Top 40 distributor AIA Corporation (asi/109480) recently introduced AIA Reimagine, a strategic plan that will drive shifts in strategy to focus on AIA owners and their success in 2021 and beyond. To support the reimagined experience, AIA has announced three new roles along with three new hires and two promotions.

“This plan draws on AIA’s more than 30 years of experience and positions AIA and our owners for growth and profitability, even in these uncertain times,” Nancy Schmidt, CEO of AIA, said in a press release. “We’ll do this by delivering an owner experience that is unlike any other in the industry. One that promises a strong, collaborative owner community; personalized attention to fit owners’ specific needs; and the education, marketing and technology resources needed to effectively sell to end customers and run a business.”

Joél Bastien, senior vice president of owner success at AIA

Joél Bastien, senior vice president of owner success, will lead this new initiative, working in partnership with the newly created roles to ensure continuity across all owner-facing functions. “With this new structure, AIA owners will benefit from one team, one direction and one point of contact quarterbacking their needs,” Bastien said. “This is a pivotal time for many independent distributors. Joining AIA means having the support of a community of like-minded peers, solid financial funding and industry experienced professionals who have walked a mile in their shoes, giving distributors confidence to engage the changing market in new ways.”

Julie Callahan will serve as vice president of owner experience. Callahan has seven years of industry experience in sales and leadership on both the supplier and distributor side, including roles at Top 40 supplier alphabroder (asi/34063) and Indianapolis-based OmniSource Marketing (asi/287488). In her new role, she will provide strategic direction, leadership and management to the owner experience and business development teams to ensure AIA owners are supported in achieving their business, sales, marketing and rebate goals.

David Dick will serve as director of business development. Similar to Callahan, Dick has experience on both the supplier and distributor side, previously supporting sales at Top 40 distributor BDA (asi/137616) and Top 40 supplier Gold Bond (asi/57653). In his new role, he will prospect, recruit and sign qualified promotional products distributors as new AIA owners.

Jamie Tumas will serve as business development manager. Tumas previously spent over 10 years at ASI, most recently serving as the director of distributor sales. According to Bastien, the hiring of Dick and Tumas comes as AIA is experiencing increased distributor interest.

Andres Blanco and Dana Henton will serve as directors of owner success. Both joined AIA in 2019 and previously served as owner success managers. In their elevated roles, they will serve as trusted business advisors to AIA owners, ensuring sales growth and profitability.

With reported 2019 North American promotional product revenue of $210.7 million, AIA Corporation ranked 10th on Counselor’s latest list of the 40 largest distributors in the industry.