Michael B. Petras Jr. is chief executive officer of HGI Holdings Inc., a distributor of medical supplies for patients with chronic diseases, including diabetes. Previously, he spent 18 years with GE Lighting, a $3 billion unit of General Electric headquartered in East Cleveland’s historic Nela Park. Petras served as president and CEO of GE’s LED business, vice president of Lighting and Electrical Distribution, and from 2008 to 2011, as GE Lighting’s president and CEO. He sat on the National Electrical Manufacturing Association’s board of governors.

Petras is a board member of United Way of Cleveland and John Carroll University, and a past member of the boards of Greater Cleveland Partnership (one of the nation’s largest metropolitan chambers of commerce) and Achievement Centers for Children. In 2009, he was recognized by Achievement Centers as its “annual honoree.” He holds an M.B.A. in marketing from Case Western Reserve University and a bachelor’s degree in finance from John Carroll University.