hiring in as MPI’s Plant Manager, his innovative thinking and problem solving quickly made him a trusted authority in new product design and development. Ron was promoted to Engineering Manager and held that position for 16 years before moving solely into research and development.

Ron has an Electrical Engineering Technology degree from the National Institute of Technology and seven patents in his portfolio. His over 37 years of experience in all areas relating to mechanics, electrical, machining, fabricating, and welding has made him a crucial asset in MPI’s ability in maintaining its reputation for innovation.

MATTHEW WIGGINS
Operations Manager

Matt joined the MPI Team in 2013.

With over 15 years of experience in manufacturing development and management, resource planning, quality control, and workforce management, Matt has quickly proven to be one of MPI’s most crucial assets in day-to-day operations.

Matt leads all MPI production personnel and product manufacturing. He is passionate about being hands-on in improving all areas of MPI’s manufacturing processes. Matt’s priority is to run an efficient manufacturing plant with quality, safety, and on-time delivery. His goal is to ensure MPI customers have the best overall experience and that MPI employees are achieving the best results possible. In addition to his role on the executive leadership team, Matt is also a part of the company’s safety committee — a group dedicated to employee safety and well-being while on the property.

Prior to starting his career, Matt earned his bachelor’s degree in business from Eastern Michigan University.

KRIS TENNYSON
Director of Sales

Kris comes to MPI with over 25 years of Sales Leadership experience over multiple industries. Most recently he made his mark in the industrial laser industry. Kris believes that great sales representatives are “honest, straight forward, and want to truly help their customers”. In short, they genuinely care. There’s a difference between being a partner with an organization, and just “selling them something”. What you can expect from his sales team – we treat our customers exceptionally well, make it easy for them to do business with us, and continuously educate and support our customers, even for products they didn’t buy from MPI.

Kris’ passion is building and growing teams that perform at the highest levels, in a sustainable way, that earn the ultimate trust of their customers and co-workers. Personally, Kris enjoys traveling, the art of cooking with the smoker, and many of the outdoor activities that Michigan has to offer.