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Our Team

Dan_Crane
Dan Crane President & CEO
  • 25+ years of experience in the Retail Sector
  • Held Buying, Category Management & Supply Chain roles at Ace Hardware Corporation during his 13 year Ace Career
  • Earned a BS Degree from Illinois State University and an MBA from Keller School of Business

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Canaan
Canaan Lawrence Executive Vice President
  • 22 years of experience in the Hardware, Home Center, Industrial & E-comm segments
  • Held various merchandising roles at Ace Hardware, as well as Executive Sales Management roles at Westinghouse & NIBCO
  • Previously President of American Standard Water Heaters
  • Currently leads the Industrial, Big Box & E-commerce business
  • Earned a BS Degree from Illinois State University
Mark Whitlock
Mark Whitlock Vice President, Operations, IT & Business Intelligence
  • 28+ years of experience in the hardware and shipping, packaging and industrial supplies segment
  • Held Merchandising, Private Brands, Category Management and Supply Chain roles during an 18 year career at Ace Hardware
  • Previously Merchandising Systems Manager at Uline
  • Currently leads the Operations, IT/BI & Amazon Team
  • Earned a BA Degree from Augustana College
Richard Rush
Richard Rush Vice President Orgill & Field Sales
  • 13+ years of experience in the Hardware segment
  • Has held various sales & support roles during his career at Creeden & Associates
  • Currently leads the Orgill business
Ken Balla
Ken BallaVice President of Sales,
Ace Hardware
  • 22 years of experience in the Hardware segment
  • Held Buying, Category Management & DMM roles during his 19-year career at Ace Hardware.
  • Previous Director of Sales at Danco, Inc.
  • Currently leads the Ace Hardware business and Customer Service
  • Earned a BS Degree from Illinois State University
Ildas
Ildas DurmicDirector of Sales,
True Value
  • 12 years of experience in the Hardware segment
  • Held Merchandising & Supply Chain roles at Ace Hardware, as well as Sales & Support roles during his 10-year career at Creeden & Associates
  • Currently leads the True Value Business
  • Earned a BBA in International Business from Loyola University Chicago
Heather
Heather WatsonDirector of eCommerce
  • 7 years of experience in the eCommerce and Retail segment
  • Held various roles at eCommerce food and Consumer goods
  • Currently manages the eCommerce team and marketing segment at Creeden
  • Earned a BS degree in Business Administration from Lewis University
AAA
Aaron AusfahlNational Account Executive,
Do It Best
  • 32 years in the Hardware industry 
  • Held various roles at Creeden and was promoted to Regional Manager in 2012
  • Currently leads the Do It Best business
  • Earned a BS Degree from Wayne State College
Margie
Margie RushNational Account Executive,
Ace Hardware
  • 8 years in the Hardware industry in various roles throughout the organization 
  • Previously held 5+ years of experience in Strategic Pricing and Demand Planning Management
  • Earned BA in Mathematics and Business from Eastern Illinois University
  • Currently leads the Do It Best business
Brent
Brent Morris Director of Sales,
Farm & Ranch
  • 38 years of experience in Retail Hardware/Home Center business
  • 33 years of sales at Creeden and Associates
  • 5 years sales experience Black and Decker
  • Earned degree Indiana University/ Kelly School of Business
Carly Hayes
Carly HayesCustomer Support Manager
  • 9 years experience in the hardware home center channel
  • Held various roles with Menards & Mills prior to joining Creeden
  • Currently leads the Customer Support Team
Audrie
Audrey Rutzen Accounting Manager
  • 35 years of experience in the public & private accounting sectors
  • Currently leads the accounting & financial reporting functions
  • Earned a BS Degree from DePaul University
Greg
Greg BiernackiDirector of IT & Business Technology
  • 19 years of experience in software development and database management
  • Held Senior Software Developer role during a 11 year career at Flying Food Group
  • Currently leads Software Development, Network Engineering and BI Teams
  • Earned BA at DeVry University
Monica
Monica HynesHuman Resource Manager
  • 8 years of experience working in HR
  • Held various positions within HR over the years and gained a large skill set from it
  • Earned a BS Degree from NIU and a Master's Degree from Benedictine University

National Sales Force

 
National Sales Force
National Sales Force

With coverage of all 50 states and major US markets, our National Sales Force is focused on gaining retail space. By utilizing our proprietary in field sales software, our sales team is equipped to execute in the stores like no other. Through consultative solution-based selling, our sales team is laser focused on securing inline programs, end caps and promotional placement over 20,000 retail locations.

Brent
Dan Grantham Strategic Account Manager
  • Over 29 years of experience in the retail sales
  • Sales and Management - Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Miller Brewing Co Distributor and 12 years at Creeden
  • BSBA in Business Management from Appalachian State University
Connie
Connie McGreevyStrategic Account Manager
  • 31 years of experience in the hardware sector
  • Has held multiple management & support roles during her career at Creeden
  • Currently manages marketing & sales support for Creeden Strategic Account initiative
Bill Chose
Bill Chose Senior Regional Sales Manager
  • 27 years in the hardware channel
  • Held various roles at Creeden including1 year as a Senior Regional Manager, 9 years as a Midwest and East Regional Sales Manager, and 1 year as an Outside Sales Rep
  • Held various roles in hardware from delivery to buyer to manager
  • Owned and operated a Hardware Hank store
  • Earned a BS in Business Management from Rasmussen School of Business
David_Harris
David HarrisRegional Sales Manager
  • 25+ years experience in Sales and Sales Management for companies providing services to the retail market
  • Background in building services and former Director of Development for a Commercial Construction Company
  • Previous store-level hardware experience 
Scott Albanese
Scott AlbaneseRegional Sales Manager
  • 8 years in the hardware channel
  • 20 plus years of selling experience at the retail level
  • 10 plus years of management experience
  • Earned a BS in Business Administration University of Nevada-Reno

Customer Service

Customer Service
Customer Service

Our fully staffed customer support help desk is here to support retail stores across the US. With an average inbound call rate of 1,500 calls per week, our team provides product information, order entry and tracking & field sales support.

Account Team

account
Account Team

Creeden & Associates is a Chicago based manufacturer representative agency with a sales force throughout the United States. We specialize in both the sales and back office support of your business needs

Operations & Back Office Teams

Operations & Back Office Teams
Operations & Back Office Teams

Our operations team and the combined departments of business intelligence, business technology, accounting and human resources are an integral component of ensuring all areas of the company run smoothly. Our core values of integrity, service and continuous improvement are central to these teams’ daily activities.

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Customer_Service@Creeden.com
(847) 998-9770
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