Ben is a successful, seasoned C-Suite executive with a long history of developing analytics teams and using Business Intelligence in retail businesses. Ben has over 25 years of progressive leadership growth within Fortune 500 retail companies, startups, and distressed organizations.

Ben’s last corporate posting was as CEO of Nebraska Book Company (NBC). NBC is a vertically integrated college course materials business posting revenues exceeding $700MM with over 300 college bookstores, the nation’s largest wholesale used textbook distributor, and a technology division that produces the most popular ERP platform for independent college bookstores. Ben was successful in transitioning this 100-year-old business from a financially strapped legacy retailer into a modern data-driven enterprise. This effort included restructuring several corporate divisions to ensure long-term success in the face of a rapidly shifting education environment.

Most recently, Ben served as Head of Business Intelligence and Merchandising for a retail automation company. There he built a foundation for data-driven decisioning in a revolutionary automated retail concept. Ben guided the structuring of data collection, company dashboards and access to information inside and outside the organization. His team delivered performance information, research materials and analysis to a broad swath of the company to foster a deep understanding of actual performance, invite critical thinking and accelerate innovation. In the dual role of Chief Merchant, Ben took the lead in building a data-driven, consumer-tested development strategy that identified the best product and put it in the right hands with margin optimization always top of mind.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

► C-Suite Leadership

► Restructuring

► Interim and Crisis Management

► Domestic and Global Retail Merchandising

► Business Intelligence Development

► Quality & Regulatory Research and Compliance

► Outside-In Process Design

Ben currently leads an engagement with another client to bring to market the cannabis industry’s first approved autonomous direct to consumer dispensing solution. This solution is also capable of serving as an automated tele-pharmacy platform and has been in a live operating environment for over six months after several years of development. The solution is the only device on the market that meets the stringent regulatory requirements of both the cannabis and pharmacy industry, including high physical security, identification verification, and live communication.

Prior to this, Ben served in many roles for packaged entertainment products retailer Hollywood Video/Game Crazy/Movie Gallery; ultimately as Senior Vice President of Merchandising for the $2BB international enterprise.