BuyerZone Management Team

Sam Zales is President and CEO of BuyerZone. He joined the company in 1999 and was named President and CEO in July 2000. Since that time, Sam has led the company to profitability and rapid top-line growth and focused the company's efforts, enabling it to successfully attain market leadership.

Sam brings nearly 20 years of strategy, marketing, sales and product development experience to the company. Prior to leading BuyerZone, Sam served as Vice President of Card Marketing at American Express where he was responsible for the highly successful launch of the company's corporate purchasing card. During his nine-year tenure at American Express, Sam also led the successful development of numerous customer acquisition and retention marketing programs for both the company's Corporate Services and Consumer Card divisions. Before American Express, Sam worked as a management consultant at Bain and Company in Boston.

Sam graduated with a B.A. with honors from Dartmouth College and holds an M.B.A. with distinction from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

David Perry is the Vice President, Sales. In this role, David is responsible for directing the strategy and efforts of BuyerZone's national sales organization.

David brings more than 20 years of business-to-business sales and directory advertising expertise to the company. With this impressive background, David has helped drive BuyerZone to record levels in sales and customer retention. Over the last 3 years, he has led the successful effort to substantially increase the supplier base, with a 90% annual customer retention rate.

Prior to joining BuyerZone in 2000, David held multiple sales management positions during his 13 years at Bell Atlantic Yellow Pages. He has also held a management role at Compugraphics (subsequently acquired by AGFA). David holds a B.A. with honors from Babson College and an M.B.A. from Bentley College.

As the Vice President of Business Development & Marketing, Craig Bloem is responsible for leading the strategy and execution for all business development activities for BuyerZone. In addition, he leads the Marketing and management of new products for the business and oversees the Local Markets Division.

Prior to joining BuyerZone.com in 2000, he managed direct marketing and online brand development at Hasbro Corporation. During his tenure he helped Hasbro setup an internet presence for some of their largest brands including Monopoly, Scrabble and Star Wars and sell direct products online. Craig has also held positions with Modem Media and Hewlett-Packard. He holds a B.S. from Ithaca College.

As Vice President of Technology, Brian is responsible for leading all web and product development, engineering, and network operations for BuyerZone.

Brian has over 20 years of successfully building and managing development teams producing innovative applications and web products. Prior to joining BuyerZone, he served as COO, responsible for all company operations, prior to becoming CTO at TechOnLine. As CTO, he led all website development and developed other patented web products, and was part of the management team that led the company to its successful acquisition.

Brian also worked at Sanders, A Lockheed Martin Company, where he was Advanced Technology Software Director. In this role he was responsible for the creation of a web infrastructure and several pioneering projects. Brian has also held positions at TRW, a large Aerospace company, and Ampersand Inc. At Ampersand, Brian was the Director of Advanced Development.

Brian graduated with honors from Western Michigan University with degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics.

As Director of Finance, Aaron manages all finance-related transactions and contract negotiations for BuyerZone, in addition to serving as a key business advisor to BuyerZone's President and CEO, Sam Zales.

Prior to joining BuyerZone, Aaron worked in the Corporate Division of Reed Business Information - US, serving as Director of Corporate & Real Estate Finance. In this role, he was responsible for effectively budgeting, forecasting and managing all Corporate G&A costs. He was also responsible for all financial matters relating to RBI's real estate holdings; both owned properties and all lease/sublease transactions. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Bentley College.

As Vice President of Strategy & Business Development, Peter is currently leading the strategy and execution behind BuyerZone's full integration with its new parent company, Reed Business Information. He is also responsible for developing innovative, new programs to acquire BuyerZone.com users, directing both Search Engine Optimization and User-Centric Design initiatives.

Before joining BuyerZone, Peter worked as the E-Business Development Director for Reed Business Netherlands. In that role he successfully executed Reed Business' online strategy, managing web development and traffic improvement programs across online, B-to-B niche markets.

Prior to joining Reed Business he worked with the web agency Lost Boys. Peter holds a Master of Arts degree from Leiden University, Netherlands.

As Vice President of the New Business Group, Eric is responsible for leading BuyerZone's new product development efforts.

Since joining BuyerZone in 2003, Eric has held a number of roles within the company. Immediately prior to his current role, Eric managed paid search and category management activities for the largest business unit within the Category Management Group. Eric also successfully led the company's expansion effort into a series of new markets.

Prior to BuyerZone, Eric co-founded Enversions, a home technology solutions provider, and held positions at eBay and PriceWaterhouse Coopers. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Babson College.