St. Charles, IL (October 3, 2016) – American Office Products Distributors, Inc. (AOPD) Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Casey Avent to the AOPD Business Partner Advisory Council. Casey Avent is President of The Smead Manufacturing Company and the 4th family member to lead Smead Manufacturing during its 110 years of incorporation. Casey has over 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, manufacturing and supply chain. He is a well-respected expert in the industry and a strong agile leader and sales person.
Casey began his career at Smead Manufacturing in 1996 and has held a variety of positions over the years. After starting his career in Marketing, he moved into the Sales department as a Territory Sales Representative in the North Texas area. In 2007 he accepted a position on the Operations side of the business as Director of Supply Chain and then spent several years as National Account Manager for the company’s S&W Manufacturing division in Florence, South Carolina. Working in the Florence facility was a pivotal moment in Avent’s career. It provided him the opportunity to fully absorb the intricacy of our manufacturing processes and capabilities.
In 2013 Casey returned to Smead headquarters in Minnesota as Vice President of Sales and was subsequently promoted to Vice President of Sales and Marketing. On July 1, 2016, Casey succeeded Sharon Avent as President of Smead Manufacturing.
“On behalf of the AOPD Board of Directors and our current Business Partner Executive Advisors, I would like to welcome Casey to the AOPD Business Partner Advisory Council, stated Mark Leazer, AOPD Executive Director. He continued, “The experience, integrity and credibility that Casey and his family’s company, Smead, bring to this role will be most helpful as we continue to navigate the challenges of our industry. Smead has been a long-term supporter of AOPD and we look forward to working even closer with Casey in this new role.”
“I’m honored to be a part of AOPD’s Business Partner Advisory Committee. The success of AOPD is instrumental to both its members and business partners so I’m looking forward to contributing any way I can,” stated Casey Avent, Smead Manufacturing President.
Casey joins current Advisory Council Members, Bill Cardone from GOJO, Inc., Todd Carlson from 3M, Barry Lane from Avery Products and Mike Metchikoff from OPMA as they assist and advise the AOPD Board in many essential areas.