Executive Team

A founding member of Clearfield, Inc., Cheri Beranek is considered a communications visionary. Her extensive leadership experience and unique management style combined deliver outstanding corporate performance.

Under her direction, Clearfield has recorded 14 consecutive years of profitability. Today, Clearfield is a multinational business with more than 250 employees and over 800 customers.

Earlier and throughout her career, Ms. Beranek held a variety of executive-level positions with emerging high-growth technology companies, including Americable, Transition Networks, Tricord Systems, and Digi International. She also has extensive non-profit experience including: the City of Fargo, the Metropolitan Planning Commission of Fargo/Moorhead, and North Dakota State University.

In addition to being a published author and public speaker at industry events, Ms. Beranek has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including being named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 Heartland Award winner, induction into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame in 2021, the 2016 Minnesota Technology Executive of the Year by Tech.MN, 2016 Female Executive of the Year in New York City by the International Stevie Awards, 2012 Women in Wireline from Fierce Telecom, Stevie Awards for Business in 2011 as a finalist for Best Executive for non-services businesses and the 2009 Turn-Around of the Year, as well as the Twin Cities Business Journal’s Industry Leader Award in 2009 and Women to Watch award in 2004.

Johnny Hill is the Chief Operating Officer of Clearfield, Inc. Formerly the Vice President of Engineering and Product Management, Hill is considered a longstanding leader and a founding member of the company.

Hill has approximately 25 years of strategic and hands-on experience in the telecommunications networking industry. He started his career at Americable Inc. in 1996. He was Americable’s national sales manager when the company was acquired by Clearfield’s precursor, APA Cables & Networks in 2003. Hill was promoted to Clearfield’s Vice President of Product Management and Development in 2006, and Vice President of Engineering and Product Management the following year.

During his career, Hill has amassed a national reputation within the telecommunications industry on such issues as fiber management; harsh environments; network design and transport; fiber and copper assemblies; network security; premise network equipment; structured wiring; among others.

Mr. Herzog has been CFO of Clearfield since August, 2011. He served as Clearfield’s Vice President of Administration since June, 2009 and previously served as the Company’s Comptroller and principal accounting officer from September, 2003 through February, 2006. Mr. Herzog held positions of Controller and Chief Financial Officer in his 13 years at Americable, which was acquired by the firm in 2003.

Mr. Herzog has had financial leadership roles in both publicly and privately held manufacturing and software industries, including Schwing America and Computer Designed Systems, Inc.

Mr. Herzog received his Bachelors of Arts degree in Accounting in 1986 from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota.

Kevin Morgan is Chief Marketing Officer at Clearfield, joining the company in August 2016.

Morgan has served in various senior marketing positions since 1996 at ADTRAN, Inc. where he gained extensive experience in advanced communications technology, fiber optic systems, and business product marketing. Before that, he spent nearly a decade at telephone operating company BellSouth, now a part of AT&T, where he worked as a network engineer and the lead product evaluations resource of broadband technologies in the Science & Technology department. Morgan also served in various industry leadership positions at the Fiber Broadband Association including three times as the association’s Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2015, 2019, and 2022 after first being elected to the Board in 2010.

Mr. Morgan received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University and an MBA from the University of Alabama.

Allen Griser is Chief Commercial Officer at Clearfield and joined the company June 2019.

Mr. Griser has 30+ years of experience in the communications industry with extensive experience in sales, marketing, quality, and operations. He started his career in the 1980’s with Alcatel Telecommunications Cable. While with Alcatel he held senior leadership roles in Production Management, Engineering Management, Sales Management and Sales Operations until the acquisition by Draka Communications in 2005. Mr. Griser continued to excel with the new company and was promoted to Vice President, Marketing in 2006 then Vice President, Operations in 2008. He concluded his career in the fiber optic cable industry in 2012.

Mr. Griser’s broad business knowledge attracted General Dynamics, SATCOM Technologies Inc, a satellite communication antenna division, in 2012 as Business Process Improvement Manager. His efforts were immediately recognized and he was promoted to Operations Manager of a facility in Richardson, TX in 2013. Mr. Griser's commercial influence led to a promotion to Business Manager, Small Deployable Antenna in 2014 which included P&L, product line management, and global business development for mobile SATCOM products.

Skip Hansen is the Chief Information Officer at Clearfield, Inc. and joined the company in July of 2021.

With over 30 years in the Technology field, Skip is responsible for aligning Clearfield’s information technology strategy with the business strategy by integrating business processes and appropriate technology solutions.  He is responsible for all aspects of prioritizing, developing, and implementing information technology initiatives at Clearfield, as well as developing, streamlining, and maintaining all Clearfield’s systems.  Skip is known around the Twin Cities area as a member of SecureWorld advisory committee and as a participant of the CIO/CISO Synergy events.

Prior to joining Clearfield, Skip was the Global Head of Technology at Synteract, a leading contract resource organization (CRO) specializing in Oncology and Infectious Diseases.  He also held senior leadership roles with APi Group (a large global Specialty Contractor) and PPD (a large global CRO). Skip also spent eight years active duty in the U.S. Navy, where he specialized in Cryptology.

Skip holds an MBA with a concentration in Information Management and a B.S. in Information systems.

Bob Cody is Vice President, Human Resources and Office of Resource Management and joined the company in October 2019.  He provides leadership for human resources, quality, and continuous Improvement. These centralized services are provided to all Clearfield business units to enable standard approaches for problem solving and to help align initiatives to strategy, fueling company growth.

Cody has extensive strategic leadership experience guiding businesses through acquisitions, organizational change, and growth.  He has held leadership roles at Cummins, Inc., MITV (formerly Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc.), and Andersen Corporation.  Cody has been active in his local community serving as an instructor and coach for youth band and sports teams at the grade school and high school levels.  He also served as a volunteer for a strategic planning exercise for the South Washing Community School District.

Cody has a bachelor’s in business administration degree (Industrial Relations/Human Resources major) from the University of Iowa.  He earned Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) from the Human Resources Standards Institute in 2005. 

Chip Brixius is General Counsel and Secretary of Clearfield, joining the company in March of 2023.

Prior to joining Clearfield, Chip served in roles of increasing responsibility at Graco Inc. from 2011 to March 2023, most recently as Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Secretary. From 2005 to 2011, Chip served as Senior Attorney and Assistant Secretary of RSM McGladrey, Inc. Chip served as Attorney at International Multifoods Corporation from 1998 to 2004, and as Attorney at The J.M. Smucker Company from 2004 to 2005 following Smucker’s acquisition of Multifoods in 2004. Before practicing law, Chip worked in the Trade and Structured Finance group at Cargill Financial Services Corporation from 1996 to 1998.

Chip earned a B.I.S. and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota, and an M.B.A with a concentration in finance from the University of St. Thomas.