Startup Mic-Drop: XRC Labs - GMDC

Melissa Van Gorder

Member Development Coordinator

Shyla Gish

Member Services Manager

Shyla Gish joins the Members Services Department as Member Services Specialist. Her primary role will be membership growth, development, and retention. Shyla has prior experience in the building materials industry; working operational roles in retail, inside sales in distribution, and Territory Manager in distribution. Shyla is a driven, results-oriented sales professional with unparalleled customer service. She prides herself on honesty and integrity, while maintaining a positive and professional attitude at all times. Shyla graduated from Colorado State University earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Management. She lives just outside Colorado Springs with her husband, young son, and five Labrador Retrievers. In her free time Shyla likes hiking, camping, hunting, participating in competitive field trials, dog training, and of course spending time with family and friends.

Delaney Kochan

Marketing Manager

Delaney is an author, published essayist, and previous business owner. She co-found a lifestyle magazine and served as it’s Managing Editor in university. She is a professional storyteller, sharing personal and organizational stories in written, podcast, radio, photo, and video formats. Delaney served as US Communications Manager at Greater Europe Mission, overseeing operations and creative development for the American office. In recent years, she helped curate the large-platform social media outlet and local guide, My Colorado Springs, and has helped refresh brands like Pacifica Beauty. She believes storytelling is the key to good marketing and brings a human touch to her work with GMDC|Retail Tomorrow.

Thomas Rinck

Advisory Council Co-Chair (Supplier), Vice President Sales
Tessemae’s

Jeffery Williams

Development Director
One Source Retail Services LLC

Clint Johnson

VP Center Store Operations
Topco Associates LLC

Ankit Patel

VP Merchandising
Boxed Wholesale

Ankit started with Boxed in 2016 and has held roles within merchandising and supply chain. Currently he leads the branded merchandising and private label teams whose primary focus is on assortment, trade marketing, developing vendor partnerships and growing Boxed’s Prince & Spring brand.

Prior to Boxed, Ankit was at Georgia-Pacific where he most recently led pure click e-Commerce sales; he started GP in a customer supply chain role. Before GP, he also spent time at Frito-Lay in manufacturing, Polo Ralph Lauren in distribution, and in the third party logistics industry focusing on implementations of new clients. He graduated from Penn State with a degree in Operations Management.

Ankit has been married to his wife Priya for 8 years and their prized possession is their 6 year old Mini Goldendoodle Maui; they currently reside in New York, NY. Their favorite hobby is to eat their way through the world from visiting hole in the wall establishments to enjoying fine dining.

Sterling Hawkins

Co-Founder, Co-CEO
CART

Sterling Hawkins is a business leader, entrepreneur and investor living at the intersection of in-store and online. As a 5th generation retailer whose family name is synonymous with retail and consumer focused innovation, he currently runs innovation for the Center for Advancing Retail & Technology (CART), evaluating over a thousand new retail technology companies every year.

In 2004, Sterling co-founded, launched and sold his first retail technology company, Convena. Since he has worked with clients on best practices in consumer marketing, loyalty and retail technology including Mitsubishi, M&M Meat Shop, Procter & Gamble and many others. Through CART, he has partnered with universities including Stanford, Cornell and the University of Texas to incorporate the future of retail into their curricula, and as a go-to-market channel for relevant startups.

Sterling spends his time mobilizing a network of startups, investors and retailers, actively shaping the future of retail for the betterment of business, communities and the human condition. Currently living in Los Angeles, Sterling speaks at business conferences around the world, and has been seen in ABC Money, Comstock, RetailWire and Forbes.

Nancy Giordano

Post-Digital Futurist
Play Big Inc.

Described as endlessly optimistic, Nancy is a strategic futurist with a drive to help enterprise organizations and visionary leaders transform to meet the escalating expectations ahead.

Recognized as one of the world’s top female futurists, she has spent her career building, shaping and guiding a portfolio of $50 billion worth of major global brands. With growing conviction of what will (and needs to) shift, executives value her unique abilities to sense and synthesize the terrain ahead and guide those ready to build more relevant and sustainable solutions.

Nancy built a formidable career at several of the most influential ad agencies in NY, Chicago, and LA and for more than a decade has been the Founder/CEO of Play Big Inc., a strategic inspiration company. Her current work dives deeply into the emerging intersection of tech, business and society.

Nancy has a rich history of advising and learning with some of the top companies in the world, including Nestle, Brinker International, The Coca Cola Company, Sprint and Acumen. More recently, she has helped build the team for an artificial intelligence start-up, produced a conference on the seven most disruptive technologies for enterprise, is board member for a non-profit trade organization focused on the future of retail, and is working with a leading fintech/martech provider to ensure the survival of community banks and credit unions nationwide. She also helping usher in the world of distributed applications and computing by championing emergent cryptographic technologies Holochain + Holo.

A frequent panelist at South by Southwest, global keynote speaker, Singularity University guest lecture, and world’s first TEDx licensee, Nancy is committed to advancing societal structures and new mindsets necessary to effectively harness the significant technology innovations heading our way… and ensure a safe and thriving future for us all.

Tom Furphy

CEO
Consumer Equity Partners

Tom is CEO and Managing Director of Consumer Equity Partners in Seattle, WA that is building companies and capabilities to drive the next generation of consumer marketing and commerce.

Within the portfolio, Tom is CEO of Replenium, a product replenishment platform designed to transform the traditional center store into an automated service.

He also serves as Chairman of Ideoclick, Inc., an ecommerce agency that helps over 200 manufacturers, included some of the largest household brands, go to market through Amazon and other key ecommerce platforms.

Tom was an early investor and board member at BevyUp, whose technology is redefining the customer experience across retail channels. BevyUp was acquired by Nordstrom in March 2018.

Prior to CEP, Tom was at Amazon as Vice President, Consumables and AmazonFresh, where he was responsible for building and running the company’s Grocery, Health & Beauty and AmazonFresh businesses.

Prior to Amazon, Tom was the founder and CEO of Notiva, a Software-as-a-Service collaboration platform for retailers and their suppliers to manage business-to-business transactions, which sold to Oracle.

Tom broke into retail through various senior management roles at Wegmans Food Markets.

Craig Dubitsky

Founder, CEO
Hello Products

Craig is the friendly founder of hello products, the world’s first naturally friendly™ oral care brand. hello is bringing performance and personality as well as ethics and aesthetics to the $40B global, daily-use category, and in the process, creating a brand that people don’t just use, they join. In record time, hello has become the fastest-growing oral care brand in the US, with it’s irresistible products now available in over 42,000 Food, Drug, and Mass retailers and online across the US, through hello’s D2C offering, and at your local dentist’s office via the largest distributor to the dental profession.

hello was named by Inc Magazine as one of the Best Places to Work, as well as to their Most Audacious list as “One of the 25 Companies That Are Changing the World”. In addition, Dubitsky himself was named to the Advertising Age Creativity 50, the publication’s annual list of the most influential and innovative creative thinkers and doers, and by The Internationalist as one of the 100 Most Inspirational Marketers in the World.

Prior to hello, Craig was co-founder and creative lead at eos products, founding board member at Method Products, and a strategic advisor to Seventh Generation, Boots, and to various Private Equity funds. Before making the move to entrepreneurial branded ventures, Craig was the London Metals Exchange Specialist at Citigroup, where he traded base metals and base metals derivatives.

Craig is an inductee in the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) Hall of Fame, an Entrepreneur in Residence at Babson, and serves as Advisory Council Member at the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship at The Simon School of Business at The University of Rochester. Craig loves people, design, brand, packaging and people. Yes, he said people twice.

Mark Deuschle

President
Navajo Incorporated

Mark Deuschle joined Navajo Incorporated as President in 2013. Navajo is a custom design manufacturer of leading General Merchandise and HBW products with key brands including; Piranha and Envy Eyewear, HotTips Mobile Accessories, Salute barwear and Handy Solutions Trial & Travel. Navajo operates out of Denver, Colorado, is privately held and has been in business for over 35 years.

Prior to joining Navajo Incorporated, Mr. Deuschle served as Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President Business Development for the Global Market Development Center (GMDC). Prior to his time with GMDC he has served the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry and, specifically, the greeting card industry for over 20 years in various capacities. He began his career in 1981 as the founder of a wholesale distribution business, Cards N’ Such, Inc., located in Denver, CO. In 1994, Mr. Deuschle joined Gibson Greetings out of Cincinnati, OH, as Vice President of Business Development. Additional positions held during his employment with Gibson included Vice President, Distributor Division, and Vice President, Western Region. Mr. Deuschle was also employed with Paramount Cards Holding Company (PCHC), as Senior Vice President, with strategic management responsibilities for North America. Mr. Deuschle went on to form Gartner Greetings as part of a start-up business within Gartner Studios, Inc. and was later appointed to President of the parent company, located in Stillwater, MN. Most recently, Mr. Deuschle served as Sr. Vice President for Park City Group (PCYG), a software company located in Park City, UT, focused on delivering value to both retailers and suppliers through a collaborative data sharing process supported by business analytics.

Mr. Deuschle and his wife Kim live in the Denver, CO area and have two adult children, daughter Kammie and husband Justin and son Karsten.

Alison Castillo

Director of Industry Relations & Sustainable Living
Unilever

Alison Castillo began her career at Unilever in 2005. She was recruited as an ENACTUS student while attending Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, where she graduated with a degree in Business Marketing. She has since held various positions of escalating responsibility in customer development, trade marketing, and brand planning. With proven success in marketing strategy, sales planning, cross-functional teamwork, and people development, she has been recognized consistently for leadership aptitude both at work and in the community. She is currently pioneering the leadership role of the Director of Industry Relations and Sustainable Living at Unilever.

Additionally, demonstrating her passion for diversity in the workforce, Alison has served on the board of the Women’s Interactive Network since 2011 driving the growth, satisfaction and success of women at Unilever. In 2014, she also helped to bolster the efforts of the Women Grocers of America by joining the Board of Directors.

She and her husband, Alex, reside in the Upper West Side of New York City and are expecting their first child in August of 2015. They love to explore whether it be around their great city or abroad.

Michael Carter

Partner
BGJ Group

Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer of TNG, GP (a division of the Jim Pattison Group). Mike joined the Jim Pattison Group in 1991 as a Route Sales Driver at Southeastern News (a predecessor to TNG), while still attending college full-time. Upon graduation, Mr. Carter accepted a manager trainee role, starting as a Sales Account Executive. He quickly assumed the role of Director of Specialty Retail, after launching a new business unit that focused on creating magazine and book programs within Specialty Retailers, such as Home Depot. Mr. Carter grew that division into a separate company, Select Media Services, LLC; serving initially as the Vice President of Sales & Marketing until 2003, when he became the Senior Vice President & General Manager. He was ultimately promoted to President in 2007.

In 2009, Select Media Services was operationally integrated back into TNG; at which point Mr. Carter helped create and run a new company, Select Merchandising Services; leading that organization until 2013. Mr. Carter was next promoted to Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing at TNG, GP, a company formed from numerous related operating companies. Most recently, Mr. Carter was promoted to Chief Revenue Officer in 2015.

Mike and his wife Stephanie reside in historic Atlanta, GA with their two young boys, Donovan and Spencer. In their free time, the Carters enjoying spending time together outdoors and exploring new places. They are active in their church and their community.

Mariya Zorotovich

Advisory Council Co-Chair (Supplier), Directory of Strategy and Incubation
Intel, IoTG/Retail Solutions Division

Mariya Zorotovich is Director of Strategy and Incubation in the Internet of Things Group and part of the Emerging Technology organization of the Retail, Banking, Hospitality, and Education verticals. She is responsible for the market influence strategy and incubation of emerging technologies, including the Intel Experience Incubation Hub for experiential collaboration.

Mariya joined Intel in 2018 to lead incubation initiatives for the Retail Solutions Division. Before joining Intel, she was the Principal Retail and Consumer Goods Lead for Microsoft’s industry experiences within the Cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) engineering organization. Mariya was responsible for leading advocacy and ISV category management for Microsoft’s technology priorities. While at Microsoft, she also was an Industry Director for Retail and Consumer Goods, where she worked with retailers and brands to help them develop new strategies that improved profitable growth, scale, and customer satisfaction, leveraging AI and cloud technologies.

Mariya spent the majority of her career in retail leading strategies and initiatives across sales, operations, marketing, technology, and product management. She has first-hand experience delivering digital capabilities such as commerce, order management, and last-mile fulfillment across both physical and digital channels.

She currently serves as Co-Chair of GMDC’s Retail Tomorrow Advisory Council (RTAC), board member of Global Retail Marketing Association (GRMA) Partner Advisory Board, and as an advisor for XnFinity Lab.

Derek Gaskins

Advisory Council Co-Chair (Retailer), SVP of Merchandising and Procurement
YESWAY

Mr. Gaskins’ primary responsibility is to direct all marketing, merchandising and procurement efforts for the Yesway brand, as well as to develop relationships with Yesway’s supplier vendors. He leads the efforts to establish a marketing and merchandising playbook to improve the organizations go to market strategic plan. He also helps to further cultivate the growth and stewardship of the fast growing Yesway brand with a keen focus on ensuring the organizations social, mobile, and loyalty initiatives are best in class. Prior to joining Yesway, Mr. Gaskins most recently served as Chief Customer Officer for Rutter’s convenience stores & Dairy business. He was instrumental in developing their award winning customer engagement programs and positioned the brand as one of the best in the retail industry. Before Rutter’s, Mr. Gaskins was Senior Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising with Mid-Atlantic Convenience Stores (MACS) and led the development of the Circle K brand. Prior to MACS he served as Vice President of Marketing with NACS- The Association for Convenience and Fuel Retailing and positioned the organization for unprecedented digital and global growth. His other prior experiences include leading the brand marketing for Giant Eagle where he led the development of the GetGo chain of convenience stores, and launched the Fuelperks fuel rewards loyalty program. His other prior experiences include a number of major companies including Nabisco Foods, Goldman Sachs, and Procter & Gamble. He is an experienced brand developer, chief marketer, merchant, and innovator that has launched numerous packaged goods, CRM and retail brands and store formats Mr. Gaskins holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Iowa and an MBA in Finance, Marketing, and Real Estate from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern Universit

Kelly Straub

Senior Director of Sales and Agency Operations
Sanofir

Kelly Straub joined Sanofi Consumer Healthcare in 2019 to lead and restructure a sales team in preparation for pending growth. Sanofi is a $35B global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, France. The US Consumer Healthcare division is the maker and marketer of brands such as Allegra, Gold Bold and Icy Hot. In addition, Sanofi US CHC has the exclusive rights for the OTC switch of Tamiflu and Cialis, both of which are currently pending FDA approval. Prior to joining Sanofi, Kelly spent most of her career with Acosta Sales & Marketing where she was most recently Senior Vice President and General Manager of Client & Business Development. Her passion and expertise of leading organizations and teams through change have been recognized both internally and externally. In her career, she has led strategic partnerships and worked with industry leading CPG’s such as P&G, Mondelez, KraftHeinz and Pepsico, among others. Kelly moved to Jacksonville, FL in 2012 from Charlotte, NC to join Acosta’s Executive Team. She received her undergraduate degree from Florida State University and her MBA from the University of Maryland’s Smith School. Kelly is active in the community serving on the PACE Center for Girls, Inc. Board of Directors as well as Rethreaded’s Advisory Board. She was a member of Leadership Jacksonville’s class of 2016 and was named “40 under 40” by the Jacksonville Business Journal.

Virginia Pigeaire

Regional Vice President – West
The Emerson Group

Virginia Pigeaire leads the western half of the U.S. for food and regional drug classes of trade at The Emerson Group. The Emerson Group is a Consumer Products Equity Organization founded in 1994 and manages over $4 billion in retail sales. Virginia has been in the industry since 1999, where she started with Kimberly-Clark in sales and category management roles prior to joining The Emerson Group in 2016. Virginia lives outside Denver, CO with her husband Yann, their three children and two rescue dogs.

Mary Beth Goodman

Director of Sales, Industry and Agency Engagement
Bayer Consumer Health

Mary Beth Goodman is currently the Director of Industry and Agency Engagement at Bayer Consumer Health. In this role she leads Bayer’s strategy within the Industry, working with partner associations and agencies to drive Retailer partnerships and providing perspective on broader industry issues. Mary Beth has extensive experience within Consumer Health, beginning her career with Sterling Drug as a Sales Rep in upstate New York and later holding positions of increasing responsibility at Bayer within Sales and Marketing including leading the Northeast Regional businesses as well as Drug and Mass channel teams. Her passion for building and maintaining engagement strategies has driven results for Customers and made Bayer a leader in the industry. She is a graduate of SUNY@Buffalo with a degree in Business and resides in New Jersey with her husband and teenage son.

Jill Giannini Fitzgerald

Vice President at Market Performance Group
Market Performance Group

Jill Fitzgerald is Vice President of Sales for the Food Class of Trade at The Emerson Group. The Emerson Group is a Consumer Products Equity Organization, managing over $1.9B in retail sales and serving as the 7th largest supplier in the Health & Beauty space. Prior to joining The Emerson Group in 2011, Jill spent 9 years in Sales, Marketing, and Category Management roles for GlaxoSmithKline and Unilever. Jill lives in Avon, CT with her husband Paul, rescue-mutt Kibo, and soon-to-be first child.

Chris Calloway

Director and General Manager at Perrigo Georgia
Perrigo Company

Les Hamilton

Immediate Past Chair, President
Hyland’s, Inc.

Les currently is the Executive Vice President of Hyland’s overseeing all North American Sales. He manages a team of experienced sales representatives that call on all Food, Drug and Mass accounts as well as all the Natural and independent pharmacy accounts and personally calls on Walgreens. Mr. Hamilton joined Hyland’s, Inc. in 2011 as Vice President of Sales from the Emerson Group where he served as Vice President, Field Sales Manager for seven years. While with The Emerson Group, he managed accounts of all sizes, most notably the Target and SuperValu business for all of Emerson’s OTC products. Prior to joining the Emerson Group, Mr. Hamilton held numerous job functions at Target corporation’s headquarters including Sr. Business Analyst, Manager and Buyer in many divisions, including private label, Health & Beauty, video electronics and Pharmacy/OTC drugs. Les earned his BS in business from Indiana University with a concentration in Marketing and Management. He met his wife Michele in college and they have been married for over 20 years. They have 4 boys, all of which are actively involved in basketball. In his free time, Les enjoys coaching and playing basketball and spending time with his family.

Joe Kirby

Advisory Council Co-Chair (Retailer), Executive Vice President
Imperial Distributors, Inc.

Joe is the Vice President of Retailer Sales and Category Management for Imperial Distributors. Imperial Distributors provides Health, Beauty and Wellness, General Merchandise, and Seasonal products and marketing programs to 3,500 supermarket and other retail locations in 27 states. The company offers more than 25,000 SKU’s and ships more than 1 million products every week. Imperial also provides in-store service and merchandising support to retailers to ensure that they have the right product, at the right time and for the right price. Imperial recently celebrated its 75th year in business. Joe has more than 30 years of experience in retail and distribution. In his current role he leads the team that is responsible for growing retailer sales in Chains and Independent supermarkets, College and Convenience stores, and with on-line retailers. Account Managers, Category Managers and the in-store Service team all report to Joe. He has redefined the category review process to ensure that the team stays current with trends and changes in the marketplace, and provides product and expertise to retailers based on specific store demographics. Joe spends most of his time with retailers out in the marketplace, and is active in the industry. Before joining Imperial in 2003, Joe was the COO for Spag’s Supply which was a deep discount retail trendsetter. Joe is a graduate of Assumption College in Worcester, MA. He and his wife Tina have four children.

Kirk VanRoekel

V.P. National Accounts
Navajo Incorporated

Michael Sims

Executive Vice President
Far East Brokers and Consultants, Inc.

Mike Sims is the Vice President of Business Development for Far East Brokers and Consultants and is a consumer products goods veteran with over 26 years of industry experience. Since 1981, Far East has been the leading direct importer of seasonal and promotional general merchandise to the US Supermarket Industry. Sims started his career in various sales and field marketing roles with Nabisco Brands, working with retailers across the Southeast US. From there, he moved to Acosta Sales and Marketing’s corporate headquarters in the mid 1990’s where he managed a large portfolio of top consumer brands and established the company’s first corporate category management and marketing support department. In 1998, Sims left Acosta and started his own company. With offices in Jacksonville, Florida and Bentonville, Arkansas, Promo Depot was an early pioneer in Shopper Marketing and became one of the most respected agencies of its kind, servicing many blue-chip consumer brands and retail customers throughout North America. In late 2008, Acosta acquired Promo Depot and Sims became President of Acosta’s Marketing Division for the next several years. While there, he led the successful turn-around of Acosta’s fledgling MatchPoint Marketing company as well as the integration, rebranding, and expansion of Acosta’s integrated marketing group, AMG (Acosta Marketing Group). Under his leadership, AMG was recognized as a Top 12 Shopper Marketing Agency as voted on by industry clients, suppliers and peers when HUB Magazine ranked AMG #8 in 2011, soon ascending to #3 in 2012. Sims holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Jacksonville University and resides in Jacksonville, Florida with his wife Dea and their sons Lawrence and Logan. In his spare time he enjoys freshwater fishing, travel and college sports. He is active in various philanthropic endeavors throughout his community and has been a member of the Rotary Club of Deerwood since 2004.

Daniel Seehoff

CEO
SOPHISTIPLATE, LLC

Daniel is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sophistiplate, a lifestyle brand of designer single-use & re-usable tabletop, baking, barware, serve-ware, party and entertaining products. Daniel, along with Co-Founder Gary Seehoff, launched Sophistiplate in early 2016 and have quickly scaled the business to become a leading supplier, disrupting the stale category of disposable partyware. Sophistiplate has been featured as one of Oprah’s Favorite Things, by Martha Stewart, Good Housekeeping, The Today Show, and more. In 2018 Sophistiplate acquired the brand Simply Baked, expanding its distribution and product assortment, as well as establishing a robust Food Service division. Sophistiplate then launched the brand SugarPlum Party in 2019 at the IHA Show, geared towards the mass and grocery channel. Daniel leads the sales, marketing, and creative departments of Sophistiplate, managing Key national accounts, Food Service, and the Specialty channel. Daniel serves on the International Housewares Association’s Young Professionals Advisory Council, Housewares Charity Foundation Advisory Council, and the GMDC Advisory Council. Daniel holds a bachelors degree in Hospitality Management from Boston University and a Culinary Arts degree from the Institute of Culinary Education.

Ben Glazer

Director of Sales
The Libman Company

Ben Glazer is Director of Sales for The Libman Company. The Libman Company is a 4th generation family owned business started in 1896. Libman proudly makes the highest quality Cleaning Tools (mops, brooms and brushes) in their Arcola, Illinois factory. Libman is the market leader in Cleaning Tools and makes many of the top selling items in the category. Ben began his career at Rubbermaid in 1993. He joined The Libman Company in 2015. His current responsibilities include managing key distributors and retailers in the Northeast and Midwest. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Ben is married to his wonderful wife Amy. They currently reside in Nashville, Tennessee.

Alicia Fox

Sales Manager, Grocery Channel
Big Time Products, LLC

Alicia Fox joined Big Time Products, LLC in February 2019 as the National Account Manager for the Grocery and Drug channels. Big Time Products is the leading provider of personal protection and work gear products, with recognizable brands such as Soft Scrub®, True Grip®, Digz®, Grease Monkey®, and Rainbrella®. Additionally, Big Time’s parent company, The Hillman Group, is a leading North American provider of complete hardware and home solutions for professionals and DIYers and include FastKey®, minuteKey®, Fas-n-Tite™, and Distinctions™. Prior to Big Time Products, Alicia spent over eight years in Account Management and Category Management roles for Shurtape Technologies, LLC, a leading manufacturer and marketer of adhesive tapes and consumer home and office products. While there, she was responsible for a variety of channels, including Grocery, Drug, Automotive, and Office Superstore. She graduated from Elmira College with a B.S. in Marketing, Management, and Communications. Alicia resides in Westlake, Ohio with her husband Casey, son Kelly, and daughter Story. Go Browns! Go Bucks!

David Forsman

Sr. V.P. of Sales
Accelerate 360

Dave is EVP of Sales, U.S. at TNG – A Division of the Jim Pattison Group. Prior to joining TNG, Dave was CMO for Mercury Retail Services. Preceding his tenure at Mercury, Dave held various positions with Conde’ Nast Publications, and Time Inc. Retail. Dave received his Bachelor of Science degree from Fresno State University in Business, with a Marketing Concentration. Dave is married to Sarah Forsman, and they have two daughters.

Rodey Wing

Partner
Kearney

Rodey Wing is a Principal at A.T. Kearney, a leading global management consulting firm committed to helping clients achieve immediate impact and growing advantage on their most mission-critical issues. Based in Toronto, he has spent more than 10 years working with retailers as they grasp with the seismic shifts in the industry. Working with clients throughout the value chain has given Rodey unique perspectives on how retailers and suppliers can work together to drive value and succeed. A leading member of across both Health and Consumer practices, Rodey has also worked with clients in both spaces to adapt to the consumerization of health and the opportunity that provides to truly revolutionize the definition of care and outcomes. Rodey graduated with a B.B.A. in 2005 from University of Michigan Ross School of Business and with an MBA in 2010 from INSEAD.

Cortland LaMee

Cortland LaMees

Chief Customer Officer, EVP Sales & Logistics
Meredith Retail

Cort is a 29-year CPG veteran focused on driving retail magazine sales and profits as an employee first for Time/Warner, then for Time Inc., and now at the Meredith Corporation. He has served in leadership roles ranging from Territory Manager, to Shopper Insights Manager, to Drug Channel Director, to Vice President. He is the holder of 20+ Sports Illustrated newsstand hall of fame awards. His efforts opened up Puerto Rico for the launch of People en Espanol. He has been recognized with awards for Rookie of the Year, Territory Manager of the Year, National Account Manager of the Year, the Lead Dog Award, and the President’s Award for Excellence. His professional passion is fueled by a desire to intelligently push boundaries in all directions while creatively growing opportunities including but not limited to logistics, merchandising, fixturing, promotion, eCommerce, and new business. Cort has undergraduate and Masters degrees in business from the University of Florida and the University of Phoenix respectively. He is half a dissertation away from his Doctorate in Global Supply Chain Management (150 pages to go!). He most enjoys time in/on/under the water with his wife Candace at their Atlanta home. In what is left of his spare time Cort is endeavoring to craft the perfect Manhattan and mastering the nuances of smoking brisket.

Chris Jobes

Director Consumer & Retail Healthcare Solutions
Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc.

Peter Fahrenkopf is currently the Vice President of Household and Stationery Sales for ShurTech Brands, LLC located in Avon, Ohio. In his current role Peter is responsible for the leadership and development of ShurTech Brands, LLC position within the Household Channel, including Mass (except Wal-Mart), Food, Drug, Craft, Club, Dollar and Specialty retailers in both the United States and Canada. With more than 20 years of experience in CPG sales, Peter has a proven track record of building strategic relationships with retailers across multiple retail channels. Peter lives in Bay VIllage, Ohio.

Brent Beebe

Advisory Council Co-Chair (Retailer)
Dollar Tree Stores, Inc.

Since joining Bartell Drugs in 2014, Brent has dedicated his time to transforming the retail experience for the country’s largest and oldest family owned retail pharmacy chain. This transformation has included all aspects of the store experience from design to layout, merchandising, product selection, value proposition, and channel expansion. Brent has leveraged a comprehensive, strategic approach using his deep knowledge in merchandising, marketing, ecommerce across an array of retail verticals. With an eye toward fiscal responsibility, Brent is utilizing his knowledge of department store, mass, drug and specialty retail to inform change in organizational structure, transparency, and results. CHAR(13) + CHAR(10)Brent began his career at Bartells with an expansive remodel and revitalization of its store portfolio, upgrading assortments with a focus on local products, accelerating digital capabilities, creating strategic partnerships that drive innovation, and moving the organization from a warehousing mindset to a supply chain mindset. Bartell’s is an industry leading staple in the Pacific Northwest offering consumers a unique shopping experience unlike any other drug store in the region. With longstanding support from local consumers and businesses alike, Bartell’s continues to outperform the expectations of an average retailer of their size. It is because of the home-grown love and support from the region that Brent consistently focuses on elevating the customer experience through supply-chain transformation, differentiated loyalty-rewards programs and the expansion of ecommerce functions. Before joining Bartells, Brent was Vice President of Merchandising at JoAnn Fabric & Craft stores, supporting the turnaround of the company and growing EBITDA with double digit returns by promoting innovative products, ecommerce, and in-store experiences. Prior to JoAnn’s, he served as Vice President of Merchandising for Home Electronics Kroger West and was instrumental in adding premium brands to Fred Meyer and other traditional grocery chains within Kroger.

Amy McAnarney

Advisory Council Co-Chair (Supplier)
Hallmark Cards

Mark Mechelse

VP Insights & Communications

Mark Mechelse began his tenure with GMDC in 2011 as Director of Research, Industry Insights & Communications, and provides a voice for retailers, suppliers and shopper perspectives. Mark is responsible for leading the Educational Leadership Council that delivers the latest insights and next-practices with a total “go-to-market” process in the CPG industry. Mark’s professional history began in the Advertising and Marketing sector in development of his privately owned ad agency near Toronto, Canada, with a focus on brand invention, corporate promotion and sponsorship acquisition. From there, Mark joined the Social Expressions industry as Creative & Marketing Communications Director of 10 years with the 3rd largest greeting card company, Paramount Cards/Image Craft. Mark has also led custom product and private label development teams to produce successful seasonal and everyday line-offerings for Costco, QVC, Barnes & Noble, Vera Bradley, Thomas Nelson, and Dave Ramsey with AIM Global of Nashville, TN. Mark has a degree in Advertising & Marketing from Sheridan College in Toronto, Canada. Mark, his wife Jody, and their 2 children, Isaiah and Lauryn, live in Colorado Springs.

Eric Sherlock

Software Developer

Audrey Herndon

Member Development & Engagement Specialist

Audrey joined the GMDC team as the Member Engagement & Development Specialist in 2019 to help facilitate growth of new members and ensure excellent service to our existing members. She brings with her, 6 years of sales experience, and 10 years of hospitality experience. Prior to GMDC, Audrey worked in the Craft Beer industry as a sales representative in the Houston area for two highly acclaimed breweries, Bell’s and Karbach. While working for Karbach, Audrey exceeded all set goals and found that she loved working in the off-premise/grocery channel. During her time at Bell’s, Audrey helped launch the product into the Texas market and succeeded in driving incremental growth throughout the south-Texas region. She also earned her Cicerone certification and gained a real passion for product quality assurance. Audrey was born and raised in Houston, TX and holds a B.S degree in Sociology from Texas A&M University (Gig ‘Em!). In her free time, Audrey enjoys cooking, yoga, hiking, and spending time with her boyfriend and their 5 pets.

Chelsea Williams

IT Operations Specialist

Chelsea joins GMDC staff as an IT Operations Specialist. Chelsea grew up in snowy Minnesota, where she enjoyed playing basketball all year round, avoiding the cold in a gym. Chelsea joined the Army in 2008, which took her to more hot and humid conditions. Following her enlistment, as well as a few duty stations, Chelsea decided to go back to school. She earned her Associate degree from Piece College in Puyallup, WA, and then went on to earn her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems with an emphasis in Business Intelligence from Bellevue University. Chelsea enjoys helping others while also learning from each experience and task she comes across. In her free time, Chelsea enjoys hanging out with hey husband and daughter, hiking with her dog, running, DIY projects, Netflix, and watching the Minnesota Vikings.

Deke Butler

Lead Designer

Deke Butler joins the GMDC staff as Lead Designer with prior experience in the sports marketing industry. Deke earned his Bachelor’s degree with a major in Visual Design and Web Media from Ferris State University. He is a highly creative, and multitalented Graphic Designer with 10+ years experience in corporate and organization brand development. Offering creative flair, originality and a strong visual sense. In his free time Deke enjoys fishing, snowboarding, biking, video games, concerts and caring for his small petting zoo at his house.

Maureen Allen

Conference Coordinator

Maureen Allen, known as Mo, is one of our Meetings Department’s Conference Coordinators. She joined GMDC in 2004 as the receptionist/administrative assistant and transitioned into the Meetings Department in 2006. As a GMDC Conference Coordinator, Mo handles a variety of tasks that are associated with our signature conferences such as registrations, coordinating the hotel and travel for our selected members, assisting with the yearly ELC reports and many other activities that support our GMDC team. Before joining GMDC, Mo was born in New York, and as an Air Force brat, she traveled in her young years with her two brothers and parents. She considers herself a semi-native of Colorado, as her father landed in Colorado Springs in 1969. She spent her years handling clerical and accounting, and even a retail partnership with her mother for a few years while raising her two kids, Kyle and Kaitlin. In December of 2012, (on 12-12-12, in fact!) Mo got married to her love, Lance. They are enjoying the married life with lots of family, including Lance’s daughter’s, Sam and Taylor, and their close friends. They like to attend many sporting events like hockey, football, baseball and even the NASCAR races as well as camping in the mountains. Mo says beautiful Colorado is home to her and her wonderful family!

Omar Jibreen

Sr. Software Enginee

Brenda Bishop

Director, Meetings and Events

Brenda Bishop joins the GMDC staff as Meetings Manager, bringing with her over 12 years of meetings management experience in her role as Meeting/Exhibit Manager at the Colorado Springs-based American Numismatic Association. Benda’s background includes hotel, conference and event planning including room block management and contract language as well as all of the ancillary planning details. Previous experience includes extensive overall convention and exhibitor coordination and planning. Brenda earned her Meeting Professional Certification (CMP) in 2002 and holds memberships in the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and the Rocky Mountain Chapter of PCMA. A love for the outdoors and family keeps Brenda in Colorado, enjoying photography, reading, home projects and spectator baseball.

Vickii Barnard

Director of Member Development

Vickii is the Sr. Manager of Member Services and is responsible for serving the overall needs and requests of the GMDC membership, along with membership growth and development. Prior to joining GMDC, Vickii spent 13 years with Bakers Super Markets/Kroger in Omaha, NE. She held positions from front-end coordinator, accounting/customer service center manager, assistant store manager, HBC category manager and buyer, as well as HBC/GM merchandise manager. In 2001, Vickii, her husband Scott and son Joe, moved to Colorado where she accepted a position with GHC/Kroger as a buyer for the warehouse in Fountain, Colorado. In 2003, she was hired by Advantage Logistic/SUPERVALU as an inventory manager for the Kroger warehouse in Fountain. Vickii’s husband Scott has worked for Meadow Gold Dairies as the general sales manager in Denver for the last six years. Scott and Vickii are both natives of Nebraska and are both Huskers fans! Vickii enjoys spending time in Nebraska with her step-daughter Jeni, son-in-law Mike and grand kids, Brayden, 5 and Brynn, 1. She attends many sporting events (Broncos, Air Force, Rockies and Nuggets), likes to gourmet cook, hikes, does community service and volunteer work, snow skis, plays golf and enjoys socializing with friends.

James Engstrom

VP Finance & Administration

Tom Duffy

VP Member Development

Duffy most recently served as executive vice president of industry affairs at Acosta, a leading sales and marketing agency in the consumer-packaged goods industry, where as a member of the executive leadership team, was responsible for marketing, communications, and industry affairs initiatives. Prior to that, Duffy was vice president of industry services at Nielsen, a global information and measurement company, where he was responsible for development of client, partner and industry relations, trade strategy, and thought leadership development for 10 years. He has been intricately involved in GMDC through the years, serving as co-chair of the association’s education leadership council, where he was the architect of the GMDC-exclusive GM hierarchy benchmarking initiative – a partnership with Nielsen and Retail Insights that was launched in 2012 to offer members the first standardized and detailed look into the $202 billion GM industry. The platform showcases 18 major categories including Apparel, Baby, Candy, and Housewares with hundreds of sub-categories. The Nielsen coded data, which is reported from thousands of stores across the North American market, can be filtered by various channels for comparison and includes more than 20 million SKUs. As an enhanced benefit to GMDC members, an interactive dashboard version of the tool was launched earlier this year.

Michael Winterbottom

VP Information Technology / CTO

Mike Winterbottom joined GMDC in 1998, and in 2000 was named the Vice President Information Technology and Chief Technology Officer for the Association. Mike is ultimately responsible for all technology-related services made available to the Association’s membership on a year-round basis, as well as for the on-site technology services made available to the attendees at GMDC’s marketing conferences. Within the walls of GMDC, he oversees all technology-oriented services used in-house by the GMDC Staff to administer the daily operations of the Association. And to tie all of this together, he pays a lot of attention to the strategic development and maintenance of the technical infrastructure upon which all of these services are founded. In the 18 years leading up to his arrival at GMDC, Mike engineered software systems in the aerospace industry, primarily on behalf of the US Space Command, with efforts ranging from the implementation of various missile warning systems, to the quantification of the risk of collision between the International Space Station and orbital debris, to the implementation of one of the first software simulators for the now-ubiquitous MPEG video compression algorithm. Mike received a BA in Mathematics (summa cum laude) from Colgate University, where he was a Charles E. Dana Scholar, a Colgate War Memorial Scholar, and the Valedictorian of his graduating class. He holds a MS in Computer Science from the University of Colorado, where his graduate work focused upon artificial intelligence and algorithm development. Mike lives on the face of Cheyenne Mountain, under the close supervision of his beloved black lab, Lexi. In addition to maintaining his unfailing vigilance over the fate of the Boston Red Sox, Mike indulges his various passions for weight-training, digital photography, fantasy football, reading, fiddling around with his home automation system, and all things numerical.

Keith Wypyszynski

VP Member Service

Keith Wypyszynski is Vice President of Member Services GMDC. In this role, he has responsibility for the development of programs and offerings to the members of GMDC in the areas of marketing, education and training, research, business and consumer insights and member resources. Prior to joining the GMDC staff in 2006, Mr. Wypyszynski held increasing management responsibilities with Wyeth, through the divisions of Whitehall Laboratories, A. H. Robins, Lederle Consumer Health, and Wyeth Consumer Healthcare. Keith played instrumental roles in the development of the consumer products segments as Senior Vice President, Trade Development, Senior Vice President, Analgesics Business Unit, and Senior Vice President, Sales. Keith has served as a member of a number of industry boards and associations including the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Associate Board, the Nielsen Sales Advisory Board, The American College of Sports Medicine Advisory Board, along with GMDC’s Board, serving as HBC Chairman, and part of the Education Board. Mr. Wypyszynski and his wife Judy reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado and have two children. He is a graduate of St. Norbert College, in DePere, Wisconsin.

Patrick Spear

President & CEO

Patrick Spear is the President/CEO of Global Market Development Center (GMDC), an international trade association for GM and HBW connectivity, education and research. He joined the association in 2014, after nearly two decades of involvement with GMDC as a supplier member during his tenure with multiple CPG manufacturers. Patrick has been active in the consumer and office products industry for over 25 years. Beginning his career with BIC Corporation, Patrick gained valuable insights and steady career advancement at BIC, and during his subsequent tenure with Newell Rubbermaid, Mapa Spontex, Identity Group, and Mammoth Office Products. His career experience spans the continuum, from retail sales representative (BIC) to CEO/Managing Director (Identity Group and Mammoth). Born and raised near Pasadena, CA, Patrick holds BA degrees in Economics and Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and a MBA degree from the University of San Diego. Patrick is also an Eagle Scout, and a graduate of the Colorado Outward Bound School. He and his wife, Lisa, have 3 children – Erica, Nolan, and Joseph. When he’s not busy navigating a robust travel schedule, and the “air traffic control” that comes with managing three teenagers (and three teenage drivers…), Patrick enjoys relaxing with his family, golfing, camping, and the fall fantasy football season.

Christopher Vosbikian

Senior VP National accounts
Storemaxx, INC.

John Thain

National Business Manager
ShurTech Brands, LLC

John Thain is the National Business Manager for Shurtape Technologies with responsibility for the food and drug channels. Shurtape Technologies, LLC, is an industry-leading manufacturer and marketer of adhesive tape and consumer home and office products offering recognizable brand names such as Duck®, FrogTape®, Painter’s Mate®, Shurtape® and T-REX®. John has been with the company for more than 20 years in various marketing and sales roles. Those include responsibility for club, convenience, government, office products, and emerging channels. John resides in Avon Lake, OH with his wife, Dana, and 2 sons.

Mona Smalley

Vice President of Sales
Bradshaw Home.

Mona Smalley is the Vice President of Sales at Bradshaw Home, a leading marketer of kitchenware and cleaning products headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Manufacturer and distributor of kitchen tools, bakeware, cookware and food storage under brand names including GoodCook, Bialetti, T-Fal, as well as private label brands. Bradshaw also manufactures and distributes cleaning tools, gloves and lint removal products under brands including Mr. Clean, Dawn, Clorox, Evercare, Casabella along with private label brands. Mona has 16 years of experience in the industry with 9 years at Bradshaw. Mona began her career at World Kitchen (now Corelle Brands/ InstaBrands) where she spent time in both the sales and channel marketing departments. Mona and her husband John reside in Tucson, AZ with their two sons Jacob and Noah.

David Sarnoff

President
Handi-Foil Corporation.

David Sarnoff is Executive Vice President of Sales for Handi-Foil Corporation, a leading manufacturer of aluminum foil containers. Handi-Foil distributes its products to both the retail and institutional markets. In addition to his involvement with GMDC, David also serves as the President of the Aluminum Foil Containers Manufacturers Association (AFCMA), an organization devoted to promoting the advantages of aluminum foil applications across multiple industries. During David’s eight years of experience as an executive at Handi-Foil, his responsibilities have included systems implementation, accounting, financial reporting, operations management and, most recently, sales and marketing in the retail sales channels. Prior to joining Handi-Foil, David worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers, a “Big-Four” accounting firm, as a financial auditor. David earned his Bachelors Degree in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, graduating with honors.

David Lowe

Vice President
PIC Corporation

David Lowe Vice President of PIC Corporation. In this role, his responsibilities include, Sales, Marketing, Category Management, Product Development, Operations and P&L responsibilities. Prior to joining PIC Corporation David was with C&S as Senior Director for HBW/ GM and Seasonal Imports for C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc. David started with C&S in 2004 as a Senior Merchandiser and was promoted to Senior Director in 2007. In this role, his responsibilities include Vendor Relations, Marketing, Category Management and P&L responsibilities for several warehouses. He works directly with the customers to make sure that Wholesale and Retail are aligned with promotions and merchandising activity. David also worked for KVAT Food Stores in Virginia for two years as Director of HBW/GM. David was also with Fleming Companies, in the role of Regional Sales Manager for thirteen years. This position required moving from Tennessee to Buffalo, New York (where he met his bride Lisa!) and finally to Massillon, Ohio. It all started in 1980 as a rack jobber for a company called Sav-a-Stop, servicing stores with HBW & General Merchandise……Time travels fast! David graduated from East Tennessee State University. David and his wife Lisa currently reside in Middletown, New Jersey with their two teenage children Destiny and Zachary.

Scott Mounce

Director of GM/HBC Operations
Niemann Foods, Inc.

Scott Mounce is Director of GM/HBC Operations for Niemann Foods, Inc., based in Quincy, IL. Niemann Foods has over 100 locations in Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana under several banners, including County Market, Harvest Market, Value Check, Save A Lot, Ace Hardware, Pet Supplies Plus, and C-Stores under the Haymakers, Cenex One Stop, and County Market Express banners. Scott joined NFI in 2006, and currently oversees buying and merchandising for all General Merchandise and HBW categories for the Supermarket Division. Prior to NFI, he worked in stores for SUPERVALU, INC. Scott has been in the supermarket industry for 30 years, with the last 20 in GM/HBC. Scott is a graduate of Western Illinois University. He has two daughters, Kristi and Emily. He currently resides in Bloomington, IL

Bob Kurland

Michael Kirchwehm

National Sales Vice
President
Blue Mountain Arts

In November of 2018, Bob Kurland joined Blue Mountain Arts as their National Sales Vice President. As a publisher of books, greeting cards, calendars, and gifts, the Boulder, Colorado based company is known for its unique positioning in the industry, and its use of innovative art styles, sentimental writing, quality papers, and production techniques, to provide consumers a special way to connect with others. Prior to joining Blue Mountain Arts, Bob spent two years with Park City Group as a Business Development Director, where he helped retailers and suppliers leverage a software suite, focused on improving compliance and the seamless exchange of data. For the prior 27 years, Bob worked at Hallmark Cards, where his concluding role was New Business and Trade Development Leader, and his prior experience included leading several customer teams as a National Account Manager. Bob graduated from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and now resides in Lake Quivira, Kansas with his wife Julie, and children, Nick, Zach, and Natalie

Michael Kirchwehm

President
Innovative Exchange, LLC

.

Michelle King

VP Sales, Southeast USA
F & M Merchant Group

Michelle joined F&M Merchant Group in December of 2015 as Vice President of Sales. F&M Merchant Group focuses on launching new brands to retail across all classes-of-trade. Previously Michelle was Director of Sales and Energy Efficiency Programs for Earthtronics. Michelle was the National Sales Manager for Globe Electric and the National Account Manager for Westchester Holdings, Philips Lighting Company, Colgate-Palmolive and Polaroid. She started her career with Procter and Gamble and was also the Vice President of the GM/HBC for the Prewitt Company, now a part of Advantage Sales and Marketing. Michelle is a graduate of William Woods University in Fulton, MO. Michelle and her husband Craig reside in Reno, Nevada. They have 2 children, Reed and Grant and 4 grandchildren, Blayke, Ella, Lauralee and Caroline.

Shannon Kincade

Director of General Merchandise
Harps Food Stores, Inc.

Shannon is the Director of General Merchandise at Harps Food Stores based in Springdale, Arkansas. Harps Food Stores operates supermarkets in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas. In 2001, Harps became employee-owned and now ranks as one of the thirty largest Employee Owned Companies in the United States. Shannon graduated from Arkansas State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, in 2002. He worked as GM Team Leader and GM Specialist for Harps before spending five years as GM Retail Sales Merchandiser for Valu Merchandisers Company, based out of Kansas City. In 2013 Shannon became the Director of General Merchandise for Harps. Shannon and his lovely wife Tina have one daughter, Ashton.

John Grazen

Team Lead – National Food
BIC Corporation

John Grazen is the Team Lead – National Food for BIC Consumer Products, an international consumer package goods company. He has been in the CPG industry for 19 years working for both GM/HBC and Food & Beverage manufacturers. He has held various positions within Sales and Sales Strategy. John is a member of the GMDC (Global Marketing & Development Council) Advisory Council, where he contributes to the organizations mission, to provide insight and expertise to Retailer, Wholesaler, and Supplier partners, with the ultimate goal of helping provide business solutions for of all its members. John graduated from Bryant with a degree in Finance, and an MBA from Suffolk University in Boston, MA. He and his wife Kathleen have 2 children – Jocelyn and Julia, and they reside in Madison, CT. In his spare time John enjoys golfing, skiing, and spending time on the water boating with his family.

Richard Boyd

Cat. Specialist – GM/HBC/Candy
Associated Grocers, Inc. – Baton Rouge

Richard Boyd is the Category Manager for General Merchandise, Health & Wellness, Candy and Dollar (Food/Non-Food/HBC/General Merchandise) at Associated Grocers in Baton Rouge Louisiana. Associated Grocers is comprised of independent business owners and has a growing membership of over 200 independent retailers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. “Associated Grocers, Incorporated is dedicated to the support and success of the Independent Retail Grocer.” Richard has over 37 years of experience in the grocery business with the majority of that time spent in the General Merchandise, Health & Wellness, & Candy Departments. Richard’s career started with Albertsons in Lubbock, Texas in early 80’s and he transferred to the GM/HBC department in 1988. In 1990 he was promoted to the Drug Manager position and in 1996 he was promoted to Assistant Sales Manager for HBC/GM/Lobby Operations (Louisiana being part of the Houston Division @ the time) and transferred to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. During his time with Albertsons in Louisiana he supervised 30-35 stores and helped open & remodel numerous stores in Louisiana, Mississippi and Houston, Texas. After Albertsons, Richard then served as Store Director for Winn Dixie in Zachary, Louisiana from 2004 to 2005 after which he joined the team at Associated Grocers in April of 2005. Richard and his wife Mary Beth have been married for 29 years and have two boys, Kendall and Joshua. Kendall works in the warehouse at Associated Grocers and Joshua just graduated from LSU & currently works @ Local TV station in Baton Rouge as their Graphic Designer. Richard is also an active member and Deacon at Istrouma Baptist church and enjoys anything that involves spending time with his family including trips to the beach and any sport that involves LSU. Geaux Tigers!!!

Jim Connolly

Executive Sales Manager
LEDVANCE-SYLVANIA

Jim Connolly is an executive sales leader for Ledvance, a leader in the lighting industry. He has been in the consumer goods industry for over 30 years. Jim started his career with GE Lighting having held various sales and leaderships positions spanning over 25 years. He then went to TCP Lighting where he was responsible for sales globally. Jim sat on the GMDC GM advisory board in the past serving as chairman on two separate occasions. Jim and his wife Mary have 4 grown children- Meghan, Caitlyn, Brendan and Ryan.

Sheri Best

Business Unit Director/DMM
H-E-BC

Sheri has been with H-E-B for 26 years and has experience in retail leadership and category management. Sheri started her career in store operations and after seven years in various store leadership positions, she moved into procurement where she found her passion. Sheri was a buyer in various categories in Beauty for six years and then spent four years buying Outdoor categories and developing product. Sheri joined the Strategy and Loyalty team in 2009 where she began developing Targeted Shopper marketing as a viable platform for H-E-B. In 2015 Sheri launched H-E-Bs Digital coupon platform that gave them additional ways to speak to their customers. With the added knowledge of digital platforms, Sheri returned to Procurement leading the TXBY, Entertainment and Hardware buying teams in January of 2016 and took on additional responsibilities for our Kitchen and Table team early 2018

David Barker

Executive Vice President &
Chief Marketing Officer
Readerlink Distribution Services, LLC

David Barker is the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Readerlink Distribution Services and the President of ReaderLink Digital. He has been with ReaderLink for seven years and has served in a variety of sales roles within the organization. Readerlink Distribution Services, LLC is the largest full-service book distributor to non-trade booksellers in North America, selling approximately one out of every three trade books, and is a recognized leader in distribution logistics, value-added category management services, field services and business analytics. Prior to ReaderLink, David was the Senior Vice President of Marketing & Merchandising for Infinity Resources, Inc., where he lead the launch and operation of several ecommerce websites selling DVDs, CDs, Video Games and Books, including DeepDiscount.com and CriticsChoiceVideo.com and CollectorsChoiceMusic.com. David, his wife Gina, and their two sons reside in Lake Zurich, Illinois.

John Castillo

Immediate Past Chair
Energizer Holdings Inc.

John Castillo is the Group Sales Director for Energizer Household Products Division. Energizer is the global leader and world’s most innovative manufacturer and marketer of primary batteries and portable lighting solutions, anchored by its two global brands Energizer and Eveready. Energizer is focused on delivering long-term value to its shareholders, customers, and consumers. John is currently responsible for leading the US Grocery, E-Commerce, and Military channel team. He joined Energizer in September of 2004 as a Key Customer Manager in the Texas market with primary responsibility for H.E.B. Since then he has held various positions including National Account Manager and Team Leader for Energizer’s business at Walgreens, The Home Depot, Automotive Channel, and Grocery Channels. John has 20 years of consumer products experience across all channels. Before John joined Energizer he worked at Philip Morris, USA as part of the Retail Sales, Trade Marketing, and National Account teams. He is a graduate of St. Mary’s University – San Antonio, TX. John is married to his wife, Melanie. They have two boys Matthew and Patrick and reside in the Wildwood, MO.

Derek Winters

Advisory Council Co-Chair (Supplier)
Willert Home Products, Inc.

Derek Winters is the Vice President of Sales for Willert Home Products. Since 1946, Willert Home Products has been a leader in household consumer products. Willert markets and distributes under several leading brands including Enoz, Ty-D-Bol, airBOSS, Bowl Fresh and Reefer-Galler. Prior to transitioning to the sales team, Derek worked in New Product Development at Willert developing brands and products including Ty-D-Bol Natural and Enoz Home & Garden. Derek began his career at Senoret Chemical Company working in sales, marketing and new product development on insect and animal control brands: Terro and Sweeney’s. Derek and his wife, Meredith, reside in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, and are the parents of son, Max. He is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis with a B.A. in Economics and M.A. in International Affairs.

Rick Cicero

Advisory Council Co-Chair (Retailer)
C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc.

Rick Cicero is Director of GM/HBC Merchandising for C&S Wholesale Grocers in Edison, NJ. C&S Wholesale Grocers is the lead supply chain company in the food industry today – and the largest wholesale grocery supply company in the U.S. C&S Wholesale Grocers supply independent supermarkets, chain stores and institutions with over 150,000 different products in all categories within the store. Rick began his career at King’s Supermarkets in Parsippany NJ. He joined C&S Wholesale Grocers in 1999 and has worked numerous roles within the company in procurement and merchandising for Grocery, Frozen, Ice Cream, Bakery, and Candy. His current responsibilities include managing the GM/HBW Merchandising team throughout the organization. He is a Graduate of St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. Rick is married to his wonderful wife Lisa, and has two sons. They currently reside in Freehold, NJ.

David Wendland

VP Strategic Relations
Hamacher Resource Group, Inc

Dave Wendland is a 25+ year veteran of the consumer packaged goods industry and is passionate about optimizing the health, beauty, and wellness (HBW) retail experience for shoppers. He is a member of the senior management team and owners group. A sought-after speaker for industry conferences and corporate events, Dave is also a regular contributor to Forbes, HealthCare Distributor, Chain Drug Review and blogs for Drug Store News. He is a brain trust panelist for RetailWire, and gets involved in trade organizations such as Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA), National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), Global Market Development Center (GMDC), and Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA).

Dave Sutton

Board of Directors Liaison President
Valu Merchandisers Company

Dave Sutton, President – Valu Merchandisers Company (VMC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Associated Wholesale Grocers in Kansas City, Kansas. VMC provides it’s retailers with the best selection of quality HBC, GM, Natural, Organic and Specialty Foods in over 3000 locations within 31 states. Dave has over 30 years experience in the CPG industry. Prior to coming to VMC, Dave was Vice-President and General Manager for Hallmark’s Mass Channel division. Dave is a graduate of the University of Kansas. He and his wife, Kim live in Overland Park, Kansas along with their two children, Emily and Jack

Bob Richardson

Dir. of Sales, Cust. & Ind. Dvlpmt.
Clorox/Burt’s Bees

Bob Richardson is the Director of Sales, Customer and Industry Development for the Clorox Company. Clorox is a $ 5 billion international company based in Oakland, California that manufactures and markets #1 Brands such as ArmorAll, STP, Clorox Bleach, 409 Cleaners, Tilex, Pine Sol, Glad trash bags, Fresh Step cat litter, Hidden Valley dressings, Kingsford charcoal, Brita water filters and Burt’s Bees natural products. I have been in engineering, management, sales and marketing with all classes of trade for over 39 years with Clorox, First Brands and Union Carbide. A graduate of North Carolina State University, Class 71 BS Engineering Operations, I love all sports, hunting, fishing and travel. Married, 30 years to my lovely wife, Leigh, we have twin sons, Jon and Chris, who are currently attending college in Texas.

Richard Radatovich

Dir. of Sales Natl. Accts.
BIC Corporation.

Rick Radatovich is the Director of Sales for BIC Consumer Products, an international consumer package goods company. He has served in various capacities of increasing responsibility in his 30 year career at BIC. He has held various positions within Sales and Sales Management. Rick is a member of the GMDC (Global Marketing & Development Council) Advisory Board, where he contributes to the organizations mission, to provide insight and expertise to Retailer, Wholesaler, and Supplier partners, with the ultimate goal of helping provide business solutions for of all its members. Rick has been involved with many Consumer Package Goods trade associations to include, NACDS, (National Association of Chain Drug Stores) NACS, (National Association of Convenience Stores) ECRM (Efficient Consumer Retailer Marketing). Rick graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Business Administration. He and his wife Mary have 3 children, and they reside in Newtown, CT

Andrew McQuilkin

Retail Leader | Partner
BHDP Architecture.

Peter Fahrenkopf

VP Household/Stationery
& Canada Sales
ShurTech Brands, LLC

Peter Fahrenkopf is currently the Vice President of Household and Stationery Sales for ShurTech Brands, LLC located in Avon, Ohio. In his current role Peter is responsible for the leadership and development of ShurTech Brands, LLC position within the Household Channel, including Mass (except Wal-Mart), Food, Drug, Craft, Club, Dollar and Specialty retailers in both the United States and Canada. With more than 20 years of experience in CPG sales, Peter has a proven track record of building strategic relationships with retailers across multiple retail channels. Peter lives in Bay VIllage, Ohio.

Jackson Collins

Senior Director, Enterprise Insights
CVS Health

Jackson Collins is a Senior Director within CVS Health’s Enterprise Insights (EI) group. He leads consumer insights and planning for marketing and operations efforts related to CVS Front Store, Retail Pharmacy, Specialist Pharmacy, and MinuteClinic. In addition he oversees the EI team responsible for Aetna’s Medicare, Medicaid, and Public & Labor insurance products as well as the Enterprise-wide multicultural/ multilingual EI team. Prior to joining Aetna in 2017, Jackson held senior strategic planning positions at a number of creative and media agencies in New York City and Boston, working with clients such as American Express, GSK, Hasbro Games, HBO, Olive Garden, Pfizer, and Unilever. Jackson received a BA (Hons.) in Philosophy, Politics & Economics from the University of Oxford and lives in New York City with his wife, three children, and a dog named Bear.

Stephen Davis

Dir. of Center Store, GM/HBC
& Grocery Non-Foods
Weis Markets, Inc.K

Steve Davis is Director of Center Store; GM/HBC and Grocery Nonfoods for Weis Markets Inc. Weis is a regional supermarket chain based in central Pennsylvania with 205 store locations. Davis is charged with redefining and developing a strong, sustainable GM program. Additionally, his responsibilities include sales building programs in HBC and developing a connection between HBC, Pharmacy and consumer based health and wellness programs. Most recently employed, in the Natural Products retail channel, as Senior Vice President of Sales and Merchandising/Ops for Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy and Vice President of Holistic Health and Lifestyles at Wild Oats Markets. Davis has enjoyed a challenging and very diverse career in food retailing. Prior to joining the Natural Products retail channel, Davis was Vice President of GM/ HBC and RX for Giant Food Stores, Carlisle, PA, a division of Ahold USA. Steve started his career with Osco Drug Stores “Chicago-land” in store operations and held positions of increasing responsibility within the organization. Steve received his Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois and has completed an executive MBA curriculum at Babson University, Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson Park, Massachusetts. Steve and his wife Jackie have four children (Jason, Kathryn, Allison, Tyler) and are residents of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

Jim Buchta

Vice President Business Development
CROSSMARK

Jim Buchta joined the industry with Kimberly-Clark in 1984. During his 30 years at Kimberly-Clark, Jim held numerous roles in sales, marketing, operations, training, customer marketing and trade marketing. Leadership roles at Kimberly-Clark included District Sales Manager, Regional Sales Manager, Director – Albertsons Team, Director – National Broker, and Director – Emerging and Specialty Channels. In 2015, Jim joined CROSSMARK as Vice President – Business Development. CROSSMARK is a leading sales and marketing services company that provides growth solutions for consumer-branded suppliers and retailers. Jim is currently active on the GMDC Education Leadership Council, CHPA Retail Liaison Committee and a NFRA Advisory Board Member and serves on the Refrigerated Food Council. Jim and his wife Leslie and two children, Andrew and Kaitlyn reside in Dallas, Texas. Jim attended Miami University in Oxford Ohio.

Scott Bradshaw

Executive VP Sales
Bradshaw Home

Scott Bradshaw is the Sr. Vice President of Sales for Bradshaw International. Bradshaw International is located in Rancho Cucamonga CA and is focused on the Sales and Marketing of products associated with Housewares categories. Bradshaw International is an Industry leader in the categories of: Kitchen Tools and Gadgets, Metal Bakeware, and Cookware. Scott has 30 years experience in the Grocery Industry. Following college Scott worked for the Cambell Sales Company prior to joining the Bradshaw Companies in 1987. Scott initially worked for their beer, wine and spirits company focusing on the management of their Northern California distributor network. Responsibilities were the management of the Pacifico, Red Stripe and Double Happiness beer brands. Following this responsibility Scott entered the Bradshaw Food Brokerage business in Northern California. Responsibilities were Retail and Brand Management. In 1997 Scott moved to southern California as Brand Manager overseeing the launch of Bradshaw International’s Metal Bakeware business. Since making his move to Bradshaw International in 1997 Scott has been a National Account Manager, Regional Vice President, and now Sr. Vice President of Sales for the company. Scott is married to his college sweetheart, Wendy. They have two boys Cameron and Kyle. Cameron currently works for Bradshaw International in their Design department and Kyle is finishing college at Northern Arizona University where he aspires to be a chef. Scott is a private pilot, as well as enjoys skiing and playing golf. Scott holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Willamette University, Salem Or., and lives in Murrieta California.

Dennis Belcastro

VP Industry & Customer Development
Kimberly-Clark Corporation

With 39+ years of industry experience, Denny joined the leadership team at Kimberly Clark in April 2015 as Vice President, Industry and Customer Collaboration where he is responsible for leading the company’s efforts with business and industry initiatives in developing new business opportunities while building strategic retailer collaborative partnerships. Most recently, Denny served as Senior Vice President, Government Affairs and Industry Collaboration with Hillshire Brands/Tyson Foods since July 2012. Before joining Hillshire Brands, Denny served the industry as the Executive Vice President, Industry Affairs and Collaboration at the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA, based in Washington, DC where he was responsible for GMA’s strategic industry collaboration platforms and key initiatives to best serve the Association’s membership. Prior to GMA, Denny was Vice President, Customer Development and Industry Affairs for Kraft Foods North America where he was responsible for Kraft’s “First to the Table” integrated focus on customer collaboration and overall industry business relationships. In addition, Denny led Kraft’s engagement with a broad range of corporate-wide strategic initiatives that included areas of focus on customer marketing programs and innovation development, supporting the overall business strategy for C-suite business interactions with Kraft Foods’ top customers. In addition, Denny served for 10 years as the Executive Director and Tournament Chairman of Kraft Nabisco LPGA Championship and led Kraft’s overall industry association along with media and trade publication affiliations. During his career, Denny has held several field and HQ organizational leadership roles with Nabisco Brands including Senior Vice President, sales, for all industry business segments. Denny began his career in the food industry in 1976 when he joined Standard Brands in Pittsburgh, PA as field sales representative. Currently, Denny serves on various industry association boards as a director including the California Grocers Association, National Grocers Association, GMDC and ROFDA where most recently he was the Chairman of the ROFDA Advisory Council. A native of Aliquippa, PA, Denny holds a bachelor degree in business communication from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania where he majored in media communication and participated in intercollegiate baseball, serving as captain for two years. Denny earned his executive MSC degree in business and organizational communication at Northwestern University School of Management. Denny and his wife Marsha make their home in a Chicago suburb where they are involved in many community and service related events and charities.en.

Ankit Patel

Boxed Wholesale

Ankit started with Boxed in 2016 and has held roles within merchandising and supply chain. Currently he leads the branded merchandising and private label teams whose primary focus is on assortment, trade marketing, developing vendor partnerships and growing Boxed’s Prince & Spring brand.

Prior to Boxed, Ankit was at Georgia-Pacific where he most recently led pure click e-Commerce sales; he started GP in a customer supply chain role. Before GP, he also spent time at Frito-Lay in manufacturing, Polo Ralph Lauren in distribution, and in the third party logistics industry focusing on implementations of new clients. He graduated from Penn State with a degree in Operations Management.

Ankit has been married to his wife Priya for 8 years and their prized possession is their 6 year old Mini Goldendoodle Maui; they currently reside in New York, NY. Their favorite hobby is to eat their way through the world from visiting hole in the wall establishments to enjoying fine dining.

Clint Johnson

Topco Associates LLC

Bio forthcoming.

Mark Ciccone

Immediate Past Chair

Mark joined the staff at GMDC in 2011 as the Executive Director of Innovation, and is leading the vision and advancement of technology-based applications that will drive the association into the future.

He began his consulting career with Monitor where he helped create and lead a global network of business executives dedicated to pursuing new thinking in ways to reach consumers and customers. He also was active in helping many clients develop and execute a variety of new corporate strategies in the area of Innovation.

Mark has had great success with a 32-year career at Procter & Gamble. Possessing a background in Marketing and Sales, he held a number of senior positions and ran numerous line organizations in the United States and Europe. His primary area of expertise is in “go-to-market innovation.”

While with P&G, Mark created a series of research and innovation centers around the world (including “house of the future” and “store of the future”). These centers, which are highly regarded for their thought leadership within the Consumer Goods and Retail Industries, enabled the company to work with its customers and suppliers to achieve innovative breakthrough ideas in a variety of areas, to include product, marketing, sales, and supply chain.

He is a graduate of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh where he has a Bachelors and Masters degree. He lives in Boston with his wife Eileen. They have four grown daughters.

Jon Visser

Chief Revenue Officer
HempFusion

Jon Visser is currently the Chief Revenue Officer at HempFusion, a leader in the CBD and Natural Dietary Supplements categories. Prior to HempFusion, Jon was part of the executive team at Navajo Incorporated, serving as Senior Vice President of Sales from 2015 through Nov 2019. Navajo Incorporated is the designer, manufacturer and distributor of Piranha® Eyewear, Hottips!® Electronics Accessories, Pennzoil® Automotive Supplies, Salute® Barware and is also the largest distributor of Trial & Travel size Health & Beauty products in the USA. Before joining Navajo Incorporated, Jon served as Vice President of Global Sales for Maximum Human Performance (MHP), a market-leading, PE-backed global manufacturer and distributor of sports nutrition products. Prior to his time with Navajo, he has served in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry and, specifically, the sports nutrition industry for over 13 years and the bottled water industry for over 10 years. He began his career with Nestle Waters North America and was based in Houston, TX. After multiple roles across several channels of trade, Jon joined a PE-backed sports nutrition company, EAS which sold to Abbott Laboratories in 2004. Jon entered Abbott as part of the acquisition integration team and remained with Abbott for several years. He consistently took on roles with increasing responsibilities and was directly managing two national sales divisions in his last role with Abbott. Upon leaving Abbott, Jon joined the leadership team of a PE-backed nutrition company, Premier Nutrition which sold to Post Holdings in 2013. Jon and his wife Elizabeth live in Denver, CO. Their family also includes their two daughters Lauren and Karinda, both out of the house and pursuing their careers. Jon and Liz are actively involved in the Colorado outdoors, enjoy travel and pursuing a healthy lifestyle all around.

Isaac Shapiro

President/CEO
IMS Trading, LLC

Isaac Shapiro is the Chief Executive Officer of IMS Trading, LLC (IMS “Brands with Braille”) a consumer goods manufacturer of household cleaning and health & beauty products. In the summer of 2000, Mr. Shapiro founded the company in his senior of college and established a mission for the company to incorporate his passion to raise awareness and donate to blind and visually impaired community. The mission of IMS Trading, LLC is to incorporate functional Braille on packaging and through the sale of each IMS “Brands with Braille” product the company donates a portion of the sale to Inspiration Foundation. Mr. Shapiro’s commitment to advancing the lives of the blind and visually impaired came from growing up with a mother who was blind. Her story of how she immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico and has worked in Arizona to help other blind individuals live independent lives through adaptive technology, inspired Isaac to create a socially responsible company. By incorporating Braille onto its Cleanlogic brand of products, IMS became a leader in innovative product packaging technology. Cleanlogic was the first American beauty brand to feature functional braille on its product packaging. He founded the Inspiration Foundation in honor of his mother to provide adaptive technology awards to blind and visually impaired individuals who are denied services from government assistance programs. He serves on the board of the Inspiration Foundation. He is a graduate of Arizona State University.

Tammy Marlowe

Sr. Category Manager
Associated Food Stores, Inc./Corp

Tammy Marlowe is the Director of GM/HBC at Associated Food Stores in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has worked for Associated since 2002, where she held the positions of space management analysis, Health Care Category Manager, and her current position as Director. Tammy has been working in the industry since 1986, specializing in GM marketing for the majority of her career. She began working in retail at Albertson’s and then spent time in the broker industry with Acosta and Advantage. Tammy lives in Draper, Utah with her husband Dan and their two sons, Riley and Drake.

Harvey Goodman

VP of Sales
Dickinson Brands, Inc.

Harvey is an executive level sales/marketing management leader in the Consumer Products (OTC – Health & Wellness – Nutritional Support/Beauty-Personal Care products) industry. Currently, he’s serving as Vice President of Sales for Dickinson Brands, Inc., the leading manufacturer of Witch Hazel and Witch Hazel based consumer healthcare & beauty products. His diverse experience spans the past 3+ decades working in the CPG/OTC-H&BC Products Industry at both large Fortune 500 companies, e.g. Abbott Laboratories – Abbott Nutrition & Consumer Products Div., American Home Products, AC Nielsen, etc. and small/mid-size entrepreneurial firms such as Apothecary/Flents Products Company, Dicon Technologies, Bell Pharmaceuticals and CCA Industries. On a personal note, Harvey and his wife Lori have five children, Daniel, Andrew, David, Steven and Joshua. Their two oldest sons, Daniel and Andrew are married. Harvey and Lori have two grandchildren from their oldest son Daniel and his wife Sara. Harvey and Lori enjoy travel, going to the theater, concerts, movies, dining out and most importantly, spending quality time with their family.

George Fiscus

Managing Partner
F & M Merchant Group

Luigi Fata

Vice President of Sales
E. T. Browne Drug Co., Inc.

Lou has a B.S. in Marketing and Management and an MBA in Marketing and has held numerous sales and marketing positions throughout his 23 year career in Consumer Products. He has worked for Duracell, Gillette, L’Oreal, Schick, Maybelline and Energizer and is currently the Director of Sales for Beiersdorf USA, a German manufacturer of Nivea, Eucerin and Aquaphor brands. In his spare time, he teaches Sales & Marketing courses at either Westchester Community College or Berkeley College and he coaches his children in all youth sports. He currently resides in Riverside CT with his wife and 2 children.

Louis Donadio

Vice President of Field Sales
The Nature’s Bounty Co.

Lou has an extensive Consumer Healthcare background, most recently with Pfizer Consumer Health Care where he is the Director of Sales. In this position, Lou leads the field sales organization and provides the strategic direction for his group focusing on premier over the counter brands such as Advil, Centrum, Robitussin and Chapstick. Prior to this, Lou was National Sales Director at Alberto Culver, responsible for the grocery class of trade and 14 years with Johnson & Johnson/Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. During his tenure at Johnson & Johnson, Lou held a number of positions of increasing responsibility including leading the CVS Team, Ahold Team, Albertson’s, Wal-Mart Business Development Manager and numerous positions in Sales Strategy. Lou graduated from The University of Alabama, received his MBA from Dowling College and recently graduated from the Fellows program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Lou resides in New Jersey with his wife and two children.

Barry Craft

VP Marketing, Merchandising and Procurement
The Kroger Company

Barry Craft is the Vice President, Marketing, Merchandising and Procurement for Bashas’ Inc. Before joining Bashas’ he was part of the Center Store Category Management Team at Fiesta Supermarkets, the largest Hispanic-based supermarket chain in the United States. He has a reputation as not only being a “visionary” but is an expert in the Juvenile Products industry. He has a strong record of partnerships with Consumer Products Goods companies with the ability to innovate and deliver needs-based solutions that enhance not only the shopping experience, but also sales and profits. In addition to his track record in merchandising and procurement, he has extensive experience with multiple store operations with chains such as Texas-based H-E-B. He has a track record for not only achieving financial budgets, but also for the development and training of a high caliber team wherever he goes.

Retailers/Wholesalers

Contact Vickii Barnard:

719.322.2448 or vbarnard@gmdc.org

or, apply on MyGMDC

Supplier/Service Companies

Contact Tom Duffy:
609.923.6630 or tduffy@gmdc.org

or, apply on MyGMDC

XRC Labs: July 1st

Overview

What to Expect

Meet the Startups