The second largest distributor by revenue in the North American promotional products industry has named a new chief operating officer.

HALO Branded Solutions (asi/356000) said that Kevin Pollack has stepped into the C-Suite role at the Sterling, IL-based Top 40 distributorship. He replaces former COO Jack Mewhirter, who has retired.

Kevin Pollack, HALO

Pollack will report directly to CEO Marc Simon, who ranks third on Counselor’s most recent Power 50 list of the most influential people in the industry.

He comes to HALO from Stericycle, a multibillion-dollar company that specializes in disposing medical, pharmaceutical and hazardous waste. Pollack spent 17 years at Stericycle in operational and commercial leadership roles, most recently serving as senior vice president of global sales operations and strategic markets.

Pollack will be responsible for all aspects of HALO’s worldwide operational and technology infrastructure.

“The foundation of our success is operational excellence,” Simon said. “Kevin’s demonstrated track-record of success in senior operational leadership roles at a multibillion-dollar global company has prepared him well to bring the vision and innovation we need to continue to enhance our service offerings as we grow our business. He has a strong commercial orientation and business process excellence mindset that will serve our company, sales professionals and customers well.”

“I was drawn to HALO’s commitment to continuous improvement and the large investments being made to build a leading global business,” Pollack said in a statement. “I look forward to contributing new perspectives to the many positive initiatives in flight that will deliver value to our stakeholders.”

HALO’s 2019 reported North American promo product revenue reached $787 billion, good enough to place the company second in Counselor’s most recent Top 40 ranking of the industry’s biggest distributor firms.  The new rankings, based on 2020 performance, are due out in July 2021.