News January 02, 2019
Geiger Promotes Three Executives
Bob Blaisdell, Dale Denham and Chris McKee are taking on expanded roles with the Top 40 distributor.
Top 40 distributor Geiger (asi/202900) announced Wednesday that it has promoted three executives. Bob Blaisdell, Dale Denham and Chris McKee have new roles and responsibilities within the Lewistown, ME-based firm’s executive team.
“Having a strong leadership team is critical to the ongoing success of Geiger,” said Jo-an Lantz, president of Geiger. “I am enthusiastic about the skills that Bob, Dale, and Chris contribute and the impact to our organization. They are terrific colleagues, and together I am excited about the future.”
With Geiger since 2000, Blaisdell has led as chief financial officer and executive vice president. Now, he’ll oversee all administrative operations in addition to the finance, legal and compliance departments. Blaisdell previously worked in various financial roles in Maine, Massachusetts and Saudi Arabia. Holding an accounting degree with honors from Merrimack College, Blaisdell earned an MBA in finance with honors from Washington University in St. Louis. "I look forward to my expanded role as we commit to applying continuous improvement practices to enhance the customer experience,” he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Geiger promoted to Denham to senior vice president – a role he takes on in addition to remaining chief information officer, a position he’s held at Geiger since 2011. Denham is now responsible for information technology, eCommerce, vendor relations, digital marketing, and the Crestline division of Geiger. Currently chairman of the board for Promotional Products Association International, Denham was CEO of Maryland Pennysaver and senior vice president at ASI before joining Geiger.
"I love crafting the intersection of offline and online sales as I strongly believe in the benefits of both," Denham said. "Some customers want to buy online, some offline and some a mixture of both. I'm enthused to further position Geiger as the leader in this hybrid ecommerce space." He added that Geiger will “work to ensure our vendors who provide the best products and the best service receive the majority of our business."
In the third executive promotion, McKee is rising to the role of senior vice president of sales and marketing. In his new capacity, McKee will oversee all sales, business development, international activities and marketing for Geiger. "I am very excited by the opportunity in my new role to expand our business both in the US and internationally,” McKee said. “We have an exceptional client base that will benefit greatly from our initiatives in Europe and the Far East."
With Geiger since 1995, McKee started in marketing before devoting five years to managing Geiger’s Miami, FL and San Juan, Puerto Rico operations. In 2001, Geiger promoted McKee to general manager of corporate programs. Another promotion came in 2006 – this time to vice president to oversee the division’s online stores, business development, distribution and call center operations for top clients. "We have a team and company culture that is second to none and I can’t think of a better group to work with on behalf of our customers, sales partners, associates, and our local communities,” said McKee.
With reported 2017 North American promotional product revenue of $185.5 million, Geiger ranked 10th on Counselor’s latest list of the largest distributors in the industry.