With over 23 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods industry, Ed is considered one of the outstanding leaders in the industry. From humble beginnings fresh out of college calling on retail stores, he quickly worked his way up to Account Executive at one of the premier regional food brokers in the 80 s. Looking for a bigger challenge, Ed left for a regional management position with a consumer packaged goods company and eventually rose to the position of Director of Sales. This experience enabled him to see the market from an entrepreneur s eyes, having developed a brand from little more than just an idea. Through hard work and a lot of good people Smokey Mountain Products became an industry leader in their category. Seeking a larger challenge, Ed moved on to a key position at Met-Rx where he was influential in the building of the sports nutrition industry to the category that it is today. He explains, When we first started Met-Rx, there wasn t even a sports nutrition industry... just a few small companies selling direct to gyms and a few consumers. Soon they were able to become the leader in the sports nutrition industry, growing to over $100 million in sales in just 8 short years. Ed stayed through the acquisition of Met-Rx by Rexall Sundown and Royal Numeco. Soon after, Ed became the Vice President of Sales for Contemporary Marketing Inc. During his 7 years with CMI, Ed was able to help grow the company to one of the premier CPG brokers in the nation. While at CMI, Ed was able to help develop the go-to-market strategies for most of the diet and energy products on the retail shelves today. During this time, Ed was able to build relationships with all of the key retailers in the US and become recognized for his knowledge and expertise in developing brands. Over the years, Ed has worked in a variety of roles, gathering vast knowledge in the complex task of building brands. Having been instrumental in launching close to 100 brands over the years, he knows what it takes to make a product successful. Ed says, Of all my roles in the industry to date, I am most excited about STG Retail Direct. Never has there been a company like ours that not only develops the mass-market strategies necessary to place the right products on the retail shelves, but also develops the key marketing and advertising strategies which enable brands to be successful and move off the shelves. Today at STG Retail Direct we are in the business of building the most successful brands in the industry.