Atlas Executive Team
John Kohl
Chief Executive Officer
John Kohl
John has led the organization for 15 years. John has a background in sales and marketing across multiple industries.
Prior to joining Atlas Wholesale Food Co, John worked for Bluelinx Corporation, formerly Georgia Pacific. John graduated cum laude from Miami University of Ohio with his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and graduated with distinction with his MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. John was selected as a member of Crain’s Detroit 40 business leaders under 40.
John is the grandson of Athas Kotsis, founder of Atlas Wholesale Food Co. John represents the 3rd generation to join the company. John is happily married to Jennifer Kohl and is the proud father of Henry, William, Elizabeth, and Olivia!
Joe Shortal
Chief Operating Officer and Director of Sales
Joe Shortal
Joe started his career with Kroger as a deli, grocery, and bakery manager before being promoted to Store Director. He was fortunate to work at several locations during his time with Kroger. He spent the last 24 years in foodservice sales, working at multiple companies. His roles have ranged from sales to business development to key account management to district management to regional management, to Sales Director. Joe is married and has 5 children - 4 girls and 1 boy. They are all his heart, and they all make him a better person.
Mark Tissot
Director of Merchandising
Mark Tissot
Mark is Atlas’s Chief Operating Officer, aka “Integrator™”. Since 1984, Mark has spent his career in the food distribution industry, at companies such as Marsh Foods Division of Argcen, Serca-Sysco Windsor, Bedell’s Food Service, Sysco Canada and Atlas. He has served in various roles throughout these organizations including Assistant Programmer, Operations Manager, Purchasing Agent, Office Manager, Merchandising Manager, ERP architect, General Manager, Integration Lead, and now COO / Integrator™. Mark holds an accounting degree from the University of Windsor. He combines his deep knowledge of the food service industry, his financial acumen, and his passion for computer science to systematize the processes that make-up Atlas’s “special sauce”. Outside of work, Mark likes to play hockey with his grandson, and get away from the Canadian / Detroit winters to spend time with his wife in sunny Florida.
Don VanTiem
Detroit Regional President
Donald VanTiem
Donald Van Tiem (Don) was born and raised in Detroit. Don received his Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in Accounting from Western Michigan University. Post college, Don worked for Alexander Grant & Company (Grant Thornton LLP). From there, Don joined Hoban & Company, Inc., (Hoban Foods) a wholesale food distributor as General Manager. He advanced to become President for 25 years and grew the company's sales from 1 million to 24 million. Don's next career move was Director of Operations at Atlas Wholesale Foods. Don has been with Atlas for 10 plus years and President for the past 7 years. During this time revenue has continually increased. Married for 42 years, Don and his wife Mary Jo have five children and four beautiful grandchildren.
Matt Heeren
Director of Plant and Operations
Matt Heeren
Matt joined the Atlas team in December 2021! He is an alum of Central Michigan University, where he graduated with a B.S. in Actuarial Science, Mathematics, and Statistics, with a minor in Business Administration. He has worked in the Produce Industry for 22 years, holding various positions from Order Selector up to Director of Operations. Most recently, Matt was the Director of Planning with Belle Harvest, overseeing Transportation, Allocation and Planning, IT and Packhouse Operations.
Personally, Matt enjoys watching Michigan Football games with his wife, Maggie, and son, Declan. Matt, Maggie, and Declan have relocated to SE Michigan from the west side of the state.
Becky Kohl-Gomez
Director of Enabling Functions
Becky Kohl-Gomez
After a 20-year career with General Electric as an engineer for GE Healthcare and an IT leader at GE Aviation, GE Digital and GE Corporate, Becky made the switch to Atlas Wholesale Food in September 2021. Becky is proud to work alongside her brother John and cousin Manny as part of the 3rd generation of Kotsis descendants working at Atlas to make a meaningful local impact. Throughout her career in roles from MRI service and system design to program, product, and team management of engineering IT tools, to IT digital transformation, to being a deal lead for divestitures, the single common thread has been a focus on quality and efficiency. This continues to be her focus as she leads the IT (Information Technology), HR (Human Resources), and Finance team at Atlas. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering from Duke University.
Becky loves nothing more than spending time with her family; her husband Paco and her 3 incredible sons, Ethan, Gabriel, and Isaac!
