US Gateway : Emerging Market Program
Consultants
Founded in 1999, Zer0 to 5ive is an award-winning marketing and communications firm that specializes in developing and executing brand and marketing strategies for technology companies and their products and services. We work across a variety of vertical markets, including healthcare, education, wireless and financial services, and have extensive experience with all types of technologies, ranging from semiconductors to ASPs.
The core of the Company's offering is the Zer0 to 5ive Roadmap™ - a research-based methodology that identifies areas of market opportunity and brand development, and translates those findings into actionable marketing and communication tactics. Zer0 to 5ive also provides research, strategy, communications/public relations and creative services to its clients.
Zer0 to 5ive has offices in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, and has worked with over 100 public and private companies to maximize their marketing programs.
Zero to 5ive's client list includes public companies like Apple Computer's PowerSchool Division, Edison Schools, VerticalNet, QuadraMed, Safeguard Scientifics, and Orasure Technologies, as well as privately held companies, such as AuthenTec, Mantas, Carnegie Learning, CS Technology, Cadient and eMoney Advisor, among others.
Scott Gleeson Blue, Principal
Scott Gleeson Blue delivers high-level strategy and exacting implementation for new and established brands in the consumer, technology, education and healthcare markets from Zer0 to 5ive's Philadelphia office.
Before joining Zer0 to 5ive, Scott's 15-year career was mainly spent with two agencies in three cities. Beginning in the Minneapolis office of New York-based Connors Communications, he moved from the company's education to consumer group in 1997 and transferred to the firm's San Francisco office. He helped open Connors' Los Angeles office in 2000 and assisted in facilitating its transition to San Francisco-based Allison & Partners in 2001. With both agencies, Scott conceived and guided corporate and product communications strategies for diverse endeavors in the consumer, education, non-profit and business-to-business arenas. Clients have included the likes of American Express, Biophan, Broderbund, Deloitte, The Disney Channel, Edmund's, Encyclopedia Britannica, GoTo.com (now Overture), Houghton Mifflin, Knowledge Adventure, The Learning Company, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, McMillan-McGraw Hill, NBC Television (w/Corday Productions), New.net, Nordstrom, Priceline, Onsale, The Orange County Philharmonic Society, Shaw Pittman, Simon & Schuster, Upper Deck, Walker Digital, Vivometrics and Xerox. In 1998, Scott was proud to have been named a Connors Communications "star," the company's annual award for outstanding individual achievement.
Scott is also a writer. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Patterson, CEO, Command Information Inc., and partner emeritus, Deloitte, to write Mapping Security: The Corporate Security Sourcebook for Today's Global Economy. Published by Addison-Wesley, Mapping Security is designed for companies seeking to do business in more than one country. It focuses on the security, regulatory and cultural factors any business should consider before taking itself global. It has received high praise from the likes of Vint Cerf, Wired Magazine's Chris Anderson and Network World's Ellen Messmer.
From 2000 to 2002, Scott served on the Caltech-MIT Enterprise Forum Executive Committee. He has also been a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). He has taught writing, television production, radio production, marketing and advertising at Neumann College (Aston, Pennsylvania), Azusa Pacific University (Los Angeles), Bethel University (St. Paul, Minnesota) and guest lectured at UCLA and the University of Southern California. He has contributed to a host of publications including, most recently, the San Diego Business Journal,The Philadelphia Arts Writers and Trading Card News.
Scott holds a bachelor's degree in broadcast communications from Asbury College (Wilmore, Kentucky) and a master's degree in communications, with an emphasis in print journalism, from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Michelle Pujadas, Founder and Co-CEO
Michelle specializes in developing strategic marketing and communications programs that deliver measurable results. With more than 20 years of marketing and communications experience, Michelle understands what it takes to "make marketing count," especially as it relates to market entry and market expansion.
Michelle founded Zer0 to 5ive in May 1999 after recognizing that traditional agencies don't have the depth of experienced resources to provide the research and strategic marketing expertise that many companies need. By combining research and strategy with implementation services, such as public relations and creative, Zer0 to 5ive provides a single point of accountability and knowledge for its clients. As a result, clients and the Zer0 to5ive team are better informed, better aligned and better armed to reach their marketing goals.
Since 1999, Zer0 to 5ive has delivered top-tier marketing, strategy and communications services to more than 100 companies. Representing some of the most exciting technology companies in the industry, these clients came to Zer0 to 5ive because of its reputation for sound marketing fundamentals, a clear understanding of technology and technology market adoption and the ability to translate marketing strategies into actionable tactics. Along the way, Michelle has provided counsel to industry leaders such as Apple Computer, OraSure Technologies, U.S. Liability Insurance (a Berkshire Hathaway company), QuadraMed, Edison Schools, AuthenTec, Mantas, Safeguard Scientifics, PA Early Stage Partners, eMoney Advisor (acquired by Commerce Bank), CS Technology, PointRoll (a Gannet company), and Carnegie Learning, among others.
Under Michelle's leadership, Zer0 to 5ive has garnered several industry awards including the Silver Anvil Award of Excellence, the Big Apple Award and two Communicator Awards for client programs that have delivered tremendous results. In addition, Michelle has been tapped to provide guidance to non-profit organizations such as the National Kidney Foundation and the Greater Philadelphia Venture Group.
Michelle's background also includes a variety of high-profile positions including Vice President of Marketing for Safeguard Scientifics, where she was responsible for building Safeguard into a nationally recognized brand with a market cap of over $10 billion. There she also won two Telly Awards and a design award for Safeguard's 1999 Annual Report. Michelle was also Senior Vice President at Ketchum Public Relations where she created and ran the technology practice group at Ketchum/Pittsburgh and Vice President and Director of the Pittsburgh office of Crescent Communications, which Ketchum acquired in 1999. In 1999, Michelle won a Silver Anvil from the Public Relations Society of America for her outstanding achievements in the Integrated Marketing, Business-to-Business category for i2 Technologies' 1998 Planet Conference. It was the first Silver Anvil associated with a technology company that Ketchum had ever received.
Michelle has a bachelor's degree in Technical Writing and Editing from Carnegie Mellon University.
Santiago Pujadas, Co-CEO
Santiago Pujadas is the co-chief executive officer of Zer0 to 5ive. As co-CEO, Santi is responsible for the growth and direction of the Company and its offices in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York and Boston. Since its founding, Zer0 to 5ive has worked with more than 100 companies, developing their brand and go-to-market strategies, as well as assisting them in their execution of marketing communications and market launch activities. Santiago has provided marketing counsel to market leaders such as Edison Schools, Apple Computer's PowerSchool division, OraSure Technologies, Renal Solutions and others.
Santiago has a bachelor's degree in Industrial Management/Mathematics from Carnegie-Mellon University and a master's degree from Carnegie-Mellon's Tepper Graduate School of Business. He brings over 20 years of extensive business experience and a strong understanding of the role of marketing and communications as a key driver for company success. As such, Santiago is often tapped to provide business insight to clients as well, and has served on a number of non-profit boards including Calcutta House and currently serves on the Leadership Committee of the Institute for Student Achievement.
Prior to Zer0 to 5ive, Santiago was president of Wesdyne International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Company and the largest worldwide robotics inspection company in the electric utility industry. At Wesdyne, he managed approximately $80 million in revenues and established the Company's strategic direction, resulting in significant increases in both market share and profitability. Wesdyne provided power plant inspection services in over 40 countries throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe. Prior to Wesdyne, Santiago was president of the Computer Aided Training Company (CATCO), a joint venture company between Westinghouse and Electricite de France, the French national utility. While at CATCO, Santiago grew top-line revenues 300% while improving the bottom line dramatically. In addition, Santiago was critical in the implementation of CATCO s international strategy expanding representation agreements to 22 countries.
During his 15 year tenure at Westinghouse, Santiago also held a number of other executive positions in the marketing and project management organizations of the Energy Systems group and received numerous marketing and management awards for his performance.
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Phoenix Logistics
David "James" Holt
Managing over 2000 employees, David Holt was the Senior Vice President of Operations for abc Distributing, one of the largest private mail order companies in the United States. During his 28 years with abc Distributing, Mr. Holt built the infrastructure that allowed the company to grow from $30 million to over $600 million in annual sales. In 1999, he selected the site and managed the construction of the single largest warehouse in South Florida, a one million square foot, state-of-the-art distribution facility. Mr. Holt is also the Co-Founder of DDU Express Inc., a national delivery service company, PacNet, Inc., one of the largest packaging supply services operations in South Florida and uboxes.com, a national internet moving boxes and supply company.
Greg Herzog
Mr. Herzog's career in industrial sales began in 1986 as a Sales Engineer for one of the leading Raymond Corporation dealers in the country selling the full line of narrow aisle equipment. In the early 1990's Mr. Herzog worked for a national pallet rack systems manufacturer where he trained over 200 distributor salespeople with major names in the industry such as Staples, Reebok International and Dunkin Donuts. Mr. Herzog then helped found Global Storage Systems together with a small group of Canadian manufacturers of material handling equipment which was ranked fifth in an independent survey conducted by Modern materials Handling. mr. Herzog has been a speaker at many technical workshops and industry tradeshows sponsored by the material handling Association of America. Mr. Herzog received his Associate's degree in management Engineering. He completed his studies in Industrial Engineering at State University College at Buffalo, New York. he graduated from the Executive MBA Program at the University of Buffalo School of Management.
Kevin Szymanski
Kevin Szymanski has spent the past 16 years working for United Parcel Service, Federal Express and most recently, abc Distributing. With extensive experience in operations analysis, design and improvement, mr. Szymanski specializes in strategic and operational planning, supply chain strategy, process improvement, and integrated program management. he graduated from the State University of new York at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and is a member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.
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Nexia Strategies
Linda Duncan
BA, IPFA
With a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting from Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland, Linda Duncan possesses extensive experience in corporate governance, risk management and internal auditing for organizations worldwide. As a partner with KPMG Risk Advisory and Internal Audit Service in London, she was responsible for managing an extensive client portfolio. Additionally, she successfully built and led a team responsible for developing governance and risk management methodologies, standards and quality assurance processes. Prior to KPMG, Ms. Duncan spent 10 years at Price Waterhouse building and leading a 90-member internal audit and business advisory services team. She is a member of the Institute of Directors (IOD) in the UK and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CPFA). Ms. Duncan is also a member of the Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy audit panel, which provides methodologies and guidance to the UK government. She is also a recognized speaker at international conferences on corporate governance, risk management and internal audit, and leads a variety of risk control workshops for the IIA and MIS Institutes.
Hans Christian Beyer
Esq., BA, MBA
An accomplished litigator, international speaker, and published author on complex international insolvency, asset recovery, and tax issues, Hans Christian Beyer earned his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and his Bachelor of Arts degree with high honors in Economics from the University of Michigan. Mr. Beyer began his career with Midwest Continental Company as a financial planner developing sophisticated retirement plans for Fortune 500 executives. In 1991, Mr. Beyer joined Stearns, Weaver, Miller, Weissler, Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A., where he became a partner in the firm bankruptcy/creditors rights department and was responsible for large commercial reorganization, bankruptcy, and asset recovery matters. Thereafter, he joined the national law firm of Buchanan Ingersoll, P.C., one of the country top 100 law firms, as the partner in charge of the firm South Florida bankruptcy practice. There, he continued his specialization in bankruptcy and complex litigation, and was instrumental in successful asset recovery efforts involving two of the largest fraud cases in Florida. In addition to his work with Mirabilis Ventures and Nexia Strategy Corporation, Mr. Beyer is currently a partner with Saxon, Gilmore, Carraway, Gibbons, Lash & Wilcox, P.A., a full-service, Tampa-based law firm. Throughout his career, Mr. Beyer has worked with a full spectrum of clients, from global financial institutions to foreign and domestic corporations, as well as high net worth individuals. Mr. Beyer served honorably as a U.S. Marine and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Florida Bar Business Law Section, the American Bar Association, and the American Bankruptcy Institute. In recent years, he has spoken at several World Tax Conferences and International Insolvency Symposia and has been published both nationally and internationally. Mr. Beyer has also prepared chapters for American Bar Association treatises and is a regular guest lecturer at the University of Florida Law School.
Alexander Walton
MBA, MSEE, BSEE
Alexander Walton is a multi-degreed, seasoned business professional with a strong background in technology. Mr. Walton earned his MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology, an MSEE from Georgia Tech with a focus on optics, integration optics and communications; and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from The Citadel. He also earned a Project Management Professional certification issued by the Project Management Institute, is ISO 9000 certified and has taught at both University of California at Berkley and Georgia Tech. Mr. Walton served in the military as a Captain in the U.S. Army, where he was an electrical engineer and program manager for custom instrumentation development and field testing. He then went on to a stellar career with Harris Corporation, where he held a number of advanced engineering, program management and proposal manager positions. In this capacity, Mr. Walton led a wide range of initiatives including the development of fiber optic modules and high speed data busses for the Advanced Tactical Fighter, as well as two space shuttle-related programs. Mr. Walton later became an internal consultant for Harris, focused primarily on developing and implementing enterprise-wide program and process improvement methodologies. He also served as project and quality manager for two projects for Harris Digital Telephone Systems division that utilized extensive Russian and Chinese offshore resources. Mr. Walton most recently has been an independent consultant through his own firm, 3PM, working with a wide range of internationally-recognized companies including Abbott International, Barclays Global Investors, Lanier, Harris, Franklin Covey and Wells Fargo.
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Dr. Peng Lu
Managing Director for China, Mirabilis Ventures
General Manager, American Industrial Park
Peng Lu is currently in charge of the American Industrial Park Project at
Mirabilis. This Project engages in development and management of comprehensive
industrial property in China for small and medium American
enterprises, in order to best combine the global natural resource, human
resource, brand names and markets.
Prior to joining Mirabilis, Dr. Peng Lu was a professor and the director
for China Projects at Florida International University (FIU). He developed
FIU's Tianjin College of Hospitality Management, the largest educational cooperation between
China and the United States, for which he raised 220 million RMB for a new campus with buildings
of 405k sft for 2000 students worldwide. Currently, Dr. Liu is writing a textbook titled "Chinese
Culture vs. Modern Business".
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