#45 Andy Shape

Stran & Company (asi/337725) – President/CEO

2021 Rank: N/A

Industry Experience: 27 years

Previous Power 50 Appearances: 0

With Shape as its longtime leader, Stran’s visibility in promo has soared over the last couple years. The Boston-area firm cracked Counselor’s Top 40 for the first time in 2021 and made the list again this year. In late 2021, Shape (who co-founded the company in 1995) led Stran to becoming a publicly traded company. The firm raised more than $42 million through an initial public offering and subsequent private placement of common stock and warrants. Since then, Stran has acquired two other distributorships, including a strategic purchase of Texas-based Trend Brand Solutions (asi/346428) that will facilitate the New England company’s planned expansion throughout the South.

While various costs tied to going public and other factors have kept Stran’s profitability down in 2022, sales have skyrocketed, including a 72.5% year-over year increase in Q2, and Shape is confident earnings will soon be back in the black. “I’m so proud of the company that we have built together with the Stran team,” says Shape. “This kind of thing doesn’t just happen. It takes hard work and really is something special.”