15. Dan Pantano

alphabroder (asi/34063)

2020 Rank: N/A

Title: CEO

Industry Experience: 8 years

When Dan Pantano joined alphabroder in 2013 after a career in healthcare distribution, he was a little unfamiliar with the promotional products industry. Actually, very unfamiliar. “Never even heard of it,” he admits. Lack of familiarity was far less of an issue with his latest move, when earlier this year CEO Norm Hullinger departed for BELLA+CANVAS (asi/39590), and Pantano was tabbed to take his place.

“Being partnered with Norm, it was a pretty natural transition. It was something we had frankly planned on – the secession plan,” says Pantano, who makes his debut on the Power 50 list. “I think for the company, the transition was as easy as it can be. There’s always different personalities and different styles, but everyone knew me, so it wasn’t as if they had to get to know the new guy.”

That doesn’t mean it was business as usual. After taking over as CEO in April, Pantano and his executive team embarked on a refresh of alphabroder’s strategy, including revisiting the company’s vision and mission statement. The 57-year-old also trained his focus on the company culture and its over 2,000 employees, firm in his belief that maximizing individual and collective success has a huge impact on organizational performance. Pantano calls it “TAPping your potential – teamwork, attitude purpose.”

“That’s what inspires me – leading teams and having them be successful,” he says, “especially when getting through challenges and hurdles like we did last year, and really celebrating that.”

Like for everyone else, 2020 was certainly a challenge for alphabroder. The second-largest supplier in the industry saw revenue fall 10% and the closure of two distribution centers (Denver and Seattle). But there were positives too, such as transitioning its call centers virtually, employing workers in over a dozen states and running a more digitally oriented operation. “Those were good changes,” Pantano says. “That was something we always wanted to do, but we didn’t have the guts to do it.”

More good news: Even as the supplier still weathers supply chain and staffing challenges, business has been thriving in 2021, which Pantano attributes to the return of sports, back to school, employee recognition and more. That keeps Pantano’s plate full, even as he balances it with passions like fishing, Ohio State sports and trying to learn the banjo. “I’m not good,” he reveals with a laugh about his musical skills. “No one’s going to hear me play it for several years at this point.” But perhaps like learning the promotional products industry, it’ll become familiar soon enough.