Mike Cassem

I currently procure over 250 items for 10 plants from over 30 domestic and international suppliers. That includes buying from 12 different states and countries. Part of my daily job is to troubleshoot through issues to prevent supply disruptions. Due to the nature of some of the unique items I buy, I need to constantly pay attention to potential distressed inventory. That includes identifying vendor MOQ's, shelf life, and the substitutability of an item. Part of the position is updating pricing with weekly financial reports so customers have the most up to date price quotes. This includes pricing out new sourced ingredients. Many of the ingredients I buy include: Chocolate and yogurt covered nuts and fruits, granola, roasted corn, pretzels, crackers, and seeds. In 2018, I added 4 new suppliers to build redundancy, cost savings, and improve service. I achieved my cost savings goal of $290,000 in 2018 by negotiating with vendors, adding new suppliers, and running an RFP.

Managing day to day tasks of importing commodities by following each step in the importing process. This starts with a booking request overseas all the way to the end, 6 weeks later, when the container is arriving at its designated facility. Some of these tasks include approving container bookings, tracking shipments, checking for food safety approvals, and filing USDA exemption forms. By ensuring customs entry and Import Security Filings are filed, I make sure these shipments have the clearance to be released at port. I help to move up to 1500 containers a year from their origin port overseas to their destination in the United States via ocean, rail, and intermodal shipping systems. Many times, I have to problem solve to cross-check and find missing information for a shipment. That can include figuring out how to get product placed on hold, released to use. This also give me a chance to work with a very diverse group of people from government officials, commodities brokers, QA Staff, and overseas offices that don't speak very good english. This is why I enjoy my job and every day is different. This job brings together skills of accounting, sales, procurement, relationship building, focus, time-management, problem-solving, leadership, and good-communication.

My primary responsibilities are Sales and Marketing. That includes providing excellent customer service to current accounts and selling to new accounts.

♦Part-time position where I promoted and educated customers and Best Buy Store Associates on Intel processors and technology ♦Also promoted other brands at different times in the program which included Dell, Sony, Adobe, Toshiba, Western Digital, Seagate, Basis Peak, Microsoft, Lenovo, and Trend Micro ♦ Audited in store marketing, signage, ads, and inventory. ♦ Educated Best Buy employees on Intel products and their promotional partner ♦ Assisted customers in finding the correct computer product for them along with selling accessories to make the bundle

Prospect new customers and manage current accounts through the use of Salesforce.com. Manage and update www.corebev.com through backend of Volusion. Customer Service: I help customers place their orders and answer questions on product along with invoicing and collecting payments. Purchasing: I manage placing purchase orders to ensure proper inventory management, cash flow, and warehouse space. Logistics Coordinator: I work with shipping brokers and transportation companies to retrieve pallets of product throughout the United States shipping back to Edina, MN at a competitive price.

♦Strategized selling into different business environments while on 100% commission ♦Cold-called 100 businesses a week selling advertising in county and online plat-books and maps ♦Facilitated advertising partnerships with different types of organizations, which included county governments, chambers of commerce, soil & water conservation districts, 4-H's, and school districts ♦Answered all advertising concerns which included past due collections

I worked in the St. Paul, Minnesota territory covering St. Paul, Roseville, South St. Paul, and Woodbury calling on Primary Care Doctors in those cities. The three drugs I covered were Coreg, Avandia, and Avodart.

Selling yellow page advertising to small business owners in the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Rochester, MN Markets.

My job was to go after new business opportunities in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Market selling telecom solutions to businesses with 100 employees or less.

Selling door to door a study guide that helped parents help their kids with school work. I worked in Ohio the summer of 2001, South Carolina in the summer of 2002, and St. Louis, MO in the summer of 2003. Each summer, I knocked on over 10,000 doors working 7:30am to 9:30pm at night 6 days a week for 12 weeks. I would stay in one school district for most of the summer.