Top 40 distributor Stran Promotional Solutions (asi/337725) has brought on former ePromos (asi/188515) CEO Steve Paradiso as chief of staff to help support the acceleration of Stran’s growth strategy in the wake of its recent initial public offering.

In addition, the Quincy, MA-based distributor has made several other high-level moves. The company appointed Jason Nolley as chief technology officer, brought on Steve Urry as vice president of sales, and recently promoted Chris Rollins to chief financial officer effective upon the pricing of Stran’s IPO.

“I’m excited to welcome these highly experienced and accomplished executives to our management team,” said Andy Shape, president and CEO of Stran. “These appointments put Stran in an ideal position to support and accelerate our anticipated growth as we continue to gain momentum in the industry.”

Steve Paradiso

Paradiso, a former member of the Counselor Power 50, brings over 30 years of experience to Stran. He retired from Top 40 distributor ePromos in 2020 after eight years with the company. Prior to joining the firm, Paradiso spent nearly six years at Ohio-based Top 40 distributor Touchstone (asi/345631), where he was chief operating officer for about five years, as well as president. Other career highlights include serving as president of Cyrk – which at one point was the largest distributor in the promo industry – from 1988 to 2001. Paradiso will report directly to Shape.

Shape called Paradiso “one of the most successful and well-known names in the industry,” and noted that “his experience along with his strong relationships are already providing great value to the company.”

As CTO, Nolley has more than 20 years of e-commerce, technology and web marketing experience. He will be in charge of overseeing and enhancing Stran’s technological platforms, as well as integrating and implementing potential new technologies to support the company’s organic growth strategy. Prior to joining Stran, Nolley served in various leadership roles for Wildman Business Group’s technology team for seven years, where he led the implementation of new e-commerce, vendor and internal control systems. Last year, Stran acquired Wildman Imprints (asi/326625), the promo division of Warsaw, IN-based Wildman Business Group.

“Jason Nolley’s technological expertise is poised to support our goal of leveraging technologies to advance our sales pipeline and drive even greater operational efficiency,” Shape said.

Urry brings 28 years of experience in the print, packaging and promotional products industry, including 23 years of sales and operational leadership. Prior to joining Stran, Urry served as chief strategy officer of Visual Linc Partners, where he was responsible for the development of its sales teams, as well as oversight of mergers and acquisitions activity. Before that, he founded and built Allied Print Group into a $16 million company before selling it in 2009 when he joined Visual Linc Partners.

“Steve Urry has helped build multiple successful businesses within the industry, from the ground up, illustrating his unique ability to develop sales organizations and salespeople,” Shape said.

Rollins joined Stran in 2015 and previously served as its vice president of finance and administration where he was responsible for overseeing the company’s financials and reporting. He previously served as director of accounting for the northeast region of Toshiba Business Solutions from 2011 to 2014.

“Chris Rollins has overseen our accounting, financial reporting, internal controls and corporate finance strategies for over five years, during which time we more than doubled revenues,” Shape said.

Stran raised $20.7 million during its IPO in November; it raised an additional $21.7 million during a recent private placement to institutional investors. The company ranked on Counselor’s Top 40 list for the first time in 2021, after a 48% year-over-year revenue increase in 2020. The tally of $46.9 million in North American promotional product revenue was good enough to rank Stran as 32^nd on the list to top distributors in the industry.