Background

Steve Salvatori, prior to forming the company, was the National Broker Manager for a Consumer Products Division of Pfizer, Inc. He earned his B.S. Degree in Business Administration from the Univ. of Northern Colorado, and his MBA degree from National University. Steve served on the NAGMR Board of Directors from 1996 - 2000, and specializes in the branded HBC/OTC area, where he has almost 30 years experience. Steve serves as our Chairman.

Jim Murillo is a founding partner of SSI. Prior to SSI, Jim managed the Northern California retailers for Salvatori Sales & Marketing. Before Joining SSM, Jim was the Western Region Manager for Radius Toothbrushes. Jim has over 18 years experience in the HBC field and is responsible for our branded and private label business at Safeway. Jim is also is responsible for our San Francisco based McKesson business. Jim also serves as Co-President.

Marianne Nihan joined SSI in 1998, after a 14 year career with Consumer Products Management (CPM) as Vice President. Marianne has over 23 years experience in the HBC field, including an extensive background in private label. She has served on various PLMA Committees. Marianne is responsible for CVS, ans also serves as Co-President.

Charlie Gurney joined SSI in 2001. Earlier, Charlie worked for Marketing Specialists - Oregon, where he was the Director of GM/HBC and Team Leader for Kroger-West. Prior to that he had 17 years experience in the retail grocery industry. Charlie is responsible for Bartell Drugs, Bi-Mart, drugstore.com and Amazon.com.

Mike Shelley joined SSI in 2003. He received his B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Toledo, and has been in the Consumer Products industry for over 25 years, including experience at Johnson & Johnson and J.O. Butler on the manufacturer side, and MSA Group, Ferger & Assoc. and Landers & Assoc. on the broker side. Mike is responsible for our Cardinal business.

Tom Gross joined SSI in May of 2005 after spending 15 years with AmerisourceBergen. He was responsible for all HBA / OTC products and the programs designed to get those products out to retail. He also developed consumer driven programs to help AmerisourceBergen’s retailers sell products to their customers. Prior to AmerisourceBergen, Tom managed the deep discount drug store division of Peoples Drug Stores. Tom is responsible for our AmerisourceBergen business.

Mike McNeill joined SSI, May 2007. Mike comes to SSI from  McKesson, where he has been the Senior Product Manager for Private Label for the past nine years. Previously, Mike spent five years as the Private Label Category Manager at Longs Drug. Mike is responsible for our McKesson Private Label business.

Dan Briggs joined SSI in January 2008 after a 16 year career with Acosta Sales and Marketing. Dan managed the HBC business in Dallas for many years and was Director of Client Services for his last two years at Acosta. Dan is responsible for our branded, Texas-based McKesson business.

John Arena joined SSI in January 2008 and will be responsible for all of our Rite Aid business.  John was formerly with Daymon Worldwide, and has been working inside Rite Aid as the Director of Business Development for the past five years.  John is based in the Harrisburg area, and is responsible for our Rite Aid Business.