Mike Currie

Chief Executive Officer SurfacePrep

Last Reviewed: September 27, 2026

Executive Summary

Mike Currie is Chief Executive Officer of SurfacePrep, a distributor of abrasives, blast media, specialty ceramics and surface finishing equipment headquartered in Byron Center, Michigan, which now runs 60 facilities across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. He is an operator-owner who became a private equity platform CEO: he entered the business in 1997 as an owner of a regional distributor, co-led its 2005 merger, took the top job in 2014, and has since run the company through a buy-and-build programme under CenterOak Partners, a sale to Nautic Partners, and an expansion into continental Europe.

Career Highlights

• Chief Executive Officer of SurfacePrep since 2014, managing the executive team and overseeing enterprise growth.
• Joined the business in 1997 as an owner and General Manager of Grand Northern Products.
• In 2005, formed GNAP with partner Mike Trotta, sharing the leadership role as Co-Presidents.
• Led the company through CenterOak Partners’ majority recapitalization of GNAP and the May 2020 formation of SurfacePrep from GNAP and ten add-on acquisitions made in 18 months.
• Unified 15 local brands under the SurfacePrep name before CenterOak’s sale of the company to Nautic Partners, reported in February 2024.
• Oversaw the 2026 acquisition of Kuhmichel Abrasiv GmbH, the Ratingen, Germany distributor of blast media and abrasives.

Professional Journey

Currie studied finance at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and began his career in commercial banking at a predecessor to Fifth Third Bank.

In 1997 he moved into industrial distribution, joining Grand Northern Products as an owner and General Manager. Grand Northern had distributed surface finishing equipment, abrasives and supplies since 1981. In 2005 it merged with Abrasive Products to form GNAP, and Currie and his partner Mike Trotta ran the combined company as Co-Presidents. He was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in 2014.

The next stage was private equity. Dallas-based CenterOak Partners completed a majority recapitalization of GNAP, and said at the time that Currie would continue to lead the company. GNAP then made ten add-on acquisitions in 18 months. In May 2020 CenterOak brought them together as SurfacePrep, which Currie described as “an important milestone in building the market-leading provider of surface enhancement solutions in North America.” In February 2024 PE Professional reported that CenterOak had sold SurfacePrep to Nautic Partners. By then, Currie said, the company had brought 15 local brands under one name, tripled its salesforce and widened its service offering.

Growth has continued under the new ownership. SurfacePrep now reports 60 facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. In 2026 it announced the acquisition of Kuhmichel Abrasiv GmbH of Ratingen, Germany, which has operations in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary and Turkey, and runs what SurfacePrep calls Europe’s largest abrasives recycling operation. “We are thrilled to welcome the Kuhmichel team to the SurfacePrep family,” Currie said in the announcement. The announcement also quoted Jon Dodge, President of SurfacePrep International, who called the deal a key step in expanding the company’s position in Europe.

Education

Miami University

Bachelor’s degree, Finance