Chairman of the Board/Interim CEO & President
Richard DeVaughn is a respected senior executive and entrepreneur, renowned for his expertise in global manufacturing, technology operations, strategic planning, and product development across consumer, industrial, and commercial sectors. As President & CEO of The Arcadia Group International, a global management consulting firm, he understands the value of strategic coaching for achieving revenue and profit growth.
With international experience in establishing and leading technology and product development operations, particularly in India, China, and Eastern Europe, he brings a strong financial acumen to his roles. Mr. DeVaughn also serves as a Director for the National Association of Corporate Directors Carolinas Chapter and is a General Partner at Reinventure Capital.
Known for his leadership, he has held significant positions on private equity, university, trade association, and foundation boards. Dedicated to community building, he actively participates as a Board Member and Treasurer of the Chambers-McCain Foundation, which focuses on youth leadership, economic development, education, and social justice.
Chief Technology Officer/Director
Michael (Mike) Rhodes serves Teksouth as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In this position, he is considered Key personnel as a member of the executive leadership team. Mike is specifically responsible for developing and sustaining our Information Technology (IT) strategy. In addition, Mike oversees the operational hardware, software, and data that supports our corporate team in performing their tasks in a global work environment.
Day to day, Mike works in concert with our Operations Division to support the maintenance and technical improvements of all deployed Teksouth IT solutions supporting our diverse user base. This responsibility serves to keep our deployed solutions relevant and effective in a changing business environment and represents the operational integrity and value we sustain for our clients over time.
Looking forward, Mike serves as our strategic visionary. As a strategy, he explores all technologies to find what’s relevant to bring value to our clients. Mike integrates 25 years of passionate service to Teksouth with his team’s combined knowledge, skill, and experience to develop the right solutions to be a business accelerator. As a gauge to success; process improvements, performance and keeping up with technology, we will be measured against absolute standards of excellence.
To create competitive strategies and grow our business, Mike and his team focus on understanding our competition and how they are using technology. He measures success by staying out in front of our competitive industry in our core areas of expertise. Mike believes we don’t have to stay ahead of technology, we only have to stay ahead of our competitors. This approach serves our corporate goal to be the best at serving our clients’ needs, and further supports our corporate vision to “become the contractor of choice”.
Following Mike’s strategy, his recent initiative to certify our EntelliFusion™ technology in the cloud accelerates Teksouth position to the forefront of the competition. This advancement in the use of emerging technology aligns with our corporate vison and provides an IT solution to serve our existing and new customers for the long term.
Mike’s value goes beyond his technical contributions. With more than 25 years at Teksouth, he provides an enduring continuity in the management of the corporation and our decision processes. His experience brings insight to the past, present and future and sound thinking about the business paths that are successful and those that do not.
Michael received his Bachelor of Science degree in geology and a minor in computer science from the University of Alabama in 1988. With over thirty years of management experience in manufacturing, software deployment, enterprise systems architecture and IT operations, he is known for his accountability and results-oriented approach.
Michael resides in Gardendale, Alabama with the love of his life, his wife Kathie of 30 years. They have three children and four grandchildren.
Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer
Kim Kanaday joined the Teksouth team in 1996, right out of high school. She went directly into our administrative team supporting key service areas. Since her start, Kim has since proved qualified, capable, and worthy to serve in her current role as Teksouth’s Chief Financial Officer. Reporting directly to the President and CEO, she is a voting member of the Board of Directors serving as a key visionary and advisor to the corporate leadership team on issues of day-to-day execution as well as strategic plans and direction for the future. During her tenure with Teksouth, she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, with a minor in accounting in 2006 and has recently graduated from the University of North Alabama with an Executive MBA.
As the CFO, Kim is the lead accounting executive that deals with Teksouth’s complex accounting issues sensibly and realistically, her priority is Teksouth. She establishes and executes internal controls over the company’s accounting and financial procedures, providing leadership to her team who is instrumental in forming Teksouth’s business portfolio. She coordinates with external tax accountants for income tax preparation and auditors who prepare internal audits of the company. She keeps company records organized and readily available for examination. She negotiates banking activities and vendor agreements, as well as reviewing all financing agreements and insurance policies. She also provides accurate and comprehensive financial information to executive management for long-term financial strategizing. Her reporting includes, but is not limited to, compiling financial statements, balance sheets, cash flow reports, budgets, budget-to-actuals, and financial projections.
For our employees, Kim’s team makes certain that payroll deadlines are met, and all accounts are up to date. She sets customer service as a top priority for our employees and their families. For our customers, Kim ensures that her team provides accurate and timely billing/invoicing, and all transactions comply with accounting codes, policies, and regulations. Due to the precision of our customer transactions, customers respond with timely payment, providing Teksouth with a healthy cash flow to cover expenses. Kim and her team are part of Teksouth’s larger “Corporate Services” team. This includes in-house contracting, personnel, marketing, recruiting, security, administration, accounting, logistics, financial, facilities and payroll support. In addition to these direct activities, “Services” supports literally hundreds of ancillary strategic functions. These functions often require outside consultation for complex issues associated with a legal interpretation, corporate taxes, and HR issues.
For the present and future, “Corporate Services” represents a planned resource investment that is a competitive necessity for Teksouth in order to survive and grow. Kim supports the “survive and grow” concept and recognizes that as our business matures and increases complexity, our “back office” support must keep up and mature with the business priorities.
Kim resides in Warrior, Alabama with her husband Steve and their daughter Alex.
Chief Operations Officer/Director
CJ Dunar started with Teksouth in 2022 and serves as the Chief Operations Officer. Prior to joining the Teksouth family, CJ served 30 years in the United States Air Force where he led teams of over 200 members and executed budgets over $7B at multiple locations, including the Pentagon. During most of his Air Force career, CJ served in the financial management community and performed Chief Financial Officer responsibilities at several Air Force bases boosting mission execution for air combat and space launch operations.
In his role at Teksouth, reporting directly to the President and CEO, CJ is a voting member of the Board of Directors serving as an advisor to the corporate leadership team on daily operations and strategic plans determining the future direction of the company.
CJ leads the Operations division providing data analytics, professional services, and process improvement support. Additionally, his division develops Business Intelligence tools, trains Microsoft Power Platforms, and insightfully manages programs and customer relationships. The division develops and executes the company’s strategic plan to grow through existing business relationships and world-class customer service to our clients.
Under his leadership, the Operations Division has implemented a deliberate, client focused customer engagement plan to accurately determine our current customer needs and technical requirements. This approach has thrived in existing contract execution, client retention and the discovery of opportunities to expand within existing contract efforts. Maximizing CJ’s experience in key financial leadership roles, the Operations team implemented new tactical processes which vastly improved revenue projection accuracy allowing the Teksouth Board of Directors to make more precise calculated business decisions.
CJ holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management and a Master of Business Administration. He lives in Yorktown, Virginia with his wife Heather and daughter Charlize. CJ and Heather also have two boys in their early twenties, Cole and Foxx.
Director
Matt Bennett is President of Benfield Services, a property management company in Birmingham, Alabama. He has a broad range of responsibilities in the financial and management sectors, with a significant role in P&L for 11 years. He leads Benfield Services through its most important challenges and opportunities, often in complicated multi-million-dollar agreements. Matt is also a longtime employee of Teksouth, where his roles have varied and include physical and conceptual operations.
Matt provides a strong family connection to the organization as an asset to the board. He understands firsthand the sacrifices, dedication, and unwavering commitment it took to build a thriving enterprise from the ground up. Inspired by the late founder’s vision and driven by a desire to carry his legacy forward, Matt is passionate about ensuring Teksouth has an enduring future.
As Matt assumes his role on the board, he recognizes the responsibility entrusted to him and is determined to honor it with integrity, passion, and vision. Matt brings a unique perspective to this work and his native intelligence, coupled with his wholehearted belief in the company, are great assets to this new chapter of growth.
Chief Compliance Officer/Secretary
Rhodes Davis serves as the Chief Compliance Officer and the Secretary of the Board of Directors. As Chief Compliance Officer, Rhodes is responsible for developing, implementing, and managing a comprehensive compliance program that meets the unique requirements of a federal defense contractor. He has served on the Board of Directors since 2020.
He has worked for Teksouth for over 25 years, serving as contract manager, FSO, business manager, and even worked on some of the early mainframe products. He most recently served as the Interim Chief Revenue Officer of Teksouth Corporation from July 2022 to February 2024 as the management team was being restructured.
Rhodes earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management (Minor: Contract and Acquisition Management) from Athens State University in 2018, and his Associate of Arts Degree in Communications from Florida College in 1986. He serves on the board of directors for other organizations trying to provide opportunities and scholarships for young people.
Independent Board Director
Charlie recently retired as the Senior Vice President (SVP) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of McWane, Inc., having served since 2004. He was the Vice President and Controller from 1991 to 2004. He started with McWane in 1980 working in corporate accounting, including financial accounting, acquisitions, taxes, and pensions. From 1977 to 1980 he worked at the Birmingham office of Coopers & Lybrand on the audit staff.
As SVP and CFO he managed the financial functions of McWane, Inc., including the accounting, treasury, risk management and information technology aspects of the corporation. McWane operates over forty plants in several countries with sales of approximately $2 billion. He also directed several ad hoc groups to purchase ERP software for multiple entities, process improvement teams at various locations and directed the finance team as the company grew from approximately $160 million in sales to almost $2 billion.
According to their website, the McWane family of companies “cast ductile iron products, including pipe, valves, hydrants, fittings, and plumbing products; manufacture fire extinguishers, fire suppression systems and steel pressure vessels; and build network switches and monitoring equipment” throughout the world at over 40 plants and four technology companies. Their technology companies provide advance technology monitoring, networking, and communication capabilities for public safety networks, municipal and electric utilities, and campus-wide situations. In 2021, they will celebrate 100 years of operations.
Charlie has served on other boards and advisory councils:
He graduated from the University of Alabama in Birmingham with a B.S. in accounting in 1976 and earned his C.P.A. certificate in 1979.
He retired from McWane in 2021 and moved to Tampa to be closer to his children and grandchildren.
Independent Board Member
Mr. Bowser is a C-Level executive level leader with over 40 years of experience in creating and advancing strategy for the development of new markets, optimizing existing markets, and utilizing available support resources. He has built new business, has leveraged and improved operating and service delivery models. He has raised and managed significant sums of venture capital and has been responsible for closing numerous M&A transactions representing both the seller and buyer sides of transactions. His clients benefit tremendously from Mr. Bowser’s dynamic, entrepreneurial style, his profit and loss (P&L) operations and financial management background, strategic planning, and his mergers and acquisitions (M&A) expertise. Additionally, Mr. Bowser has a wealth of experience in government sales covering both sole-source and competitive contracting and pricing. Currently, Mr. Bowser is a Principal with Deepwater Point Associates and serves on multiple corporate Boards and Foundations including the Board of Directors of Frontier Technology, Inc. where he is Chairman of the Board’s Governance Committee and a member of the Audit, Compensation and Mergers & Acquisitions Committees. Mr. Bowser is also an active Independent Director for a real estate investment corporation in South Carolina.
Throughout his career, Mr. Bowser has supported the growth and development of numerous corporations through both in-house positions and consultancies. His expertise has centered around corporations primarily in the small to mid-tier range with revenues up to $500M and EBITDAs up to $75M. In his most recent corporate role, he furnished strategic leadership as Executive Vice President of first TranTech and then its successor acquirer, ManTech International. At TranTech, Mr. Bowser provided strategic assistance to the CEO in the areas of business development, strategic management, and M&A activities. He secured the firm’s two largest GWAC/IDIQ contracts comprising $50 billion and $15 billion ceilings respectively which enabled the Corporation to be an attractive acquisition target. As part of that work, he initiated the successful implementation of a corporate-wide PMO structure for task capture and performance thereby building significant value in the enterprise. After initiating M&A activities to position the firm for sale, Mr. Bowser and the President brokered TranTech’s acquisition ultimately by ManTech International. Because of the strategic positioning of TranTech, the sale was consummated at a price approximately 51 times EBITDA. As an integral part of the transaction, Mr. Bowser transitioned and remained with ManTech for integration.
Since the successful positioning and sale of TranTech to ManTech, Mr. Bowser has led numerous M&A encounters representing selling and buying organizations in both corporate and asset type transactions. In those transactions, he was involved in every facet of the process and has unique perspectives on what is important in the successful conclusion of those activities.
Previously, Mr. Bowser held numerous C-level and positions with both enterprises he initiated and those seeking his support. These included EVP at NCI Information Systems, President at Regent Systems, COO at RJO Enterprises, CFO at Presearch, Inc., VP at CACI, and VP at Tetra Tech, Inc. His responsibilities have involved serving as President, COO, CFO and in executive level business development, and technical operations positions. Mr. Bowser also held an unlimited Contracting Officer’s warrant with multiple agencies in government civil service prior to his work in the private sector
Mr. Bowser earned his BS in business management and operations research from Virginia Tech. He is a certified professional contract manager through the National Contract Management Association and has held Top Secret and compartmented SCI clearances throughout his career.
