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The LINC Preferred Group Team LINC Preferred Group management consists of a seasoned group of business professionals with over 200 years of collective knowledge in the fields of engineering, manufacturing, general management, distribution, and customer service. Managers have excellent industry contacts as well as first-hand knowledge of both supply and customer bases.
Responsible for Procurement. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Bunio founded Russell J. Bunio and Associates (2002), a supply chain management group focused on the implementation of Best Practices to improve efficiency and costs. Mr. Bunio held the position of Vice President and General Manager of Supply Management and Procurement for the Boeing Company (1998-2001, retiring 6/1/2001). Additionally, Mr. Bunio held various positions with Cummins Engine Company, Inc. (1989-1998) leading to the position of Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer for Cummins. From 1986-1989, Mr. Bunio was Director of Materials Management at New United Motors Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI). Mr. Bunio’s career started with General Motors (1970-1989) with assignments in Components Divisions in Dayton, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Montreal, Canada, and Matamoros, Mexico. His educational background includes a B.S. in Economics from West Virginia University and G.E.S. European American Study Center, Basel, Switzerland.
Responsible for recruitment and training of sales representatives. Dave began his 32-year career at Cummins, Inc. in finance and held a number of corporate level Director positions, including Director-Pricing and Director-Finance. In 1991, he joined the materials organization as Director of Customs Affairs and Strategic Sourcing Analysis. In 1995, he became the Director of Logistics with lead responsibility for Transportation, Customs Affairs and International Material Flow. In 2001, he retired from Cummins and formed Dave Clark and Associates, a transportation and logistics consulting firm. He received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and an MBA from Ohio State University. Responsible for establishment of Human Resource programs in support of company’s vision and objectives. Additionally, she is responsible for coordination with customer service/transaction center. Mrs. England has strong H.R., training, systems, group support skills, having spent 25 years with the Fleetguard Div. of Cummins Engine Co., serving in the areas of H.R., Engineering, and Information Systems. Previously Vice President – Human Resources/Safety for First Choice Express, Inc. Mrs. England is also an affiliate broker with ReMax Preferred Group. She attended Tennessee Technological University. Alan Farley is currently the President of a Government Relations
& Consulting firm based in Murfreesboro, TN. Mr. Farley has
consulted on a variety of interests in Nashville and Washington,
DC such as pharmaceuticals, communications, insurance, transportation,
construction & development, fire service, local governments,
higher education and economic development. Through his work in these
areas, Farley has gained vast experience in fundraising, government
relations, marketing, promotions, and political consulting at the
local, state, and federal levels.
Rebeccah Goforth began working with LINC Preferred Group on February 14, 2005, after working in the Computer industry for five years. Although new to the trucking industry, Rebeccah has 15 years experience in office procedures and management. Rebeccah’s primary focus for LINC will be support for the Sales & Marketing division. Rebeccah worked for almost nine years as an Office Manager for a local copier company and five years as an administrative assistant to Director of Operations for two computer networking companies. Rebeccah has an extensive background in purchasing and customer relations but primary work environment has been in developing and implementing procedures to insure proper administrative growth and development. Rebeccah presently lives in Sparta, TN with her husband Gary and their two sons.
Responsible for financial planning & analysis, process planning & control, reporting, auditing, information systems, and treasury operations. Previously Mr. Graves served as Vice President – Finance & Administration for four privately held companies in commercial land development, affiliated real estate sales and a nationwide transportation truckload delivery group. Prior to that, he spent 27 years with Fleetguard Inc., subsidiary of Cummins Engine Co., serving in key engineering and operational capacities including Director - Corporate Manufacturing Engineering, Director - Worldwide Operations Support, Manager – Cookeville Plant Manufacturing Services, Engineering Group Leader, and Cookeville Plant Production Unit Manager. He was responsible for overall design, implementation, training & startup of Fleetguard’s first international plant in Quimper, France, later recognized by Cummins Production Excellence Council as “best practice” plant. Mr. Graves has a B.S. Industrial Engineering, from Tennessee Technological University.
Mr. Husmann was Director of Procurement at Cummins, responsible for the development of strategic commodity procurement. Mr. Husmann spent 36 years at Cummins Engine Company, Inc., in Materials, Engine Order Management, and Purchasing Leadership roles. He has extensive experience in Supplier Development and Performance Management with results of 4-5% annual cost improvement. Mr. Husmann has a BBA from the University of Iowa. Mark Isom knows all about team spirit and a winning attitude. These are concepts that have made him a winner his entire life. While at Carson Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee, Mark was a member of two NAIA national championship football teams. He was also a two-time member of the all-America football team. After he graduated from Carson Newman with a degree in Business Management, he began to pursue his dream of one day owning his own business. His management career began at Southeast Service Corporation in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1985. Mark assumed progressively more responsible positions with the company and oversaw all aspects of operation before leaving nine years later as Group Manager. In 1993, Mr. Isom became Vice President of Operations for Burns Janitor Services, the largest wholly owned minority company in Kentucky. Mark made a two year commitment to the company and instituted strict management and quality control systems that turned the company into a thriving enterprise. Equipped with more than a decade of experience, a winning attitude, and whenever needed, a mop, Mark founded Premiere Building Maintenance Corporation in 1996. As President and CEO, Mark began working on his team and established a company based on honesty, fairness, consistency, and a hands-on work ethic. "Our janitors are our most important employees, because they are the ones that keep our customers happy," said Mark. "From that standpoint, I'm a janitor. Everybody that works for this company is a janitor, because our number one goal is customer satisfaction." Since 1996, Mark's pursuit of excellence and customer satisfaction has established Premiere as a nationally known contract building maintenance firm with a reputation for quality, service, and dependability that is second to none. Today, Mark Isom's dream of owning his own company is reality. In 2003, the Small Business Administration (SBA) awarded Premiere the 8(a) Business of the Year Award. Premiere was awarded the Minority Supplier of the Year Award for 2004 from the Tennessee Minority Supplier Development Council. Also in 2004, Mark was awarded the SBA's Small Business Person of the Year Award for 2004 and the Business Achievement Award for 2004 from the Economic & Community Development Council. He and all the employees of Premiere Building Maintenance Corporation are truly winners. James K. Morton completed 30 years of service with the Fleetguard Div. of Cummins Engine Co. During that period, Fleetguard grew from a $5M to over $800M group. His experience in variety of positions ranged from Product Design, Manufacturing, Materials Management, multi-plant leadership, quality assurance, joint venture/merger integration to worldwide operational management for seventeen locations. Mr. Morton began his career in Fleetguard’s Engineering Group in 1968, starting their Aftermarket Technical Dept. and eventually serving as Manager of Product Development. In 1973, Mr. Morton accepted the Plant Superintendent position and eventually served as Manager of the Cookeville. TN plant during the period of 1980-1985. In 1985, Mr. Morton was promoted to Vice President – Operations, adding responsibility for the Lake Mills, Iowa manufacturing operation. International and U.S. operations were combined in 1988 and Mr. Morton became Senior Vice President – Worldwide Operations. Fleetguard opened their first Corporate Office in Nashville, TN in 1990 and Mr. Morton relocated there. In addition to U.S. operations, he was responsible for plants and distribution centers in Europe, Pac Rim, Australia, Canada and joint ventures in Mexico/Korea. In 1992, Fleetguard asked Mr. Morton to serve as President of Separation Technologies, a specialty filtration company in Cary, N.C. He relocated and served in that capacity until his retirement in April 1998. Mr. Morton joined the Holcomb Intl. group on day of his retirement. This work evolved around a practicing VU physician and multiple patents that might be commercialized. Numerous contracts were negotiated and several start-up companies were formed around different technologies during the period of 1998 through 2003. Mr. Morton served in various capacities for the Holcomb start up ventures, President – Holcomb HealthCare Services, Chief Operating Officer for Holcomb Cos., President – Rom Technologies and Vice President – Demeter Systems. Demeter Systems LLC is currently involved in “overall quality of life” improvements with developing technology for burning clean coal, treating wood safely, treating fuel for reduced emissions and purifying water. In April 2003, Mr. Morton partnered with former colleagues and co-founded LINC Preferred Group, Inc. Serving as startup President, Mr. Morton participated in chartering, organizational needs, recruitment, funding and supplier contracts along with his partners. Mr. Morton serves today as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Morton is a graduate of Tennessee Technological University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He is a member of the Engineering and Business Foundations, having served as President of the latter. The University has honored Mr. Morton with the Outstanding Service Alumni Award and selection for the Alumni ROTC Hall of Fame. Additional educational work included 20 hours towards M.B.A Mr. Morton has participated in numerous community/professional organizations, serving as President of Putnam Co. Chamber of Commerce, Board member of Vanderbilt Operations roundtable, Director of Cookeville Branch Union Planter’s Bank, certification with the American Production and Inventory Control Society (CPIM), Certified Business Manager (CBM) and the American Legion. Jim Morton and his wife of 39 years, Marilyn, reside in Brentwood, TN. They have two married sons, David (banker) and Stephen (attorney) who reside nearby. They are expecting their first grandchild in October.
Dr. Robert E. Niebuhr became dean of the College of Business Administration at Tennessee Tech University in July 2001. In the last three years the college has introduced a distance-based MBA program that now has over 70 working professionals taking courses without coming to the campus. Additionally, an emphasis on external endeavors has resulted in multi-media contracts with such firms as Averitt Express, Clayton Homes, and the Nashville Sounds. Johnson Hall renovation efforts have resulted in complete refurbishing of several classrooms and conversion of the entire facility to a wireless environment. Dr. Niebuhr was a faculty member at the College of Business at Auburn University for twenty-four years. During that time, he served Auburn as head of the Management Department and as interim dean, and lastly as executive director of Corporate Relations and director of the Physicians Executive MBA Program. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Niebuhr worked as a metallurgical engineer for ten years and then completed his doctorate in management at Ohio State University. He earned his B.S. from the University of Cincinnati and his M.S. from Ohio State. Ms. Phillips received a BA in Public Affairs from George Washington University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. She joined Cummins Engine Company after graduation as a Senior Financial Analyst. During her twenty five year career with Cummins, she rose through the ranks as Manufacturing Manager, Commodity Manager, Special Supplier Development Director, Director – Conference Logistics and Diversity Procurement, Plant Manager of Nelson Burgess, Ltd. in the United Kingdom, Director of Global Sourcing for Fleetguard, a division of Cummins, and Executive Director of Global Pricing for Fleetguard. She left Cummins in 2005 to acquire her current business, which provides assemblies and sub-assemblies, kitting, fulfillment and distribution. Ms. Phillips has been involved with the Indiana Minority Supplier Development Council for many years and has a commitment to diversity procurement. Debra Sillik is the president of the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Nevada. Debra works as a volunteer for the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Nevada, and has been working for about seven months to put together a board of directors and to plan events for the group. The American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Nevada is a group that first began operating eight years ago but came under Debra’s leadership about seven months ago. Debra saw the need for immediate changes due to the fact that they didn't meet consistently and had more of a social function. Under Debra’s direction, the group will now focus on actively working to provide networking and other opportunities for American Indian business people. Debra believes that Native Americans are one of the least served of all ethnic groups. She sees it could be because they're smaller and very private people. They're not going to go out and ask for help. What I'm seeing is a lot of them are out of their element. They've come to this big city and they don't have the spiritual/cultural connection. The number of American Indian business openings in Nevada is growing along with the growth of that population here. According to 2003 U.S. Census Bureau statistics there are 9,556 American Indian and Alaska Native people in Clark County. American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses in Nevada grew by 56 percent between 1997 and 2002 from 1,231 in 1997 to 1,915 in 2002, according to the Census Bureau. Debra has designed the group to have more of a holistic approach to providing opportunities to American Indians such as employment opportunities and educational opportunities. In addition to the monthly meetings, the group will offer educational workshops.
Mr. Smith is responsible for analysis of critical supply programs for customers and the development of client site business support programs. Prior to joining the LINC team, he spent 26 years with Fleetguard, Inc., a subsidiary of Cummins Engine Company. Through various positions including Senior Chief Engineer and Director-Logistics, he developed and implemented improvements in manufacturing, supply chain management, and new product introduction processes. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering from Tennessee Technological University, and he has served as an adjunct instructor at Tennessee Tech and David Lipscomb universities. He is a registered professional engineer. Donald J. Snydel discovered his passion for the Graphic Arts 45 years ago while in high school. He continued his education focusing not only on the mechanics of print, but also on the sales and marketing aspects. In 1970 Don graduated from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo with a Bachelor of Science degree. He majored in Printing Management with minors in Business and Industrial Supervision. While at Western he was President of the Graphic Arts Society and Vice President of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Shortly after graduation, he founded The Press Express, a full-service quick printing operation. After selling the business in 1977, he has spent the majority of his professional career in printing related sales. For the past 17 years he has been the Vice President of Sales for Creative Printing Services, Inc., the largest African-American owned printing company in the United States. Creative Printing Services is a $25 million full-service commercial/financial sheetfed and web printer located in Des Plaines, Illinois. In addition to having his own account responsibility, Don directs a staff of 15 sales professionals. Major accounts include Disney, HSBC, Kellogg, Bank of America, and Verizon. Don and his wife, Leslie, live in Naperville, Illinois. They have two children, Jamie, a recent graduate of Purdue University currently working in sales, and Michael, a sophomore in high school. Pete Varma, CEO and President of Intraline, Inc., is an entrepreneur extraordinaire. He founded Intraline, Inc in 1989 as an Industrial distributor. Intraline provides products and services to Fortune 100 customers. Mr. Varma has 25 years of technical, sales and marketing experience in the wholesale distribution business, having introduced numerous innovative technologies to his customers. He was also the co-founder electrical supply and lighting products distributor. Pete continues to grow Intraline and has created a Technology division. This division provides business to business (B2B) solutions and connectivity for small, medium and diversity suppliers to do business with corporations and government agencies electronically. The services include content management, hosting, training and connectivity to any ERP system. He is a member of SSMI (Strategic Supply Management Institute)
and USD (University of San Diego) Strategic Supply Chain Institute
for past 6 years. He works as a consultant delivering innovative
solution in the Supply Chain Management. Pete has knowledge and
experience in process and workflow of total “World Class Supply
Management”.
Responsible for generating business growth and providing the preferred service in the transportation industry. He has over 30 years of general management experience with large industrial groups. He served as President/COO of Magnatech International, L.P., a major producer of equipment to the hose industry, and President/CEO of Morgan Corporation, the leading producer of truck bodies in the industry. His lengthy business career includes nearly 20 years with the Teledyne Group, serving as President of Teledyne Industrial Engines, Group Executive of Teledyne Northern, Vice President/Gen. Manager and President of Teledyne Stillman in Cookeville, TN. Mr. Wilson attended Drury College and University of Missouri, St. Louis. _______________________________________________________
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