My Business Resume

Executive Management Professional with 35 years of management, purchasing, marketing, and leadership experience in high volume wholesale and retail food environments as well as hunger relief non-profits.

Executive Management

Named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Professionals in the Fresh Produce Industry by The Packer, a leading produce industry newspaper published by Vance Publishing (2006).
Conceptualized and implemented a specialized produce purchasing program increasing sales from $400,000 to $11M annually in 10-years utilizing the $20B agriculture and industrial goods industry.
Negotiated with Fortune 500 companies to develop procurement programs to benefit a national membership network of over 200 food banks across the U.S. resulting in annual cost savings of $16M on base of $150M.
Designed and completed multiple Tax Increment Financing Districts in the Town of Merrillville, IN that built infrastructure with project totals over $100M building tax base and improving the quality of life for residents of the municipality.

Sales/Marketing

Clearly communicated unique promotions to a network of food bank members using email distribution, online web based tools, video, presentations, and direct print marketing.
Credited with several national retail store display and marketing awards.
Increased overall sales and profits in perishable departments at a 12-unit retail grocery store chain resulting in double digit percentage sales increases over five years.

Budget/Cost Management

Successfully set budget goals, monitored and maintained multimillion dollar budgets throughout career.
Lowered costs of goods sold by designing co-op purchasing programs.

Professional Experience

Photographer/Graphic Designer/Corporate Secretary January 2002 – Present

Bella Photography & Design, Inc. bellaphotographs.com Valparaiso, IN

Manage the operation of a family owned full service photography, video and graphic design studio serving Chicago-land, NW Indiana, and southern Michigan. Duties include photography, videography, sales, marketing, graphic design, and providing technical support. Bella Photography specializes in corporate, product, wedding, family, children, high school senior and event photography.

Director of Business Development & National Broker January 2017 – April 2018

Columbia Fresh Produce columbiafresh.com Walla Walla, WA

Responsible for marketing, business development and sales of Sunbites Sweet Corn across the United States. Sunbites, a Canadian Agri-Food company, is located in Rougemont and Monteregie, Montreal, Canada.

Director of Marketing & Business Development January 2014 – Dec 2016

Columbia Fresh Produce columbiafresh.com Walla Walla, WA Responsible for marketing and business development of this $10M annual sales fresh produce brokerage company assissting in all functional areas including Columbia Fresh Packing, located in Kennewick, WA, and Columbia Fresh Transportation, Portland, OR. Developed new website with shopping cart functionality, designed communications tools for direct to customer information flow and created new business opportunities to assist in diversifying the sales base.

Police Commissioner January 2004 – Dec 2014

Town of Merrillville, Indiana Merrillville.in.gov Merrillville, IN

Served as President of the Metropolitan Board of Police Commissioners directing the operations of the Merrillville Police Department through the Chief of Police, 54 sworn police officers and 25 civilian personnel. Duties included hiring, equipment purchasing, policy creation, strategic planning, promotions and discipline.

Director of Procurement – Chicago Division March 2009 – March 2010

Feed The Children feedthechildren.org Oklahoma City, OK

Created food industry partnerships to assist the world headquarters of this international charity and provided leadership for the Food Sourcing team while procuring food and grocery products for a national network of hunger relief agencies. Planned strategy, explored new opportunities, especially in the agriculture arena of the United States, and formed partnerships within the food and grocery industry to advance the mission of charity. Our team created a strategic plan for this annual one billion-dollar organization advising on every functioning area of the charity.

Director of Produce and Food Procurement March 1999 – March 2009

Feeding America feedingamerica.org Chicago, IL

Designed a 150-million-pound annual fresh produce program from the ground up over a decade and provided leadership for the food sourcing team while servicing a national network of 200 food banks. Feeding America is the nation’s largest hunger relief charity with a network of over 200 food banks that distribute food to over 65,000 charity agencies throughout the United States. Planned strategy and explored new opportunities and methods of working with food industry, related partners, and the member network.

District Manager of Produce, Bakery & Deli Operations July 1993 – March 1999

Fairplay Finer Foods, Inc. fairplayfoods.com Chicago, IL

Increased sales by double digit percentages while directing the operations of this 12-store supermarket chain. Direct responsibility for produce, deli and bakery operations. Other accomplishments include the development of product procurement programs, category management, weekly sales plans, merchandising, management. Responsible for department gross profit, payroll and expenses.

Professional Experience

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