President / Chief Executive Officer / Chief Operating Officer
Consistently successful in building stable and profitable businesses,
turning around companies and building top-performing teams.
2010 - Current Distribution President
President of a mid-sized distributor. The company has 100+ employees and branch locations across the United States. In 2010, the company achieved a 33% revenue growth.
Key turnaround factors:
Vision & Leadership: Created a vision for this business focused on the company's key strengths to provide expanded custom services to large customers and improved the infrastructure and sales processes to meet the needs of all customers. Created a 5 year business plan and key initiatives to lead our future financial growth.
Marketing & Sales: Developed a team to provide weekly and monthly product promotions as well as e-mail and Facebook campaigns. We increased our product and technology training programs as a key method to bring customers to our facilities. We targeted trade shows with a focused message on our core same-day delivery service. Established sales policies and best practices and led our sales team on implementing consistent methods to provide excellent service to our customers.
Operating Improvements: We started efforts to develop improved processes in all facets of our business and made the corresponding computer system upgrades and formatting to match the team’s day-to-day work. We reduced vendors and inventory turns.
Financial Debt Restructuring: Attained a new credit facility when existing credit lines were cancelled. Reduced debt. Negotiated extended terms with our primary vendors resulting in significant additional credit and established and achieved volume purchase rebates and coop advertising allowances in excess of $2mm.
Results: Increased revenues 33% with significant earnings improvement.
2005 - 2009 President
President of a specialty manufacturing company which had lost money for 10+ years before my arrival. Within 9 months, we achieved our first profitability in the company's history and doubled 2005 revenues. We achieved revenue growth even in the difficult 2009 market economy. We were named as one of the fastest growing woodworking companies in the United States.
Key turnaround factors:
Vision & Leadership: Created a vision for this business focused on what we did best and dropped un-related product lines. We changed the rules of our industry by offering same day shipping and great service.
Marketing & Sales: Redesigned our retail website and internet ad campaigns that dramatically grew our retail business revenues. Developed a high-end wholesale product catalog to upgrade our market position, developed a direct mail campaign, attended numerous trade shows and developed advertising campaigns for major trade publications. Created a communications program that resulted in numerous newspaper and trade magazine articles being published as well as TV news features. Established sales policies/practices and focused our sales team on consistent and cost-effective methods to provide excellent service to our customers.
New Business Development: Re-established relationships with our key customers and selectively added new specialty product lines that we designed and manufactured. Identified specialty businesses where imported products where we could not effectively compete. Formed new business relationships with major customers in the industries we served.
Operating Improvements: Reduced plant staff while increasing production through Lean Manufacturing productivity improvements which resulted in increasing our Revenue per Manufacturing Payroll Dollar. We also initiated a same-day shipping business model to retain and build new customers. Renegotiated supply contracts and reduced primary materials supply cost by 25%. Reduced SKUs by 50% and increased prices.
Financial Debt Restructuring: Loans and lease payments restructured to existing owner with payback based on profitability and attained new lines of credit in a difficult 2009 banking environment based on the company's performance and to support our growth.
Results: Doubled revenue. Increased Gross Margin from 10% to 30+% and realized the companies first ever profits.
2000 - 2005 Manufacturing Company International President and CEO
Recruited to this privately owned company that included 1,000+ employees to lead the company out of financial difficulty while concurrently managing the US sales division.
The company was a leader in the manufacturing of specialty products with in-house R&D and new product development departments. Their main markets included; home upholstery, contract upholstery (hospitals, hotels, offices), automotive and industrial.
Key turnaround factors:
Vision & Leadership: Created a vision focused on innovation, quality products, dependable service and team execution to position company as a leader in innovative high value-added products.
Marketing & Sales: Launched aggressive new-product brand campaigns and established a global marketing presence via our website. Disseminated corporate communications that elicited interviews and subsequent articles in major trade publications. Established sales policies to unify and deliver a consistent message through our sales team.
New Business Development: Aggressively grew high-margin product line. Identified new markets and leveraged company's product/market strengths to expand into several new markets. Led new product development initiatives that resulted in 21% of our revenue coming from products introduced in the last 24 months.
Operating Improvements: Reduced inventory 76% and slashed millions in past due accounts and inventory to nearly zero. Reorganized staff and reduced costs 25%, which reduced overhead from 14% of sales to 9% of sales. Renegotiated supply contracts and reduced primary materials supply cost by 35%. Reduced SKUs from 3,500 to 1,225 profitable items and increased prices.
Financial Debt Restructuring: Bank loans were negotiated and restructured with a 7-year pay-out.
Results: Reduced company debt 60%. Increased US revenues 14% in 2002 over 2001 and overall global company sales 7%.
To - 2000 Fortune 500 Company
North American Business/Operations Manager
During my career at Fortune 500 company, I was continually the youngest professional to be promoted into a new position every 12-24 months...culminating with a five-year role as North American Business/Operations Manager. Based on my view of the company’s future viability in the manufacturing industry in 2000 (The company divested of their manufacturing the businesses in 2003), I decided to accept the President/CEO opportunity offered by the owner of the above company.
Originally promoted to Business Manager, I was subsequently given responsibility for the entire $300 million Business. This included leadership of a team of 400 manufacturing and business associates in the US, Canada, and Mexico, and our global business team including partners in Europe, Australia, Asia Pacific, and South America.
In 1996, our team commercialized a breakthrough product utilizing a new project-managing process called P.A.C.E. (Product and Cycle Time Excellence). As the first team selected to implement this process, we exceeded historical product development time by 2X while exceeding earning objectives 40%. Our team was selected by the Chairman for the Corporate Marketing Excellence Award.
Financial results in 1997-1998 were 500% better than the best historical earnings performance and 200% better than our 1997 objective. Plus, business management expense was reduced 20%.
Senior Account Manager
Senior Account Manager responsible for $70 million of annual revenue in the businesses. Developed exceptionally strong relationships with key customers that led to increased market share and earnings performance.
Member of a four-person team that developed a filtration fabric to combat Guinea Worm Disease when President Jimmy Carter asked DuPont for assistance. Received DuPonts Environmental RESPECT Award (1991) for reducing disease 50% in two African countries. Featured in DuPonts 1991 annual report.
Technical Marketing Representative
Supporting sales/marketing teams, resolved customer technical related issues with our products. Established a partnership approach to problem solving that significantly strengthened customer relationships and led to my promotion into Sales and Marketing.
Project Design
Coordinated mechanical designs of a new manufacturing facility.
Production Supervisor
Led a 4-shift production group of 125 team members that achieved record production performance in 1984.
Maintenance Engineer
Developed preventive maintenance programs to improve uptime of chemical manufacturing facilities. Held Top Level Security Clearance.
Education: BSME
Leadership: President Manufacturers Association |
