Hi Disciple - we need to encourage Ghost to give up the ghost and reveal all....
From the Patrick O’Leary Bio on the www.rpm-llc.net/OurTeam.htm web page, we see an AVR plug, then right after it, a Greenwood plug.......
“At Advanced Vision Research, where he has been in the role of Brand Manager since 2001, he serves as a member of the management team and assists in strategic planning, sales, marketing, co-branded initiatives, and new product development. Since joining the AVR team in 2001, TheraTears has tripled in sales.
Greenwood Group builds businesses!
The Greenwood Group team has over 280 years of collective experience in the CPG industry.
With backgrounds from the Fortune 100, as well as entrepreneurial endeavors, you will find a blend of talent that allows any manufacturer to look and act like a “big” company while being able to take advantage of the flexibility available to a smaller company. END
And, from www.greenwoodg.com:
“At Greenwood Group, we provide focus to both emerging and established companies. We develop and implement strategies that improve profitability – through increased sales and decreased costs.
With over 400 combined years in the CPG industry, Greenwood Group's sales, marketing, sourcing and logistics capabilities allow any company to operate with the cost efficiencies of a Fortune 500 organization, while maintaining entrepreneurial flexibility. END
Observation - I guess the rpm website mentioned 280 years of collective experience in the CPG industry first. Then at a later date Greenwood’s years of “combined years in the CPG industry” jumped 120 years when Mr. Donnenfeld joined Greenwood as a partner, but requested that his name not be shown as a partner because he wanted to be like Mr. O’Leary who asked that his name not be shown as president? Huh? There may have been other additions, but 120 years is a long time and Donnenfeld is around 50!
The rpm website states about O’Leary - “At Advanced Vision Research, where he has been in the role of Brand Manager since 2001, he serves as…..and assists….”. These duties are stated in the present tense. AVR is at 7 Alfred St in Woburn, Mass, a long way from his president’s chair at Greenwood in Cheektowaga in western NY. AVR was sold to Akorn in May 2011 – 12 months ago……
Now, it gets a little interesting. We know O’Leary worked at P&G and AVR and president of Greenwood representing BIEL….
February, 2010 - Swampscott — Neil D. Donnenfeld of Swampscott has been named chief executive officer of Advanced Vision Research of Woburn, makers of the TheraTears and MacuTrition brands for dry eye and macular degeneration. He was also named as a director of the company.
Donnenfeld has extensive experience with Advanced Vision Research and has been instrumental in its growth. He most recently served as the company’s senior vice president of global sales and marketing, a position he held since 2005.
Donnenfeld, 48, joined AVR in May 1998, shortly after Advanced Vision Research was originally formed as an over-the-counter eye care company to market and distribute TheraTears products.
Advanced Vision Research continues to rebound after the sudden loss of Jeffrey P. Gilbard, MD, the company’s founder, CEO and chief scientific officer last August.
Noted Donnenfeld, “I’m honored to have been chosen as the new CEO of Advanced Vision Research where we are dedicated to continuing the path blazed by Dr. Gilbard. We are eager to introduce revolutionary new products that are already in the pipeline, and look forward to the development of new advances in eye care treatment that improve patients’ lives.”
Donnenfeld has been involved in most aspects of building Advanced Vision Research and its brand portfolio and has maintained close connections with the professional community that forms the base of TheraTears and MacuTrition’s loyal advocates, including optometrists and ophthalmologists.
Most notably, as the senior sales and marketing executive for the OTC business, Donnenfeld spearheaded 12 consecutive years of record sales and profitability for the company. Advanced Vision Research was recognized three times by INC magazine as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in America and by Drug Store News as one of the top niche brands for the past four years.
Prior to joining Advanced Vision Research, Donnenfeld was director of marketing at NutraMax Products, a leader in private label health and beauty care. Before that he managed the Bain de Soleil Suncare Brand at Procter and Gamble and worked on other P & G brands including Dramamine, Icy Hot, Clearasil and Oil of Olay. END
Then, on May 3 2011, 15 months after Donnenfeld is appointed CEO at AVR, this announcement….
LAKE FOREST, IL- May 3, 2011 -- Akorn, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKRX), a niche generic pharmaceutical company, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Woburn, MA, based Advanced Vision Research, Inc. ("AVR"), a premier over-the-counter ("OTC") ophthalmic company that develops and markets eye care products under the TheraTears® and MacuTrition ® brand names, for $26 million in cash on hand. These products are used for dry eyes, eyelid hygiene, contact lens comfort and eye nutrition. AVR was founded in 1995 by the late Jeffery P. Gilbard, M.D. with its lead products developed in the clinics and laboratories of Harvard University's Schepens Eye Research Institute. In 2010, AVR generated sales of $20 million, which consisted of domestic sales through major retail chains and sales in 20 countries across five continents. END
Soooo, we have Donnenfeld at P&G, CEO of AVR in Woburn Mass from Feb 2010 to May 2011; appointed president of Products Ahead 2 months later in July 2011; 6 months later, in Jan 2012, appointed as a Partner at Greenwood Group in Cheektowaga NY representing BIEL. With an MBA from Wharton in marketing, the guy must be good - hope his focus is somewhat on BIEL.
Both O’Leary and Donnenfeld were at P&G, and then both at AVR, Donnenfeld joined in 1998, O’Leary in 2001, where Donnenfeld became president and both were, or are, at Greenwood Group where O’Leary is president and Donnenfeld is a partner. Who’s on first and who is looking after BIEL gentlemen? And, who is Ms. Greenwood and is she related somehow?
Point. The BIEL announcement of Donnenfeld handling the BIEL account states that he took AVR to $45 million, but the Akorn Inc. acquisition announcement states that AVR did $20 million in 2010, the year Donnenfeld was president. The only way Donnenfeld took AVR to $45million was if he more than doubled the previous years sales (2010) in the first 3 months of 2011.
Donnenfeld and O’Leary are at least colleagues and follow one another from company to company. That’s great, but I hope the synergy is working its magic on the BIEL account and the launch in Canada. It would be cool to know if any of these people might be related in any way? I am sure Andy Whelan did this due diligence and knew of the relationships when he signed Greenwood on to handle the BIEL account, but it would be nice to know if the 280 or 400 years of combined Greenwood experience has yielded any results in Canada yet…….
