New RSPA Board Elected At RetailNOW 2016
The Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA) held elections for its new board of directors during its annual membership meeting on Aug. 1 at RetailNOW 2016 at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, TX.
Mark Fraker of BlueStar was named chair-elect and will serve in 2017-2018. Fraker has more than 30 years of business management experience and has been active in the RSPA for 18 years, first as a VAR/ISV member, and more recently as a vendor member with BlueStar. He is currently the chair of the marketing committee. Prior to BlueStar, Fraker was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for two POS ISVs providing solutions throughout the Americas.
Kelli Stewart and Michael Tash were elected to the two open reseller positions on the board.
Stewart is the Operations Manager at Advanced Data Systems, a reseller based in Munster, IN providing POS Solutions and associated technologies to the hospitality and retail verticals. With ETA CPP certification courtesy of a program offered through the RSPA, she now manages the integrated payments function at ADS. Prior to Advanced Data Systems, after a pursuit of a BA in Healthcare Administration, she enjoyed a 17 year career in management with UPS. During her speech she said, “I’m a firm believer in the value of the RSPA,” and talked about the importance of listening to the needs of fellow members.
Tash is the co-founder, co-owner and Vice President, Customer Relations of Essential Systems Solutions in Frederick, MD. He has been in the POS business for more than 25 years, beginning his career as an installer, service manager, and VP with Electronic Systems Services (ESS). While in executive management at ESS, he helped the company grow from a small local reseller to a VAR recognized all over the United States. Essential Systems Solutions has been an RSPA member since their inception, and Tash has also served as an RSPA Ambassador to help spread the word and the significance of being a member. During his speech he said, “I think I bring an element of flair of uniqueness to the organization, and I think I can help my business, your business, and the organization.”
Todd Brokenshire, CEO of POSLeader; Dan King, President of New West Technologies; and Pedro Penton, President of Tecnica Business Systems were also candidates for the reseller position on the board.
Paul Constantine and David Gosman were elected as vendor members of the board.
Constantine is the President of ScanSource POS and Barcode. He joined ScanSource in 1999, where he held merchandising leadership positions in the POS and Barcode business unit. He then assumed the role as Vice President of Solutions and Services (now ScanSource Services Group), where he provided strategic growth and leadership for the company’s value-added service offerings for resellers, across all sales units. Most recently, before taking on his current role, he served as Vice President of Merchandising for ScanSource Security. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of AIM North America, and served on the Board of Directors of the RSPA from 2006-2008. During his speech, he gave three reasons he is running for the board position: experience, passion, and position. Constantine was the first vendor member to serve on the RSPA board.
Gosman is the Global Segment Manager, Hospitality at HP Retail. He has been involved in the POS and retail technology industries for 25 years. While earning a Bachelors and Master’s Degree in Computer Science and Mathematics, he was coding the award-winning Cash Register Express and Restaurant Pro Express POS software packages. Post-graduation, he took on roles of Product Management and Business Development and eventually became co-owner and Chief Executive Officer of pcAmerica in 2004. After several years of successful growth, pcAmerica was sold to Heartland Payment Systems. Gosman now serves as the Global Segment Manager of Hospitality for HP’s Retail POS Division. During Gosman’s speech, he talked about growing up in the industry and learning about the challenges of transitioning pcAmerica to a dealer-focused business. He said, “If we focus on the needs of our dealers, the vendors will be OK.”
Larry Greenberg, the Director of Sales and Marketing at MMF POS; Jeff Judas, the General Manager of Integrated Payments at Discover; and Andre Nataf, the Senior Vice President of Heartland’s Dealer Channel were also candidates for the vendor positions on the board.
Voting took place at the Annual RSPA Membership Meeting. Only the authorized voter of RSPA member companies who are present at the meeting were eligible to vote. Members selected from five reseller candidates for two seats and five vendor candidates to fill two seats.
For more articles on RetailNOW 2016, July 31 to August 2, 2016, at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, TX, and the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA), go to www.BSMinfo.com/solution/InsideRSPA.