BILL CLARKE
Author of "Common Sense"
Bill was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. He received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration, major in Retailing, from the University of Dayton and MBA degree in Marketing & Management from Xavier University in Cincinnati. After a brief stint as an Armor officer in the U.S. Army, Bill started his career in a small, entrepreneurial company in Dayton called Key-Rec Systems that specialized in receiving control systems for the retail industry. In about a dozen years, Key-Rec systems became, and still remains, a generic term in the whole of retailing. The systems were installed in over 85% of the leading retail stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Bill sold the company and managed the transition before leaving to start a retail consulting practice. Bill's first assignment was with a regional jewelry chain in Ohio. He assumed the role of General Manager for two years to oversee a complete restructuring and turnaround. With the mission accomplished, Bill returned to consulting and worked with dozens of national retail clients on projects in systems, distribution and logistics, including some contract assignments for The Garr Consulting Group, a prestigious national consulting firm in Atlanta. Bill was recruited as an equity partner to establish an integrated systems practice to compliment the distribution and operations improvement practice. Bill moved the family to Atlanta and assisted in the rapid growth of the firm from 10 to over 125 professionals. In addition to managing over 100 consulting engagements, Bill served as the firm's marketing and planning partner. The firm was successfully positioned for acquisition by Deloitte Touche. After the acquisition, Bill was recruited by Ernst & Young to manage their national retail consulting practice. During the consolidation of the Big 8 firms, Bill tired of the bureaucracy and returned to his private consulting practice, where he remains today. In addition to his concentration on systems, Bill works on projects in business planning, strategy, start-ups, marketing, operations improvement, e-commerce initiatives, training and executive mentoring. One project resulted in a two-year interim management assignment as President & C.E.O. of a childrens book publishing and distribution company in Florida. Another interim assignment was to assume the role of Vice President-MIS & Distribution for a retail specialty chain in the Northeast. More recently he was the interim President for a website development start-up company in Atlanta. Bill brings over 30 years of intense experience in the retail arena. In addition to the consulting and line management assignments, Bill is an accomplished author and public speaker with a filing cabinet full of white papers, articles and speeches. He also served as an Adjunct Professor of Marketing for 5 years in The Ohio State University system. He is an avid reader, former runner, now walker, oenophile, aspiring chef and single digit golfer. You can contact Bill at:
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