Our Team

Max Paetzold is the Chief Financial Officer for The Gehr Group. He oversees all finance and accounting related functions, including accounting, financial reporting, tax, compliance, credit & collections and internal controls. His responsibilities also include financial aspects of modeling for sales, procurement, inventory management and overhead.

Prior to joining Gehr, Mr. Paetzold held leadership positions at several companies including at The Honest Company where he was VP Financial Operations and VP Corporate Controller, at JR286 Inc. where he was Director of Finance, and at 20th Century Fox where he was Senior Vice President Finance for International TV Distribution. Previously Mr. Paetzold was an Experienced Manager with the Enterprise Group at the Los Angeles office of Arthur Andersen, providing accounting and financial advisory services to middle-market private and public companies in the professional services, consumer products, retail, entertainment, advertising, hi-tech, real estate, food services, and manufacturing and distribution industries. Mr. Paetzold is a CPA and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Loyola Marymount University.

Joel Golbin is the Vice President and General Manager of Gehr Power Systems. Joel’s company, SafePlug Distribution Products was acquired by The Gehr Group in 2016. Joel earlier career brings over 20 years of experience in the packaging equipment industry as a field technician, technical sales and custom packaging design engineer. He has spent the past 20 plus years in the trade show and event industries. As the Vice President and General Manager of Operations for Trade Show Electrical (or as it is better known, TSE, the electrical division of Global Experience Specialists) for 15 years, Joel was responsible for the temporary power distribution of some of the largest and challenging events in North America, including, but not limited to the Consumer Electronics Shows (LV), North American Broadcasters (LV), Democratic National Conventions (L.A, Boston, Denver). Joel was also the designer/manufacturer of a complete line of temporary power distribution equipment for TSE, including state-of-the-art power distribution panels, uniquely designed stringers, thru-boxes and doghouses, dual output transformers, etc.. Joel also developed a new profit center for TSE, selling these same custom products to TSE’s competitors.

After leaving his career at TSE, Joel started his own design & manufacturing business, Safeplug Distribution Products in 2014, offering innovative products to the trade show and special event industry, including the revolutionary SafePlug Smart Stringer System.

Mark Goldman is Chief Operating Officer and Chief Counsel of The Gehr Group. Mr. Goldman joined The Gehr Group in 2012 after previously serving as outside counsel for 28 years. Mark is in charge of all legal matters for The Gehr Group and its subsidiaries, as well as overseeing all work conducted by outside law firms pertaining to business transactions and litigation. Mr. Goldman also serves as a trustee for the Gehr Family Foundation.

Mr. Goldman has over 50 years of experience working on sophisticated legal cases in entertainment, family, and real estate as well as advising in numerous real estate transactions. Prior to joining The Gehr Group, Mr. Goldman was the owner of his own law firm Goldman & Kagon Law Corporation. He also served as in-house counsel for Mapleton Investments where he handled all acquisition, divestitures, legal contracts, and agreements for the private venture capital firm. Mr. Goldman received his JD from University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)’s School of Law and also received a BA in economics at UCLA.

David Lifschitz is Chief Executive Officer of The Gehr Group overseeing all aspects of The Gehr Group’s four principal business units – Gehr Hospitality, Gehr Development, Gehr Industries, and Gehr International. Mr. Lifschitz joined The Gehr Group in 1995 as CFO and CIO. In 2009 he became COO, in 2010 he became President, and in March 2015 he was appointed as CEO. As CEO, David directs the company’s operations, as one of only two executives with oversight across all divisions, with the objective of maximizing efficiency and return on invested capital. He is actively involved in business strategy, marketing activity, and operations at the division level. Mr. Lifschitz also serves as a trustee for the Gehr Family Foundation.

Prior to joining The Gehr Group, David spent a decade at the Enterprise Group of Arthur Andersen, advising public and privately-held and fast-growing companies in the entertainment, broadcasting, manufacturing, publishing, high-tech, wholesale distribution and retail industries. Mr. Lifschitz is a CPA, received his MBA from University of Southern California (USC), and his BA in Psychology from University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).