Benjamin Wood – CEO 55 Industries
Benjamin Wood is a dedicated leader who is passionate about ensuring high team performance to support the United States and its international allies. As CEO of 55 Industries, he leads a company committed to delivering the critical materials that keep operations secure and effective. With a proven record of turning operational challenges into strategic opportunities, Ben brings years of leadership experience from various roles across his previous organizations.
Throughout his career, Ben has combined strategic insight with hands-on execution to drive efficiency and innovation across high-performing organizations. His commitment to excellence in supporting those who serve underscores his deep belief in the power of well-managed operations.
Outside of work, Ben values quality time with his family. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Kate, and their two young children—21-month-old Ezekiel and 6-month-old Aubrielle—finding balance and inspiration in both his professional and personal life.
Arlene Ronen – COO 55 Industries & Comptroller 55 Manufacturing
Arlene serves as COO for 55 Industries and as Comptroller for 55 Manufacturing, overseeing management in the finance and human resources division. With over ten years of experience with 55 Industries and its preceding corporations, Arlene’s dedication and expertise are critical assets for 55’s success.
Arlene issues timely and complete financial statements, coordinates the preparation of the annual reports and quality of earnings analyses, recommends benchmarks against which to measure the performance of company operations, calculates and issues financial and operating metrics, and manages the production of the annual budget and forecasts.
Prior to joining 55 Industries, Arlene worked in the investment advisory business in Fort Meyers, Florida, specializing in 1031 real estate exchanges and self-direct IRA investment strategies.
Viviana Henao – Director of Supply Chain 55 Industries
Viviana serves in the role of Director of Supply Chain for 55 Industries, in which she leads a qualified team of government and commercial sourcing specialists to deliver quality products on time and at a fair price to our customers and teaming partners.
Viviana and her division partner, Jose Gallardo, are well known in the material and repair industry for their knowledge, expertise, and relationships, enabling 55 Industries to provide that hard-to-find part or complete a project others thought impossible.
Viviana communicates designs with manufacturers and component suppliers and assures cost-effective products, competitively quotes and purchases prototype and production parts, creates and maintains a master purchasing schedule according to production demand, works effectively with manufacturers, both foreign and domestic, and finds alternative suppliers for materials not able to be delivered as planned, and maintains proper inventory levels of materials supplied on a regular.
Jose Gallardo – Purchasing Manager 55 Industries
Jose arrived from Colombia at the age of 18 and immediately got involved in the challenging supply chain market. He served in the US Army as a Transportation/Logistics Management Coordinator (2002-2010) Veteran (OIF-OEF).
Jose has worked in commercial Aerospace since 1997, first as a store and purchasing manager with different airlines and then as a Heavy Maintenance Material Representative with different overseas MROs.
In 2017, Jose joined 55 Industries, where his commercial aviation background was valuable to the military market. He is responsible for acquiring goods for the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program by evaluating awards received and bid submissions, creating purchasing proposals for potential suppliers, and negotiating with vendors.
