AIA Corporation (asi/109480), a Top 40 promotional products distributor, has hired promo industry veteran Rich Berg as its new senior vice president of owner success.

Berg brings nearly 20 years of business leadership experience in the promo products space to the C-suite role at the Appleton, WI-based company. Berg, who will report to CEO Nancy Schmidt, will focus on enhancing and evolving AIA owner/distributor relationship initiatives and revenue growth.

Rich Berg, AIA Corporation

“At AIA, the work of our owner success team plays a critical role in the growth of our distributors,” said Schmidt, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people. “Rich’s consultative sales expertise well positions him to lead this team and I’m confident he will further establish AIA as a trusted partner among our owner community.”

In 2005, Berg began his promo adventure as an area vice president with Top 40 distributor Staples Promotional Products (asi/120601). He spent 13 years at Staples, where his experience included leading a 50-person sales team that was responsible for $120 million in revenue.

After Staples, Berg had roles as senior vice president of sales and marketing at Top 40 distributor Corporate Imaging Concepts (asi/168962) and vice president of new business development at Facilisgroup, a software-as-a-service company/partnering community for the promo industry.

Berg was most recently vice president of business development/promotional solutions at Deluxe (asi/178720), where he was responsible for business development in enterprise and mid-market channels for promotional marketing services, delivering what AIA described as profitable sales growth.

“I was drawn to AIA because of the talented professionals I will work with, the company’s strong leadership team, and the opportunity to support AIA’s incredible owner community,” said Berg. “I look forward to meeting our owners and working with them to identify opportunities and solutions to strengthen and build their businesses through individual coaching, technology and marketing solutions, peer events and educational training programs.”

As the leader of AIA’s owner success team, Berg is now responsible for providing the company’s nearly 300 owner/distributors with the individualized support and solutions needed to grow their business.

Berg will also oversee the recruitment of distributors to AIA’s owner community. In addition to leading this process, he is charged with driving business development marketing efforts, conducting prospect assessments to identify solutions, and negotiating and executing new owner agreements. Berg replaces Joél Bastien, who recently left AIA, executives said.

Based on reported 2020 fiscal year North American promotional product revenue of $146.2 million, AIA Corporation ranked 16^th on Counselor’s most recent list of the largest distributors in the industry.