PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
SUN Group of Arrow ECS
Executive Team: SUN Group Leaders - The Best in the Business
Richard Severa has over two decades of industry experience in manufacturing and distribution. As Vice President, he oversees the processes, direction and vision of the SUN Group of Arrow ECS' business, and manages strategic partnerships with both the vendor and reseller partner communities. Before joining Arrow ECS, he held the role of Vice President of Marketing and Channel Sales, for Tandberg Data, Inc., where in 1996 he was instrumental to their 65 percent growth in sales revenue. Prior to Tandberg Data, Rich led sales efforts for Iomega Corporation for more than eight years as Director of U.S. Channel Sales, Director of Corporate Development Sales for the U.S. Western Region, and Director of National Distribution Sales. Rich earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
As Executive Vice President of the Sun Group, Bill Page is responsible for the Storage Business Unit. Bill joined the company in 1993 and is credited with the development and implementation of the Sun Group business model while under Merisel ownership. When asked about the key element of his approach to business he responded: "In this business you can only be successful if you first make sure your customers are successful." Bill is a technology distribution veteran, with more than 35 years of experience in computer distribution. Prior to joining the Sun Group, Mr. Page worked for Hamilton/Avnet for 20 years. During that time he developed and implemented the separation of Avnet's computer business from its component and semiconductor distribution business and ended his tenure with Avnet as Executive Vice President of Hamilton/Avnet Computer.
Prior to joining the Sun Group, Bob served as Vice President of National Account Sales for Samsung Electronics, where he led the sales, marketing and operations teams to meet revenue, margin and operating profit targets for the Best Buy Account. Prior to Samsung, Bob was the Vice President/GM of the National Accounts Sales Division at Tech Data Corporation where he was responsible for the development, implementation and execution of the channel strategy for the company’s most strategic customer segments. He has also held executive positions with Merisel, Tops Appliance City, and Sound Playground as well as sales and marketing positions with 25th Century Marketing and NCR Corporation. Bob graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing.
J. Kevin Powell is responsible for the Sun Group's vendor relationships, supply chain management, and business development activities. Kevin joined the Sun Group in 1999 and brought extensive experience in all aspects of IT distribution. Throughout his 29 year career he has held executive positions in sales and marketing, product marketing, inventory management and logistics, as well as divisional P&L responsibilities. He has been involved in supply chain management from the start of his career and it remains a key business focus He has successfully managed supply chains for a wide range of products from semiconductors to high-end enterprise computer systems. Kevin is a value added distribution veteran and is chartered with developing new business opportunities for the Sun Group. He created and successfully launched the Sun Group's enterprise software division in 2001. Prior to joining the Sun Group, Kevin held executive positions at several distribution companies such as Hamilton/Avnet Electronics, Avnet Computer, Bell Industries and Merisel. Throughout his career Kevin has operated under a singular core belief: value added distributors are service, not sales companies, and must provide high quality services to both the VARs they support and the vendors they represent.
Yara Barkopoulos has over 20 years of experience with a number of positions in finance and distribution. As Director of the Sun Service and Software business, she is responsible for all aspects of the business strategy, inside sales, operations, and vendor and customer relations in North America. Before joining Arrow ECS, she held the role of Director of Operation Excellence and later the Director of Software Licensing Division for Merisel. When Yara joined Arrow in 2000 as the Director of Strategic Operations, she managed the integration of the Sun Group into Arrow, help recruit and transition some of the largest accounts into the company and most recently, re-engineered and managed the operations of the Services Business Unit. As a Lean Sigma Black Belt, Yara has been highly involved in driving overall process improvements within the company as well as with customers and vendors. A native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Yara holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Fundacao Alvarez Penteado in Sao Paulo, and holds a MBA from the Pepperdine University in California.
Jeff Simanski heads the Sun Group’s Inside Sales teams, based out of the Marlborough Call Center. Jeff joined the Sun Group at Arrow ECS in 1999 and has served on the Inside Sales Management team since his arrival, first as Manager of the Marlborough Call Center and then progressing to the position of Director of Inside Sales and Service. He has been responsible for the development of many of the unique and innovative coverage models. Additionally, Jeff manages the Sun’s Group Education team, which covers both Sun’s learning initiatives and their sales of product to the Education Market space. Prior to joining the Sun Group, Jeff had eight years of experience in the Indirect PC and Laptop business, where he fulfilled multiple sales and management roles. Jeff attended Tufts University and holds a degree in Electrical Engineering.
Mark Kwiatkowski is a sales executive with over 16 years of channel sales experience with a blend of technical expertise and business acumen around sales leadership, marketing/business development and management. Mark began his career with Merisel in 1991 as an Account Executive, advancing to the roles of Area Sales Manager, Regional Sales Manager, and currently holds the position of Director of Sales for the Eastern Region. By rebuilding, developing and leading the eastern region field sales team, Mark has helped to increase the sales revenue from 300m in 2002 to 700m in 2007. He has also helped create an overall Arrow corporate initiative around all product sets by developing and implementing the Sun Group's Government Initiative. Mark graduated from Monmouth University with a bachelor’s degree in Management and Marketing, and holds a MBA from New Hampshire College.
With over a decade of computer industry experience, Jeffrey Yakubik began his career as a Buyer/Product Manager for Merisel in 1996. He has held various roles including Product Marketing Manager, Manager of Operations, Director of Operations, and North American Director of Sales and Operations for Arrow Software. Some of Jeff’s major accomplishments have been developing and implementing the first personalized sales data delivery system used within the Sun Group, and heading the operations team that converted the Sun Group from SAP to the Arrow environment. He is currently the Director of Sales for the Western Region, where he oversees the management of over 100 partners and is responsible for 40% of the Sun Group’s sales goal. Jeff graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Print Journalism in 1994.
Jeff Lampe brings nearly two decades of channel marketing experience to his position as Director of Marketing for the Sun Group of Arrow ECS. He is responsible for setting the strategic direction for the Sun Group's Sun Microsystems demand creation initiatives, and oversees a team of both internal and field-based associates whose sole purpose is to help Arrow's channel partners find new and innovative ways to grow their business. Prior to coming to the Sun Group in 1999, Jeff held positions in both marketing and corporate communications for Merisel, Inc. He earned a Bachelor's Degree in English (writing emphasis) and a minor in Communications from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
Mark Leamy holds over 26 years of Computer Distribution experience, and has been with the Sun Group for over seven years. He served as the Product Marketing Director for Avnet Computer Group for 10 years, Director of Purchasing for PC Mall for three years, and Vice President of Product Management for Computer Products for Avnet EMG for four years. He is currently the Director of Product and Inventory Management for Sun Microsystems Hardware and headed the team that contributed to achieving the billion dollar sales milestone in 2006. Mark graduated from the University of California Long Beach with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.
Dean Miles has over two decades of technology industry expertise, including consulting and distribution experience. Dean possesses a wide range of experience, from tech support, desktop and enterprise system, and programming languages and databases. Dean began his career in technology in the U.S. Air Force as an Aviation Specialist working on computer-based jets. He then moved on to a consulting position as a Systems Engineer/Programmer at Coopers and Lybrand, which included multiple project designing business process. Dean continued his career in technology in the distribution industry with positions at Ingram Micro, Merisel, and Arrow Electronics. Dean is currently the Manager of Technical Services at the Sun Group. He has managed an Engineering team of 15 for the past eight years, maintaining a 0% turnover, and is co-developer of the Engineer Exchange program.
Jared began his career at Northrop Grumman as Contract Accountant and quickly advanced to a Program Business Manager, where he was responsible for the budgeting and forecasting of various government projects. Since joining the Sun Group in 2000, Jared has held various roles within the organization, such as Manager of Financial Planning and Analysis and currently as Director of Finance. As Director of Finance, Jared is responsible for all financial activities at the Sun Group. Jared holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California State University at Fresno
Rolf Henriksson Currently Rolf manages the 20 person Operations at the Sun Group at Arrow ECS. He and his team support both internal and external customers with Sun contracts and programs, demos, IT projects, traffic issues, order processing, system integrations, warehouse needs, web tool administration and development. Rolf graduated from the University of Michigan in1989. He started out as a Warehouse Manager at a paper distributor before joining Merisel as an Account Executive in 1995. With the evolution of Merisel to the Sun Group, Rolf joined the Sun Group in 1999 as a Systems Analyst during a conversion project and played an instrumental role in the merge with Arrow. Rolf then shifted to his leadership role in Customer Support at the Sun Group.
Gary Nakashima As Sales Director, Gary is responsible for the Sun Group in Canada. Gary brings over two decades of experience in the hi-tech industry, beginning his career as an electronics service technician. Gary was a partner in a successful security company in Toronto, contributing to its development into a global commercial, residential, personal protection and covert security company. Gary was also instrumental in restructuring a small hi-tech reseller into a medium reseller, and as a result joined Arrow Electronics in 1999. Gary has successfully grown the Canadian business and gained market share due to persistence and strong relationships with vendors and partners.
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