Leadership

Chad is responsible for strategic oversight of client initiatives. His strength is sizing up opportunities and designing a game plan to achieve results. Prior to founding Spearhead, Chad was responsible for business management, sales and marketing at three mid-size manufacturing companies: Fast Heat, Freeman Company and Fremont Die Cut Products. In all three cases, he more than doubled sales while increasing gross margin. He accomplished this by closing the largest clients within each industry including Letica Corp, Denso Mfg, Pactiv, Genpak, General Motors, Frigidaire to name a few. Chad earned a MBA from Case Western Reserve’s Weatherhead School of Management and a B.S. Architecture from The Ohio State University. He is currently serving as Treasurer and Continuing Education Director for the Northern Indiana Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

Steve has been both a client and a subcontractor for Spearhead since 2008 as the owner of Effect Web Agency. He most recently accepted the role as Director of Services for Spearhead where he ensures all programs and projects are On Target, On Time and On Budget. Steve has planned and developed over 150 websites through Effect Web. Prior to founding Effect, Steve worked for a traditional web developer. Being unsatisfied with the traditional web developer mantra of churning over projects without any marketing strategy alignment, Steve created Effect Web. Steve is a graduate of Goshen College with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. In 2007, Steve won the Fort Wayne Business Weekly Innovator Award in the Technology category.

Rick provides strategic consulting along with sales and behavioral change coaching. He works with assigned clients to oversee their strategy development and provide sales, marketing and coaching support for their growth initiatives. Complementing his activities with Spearhead, Rick is also the owner of The Growth Coach^© of Michiana. A company that provides business and sales coaching to assist business leaders to accelerate their personal and company growth. Over three decades he held VP to CEO positions with five different manufacturing companies within the Truck Equipment and RV Industries. Including leading the Sales and Marketing of Supreme Industries in Goshen to a growth of 40 times in revenues. Rick earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business from Hillsdale College and has earned recognition through the years as an aggressive “Street Smart” growth executive.

Pete is responsible for carrying the Spearhead message to the Michiana business community and helping our clients grow their bottom lines. Prior to joining Spearhead, Pete spent twenty-two years in sales, sales management and marketing with three successful local companies: Burkhart Advertising, CBRE/Bradley and Ziker Uniforms. Pete helped all three companies recruit top talent, develop deep business relationships and grow revenue. His roles as General Manager, V.P., Broker and Sales/Service Manager afforded training and certification in many diverse and effective selling and leadership styles. His strengths include: Business and Team Management, Relationship Development, Sales and Sales Procedure Development, Marketing and Recruiting. Pete is Past President of the South Bend Rotary Club, Past President of the Michiana Ad Club and a graduate of South Bend/Mishawaka Leadership. Pete is a recipient of the David F. Fischgrund Community Service Award from the South Bend Rotary Club. This award recognizes significant community contributions and embodies the Rotary “Service Above Self” motto.

Steve is responsible for creative strategic planning. His day-to-day work includes strategic communications planning and brand identity development along with event/show planning and total campaign development for various clients. Steve has been involved with advertising and marketing since the age of 19 when he held a marketing position at Bendix Westinghouse in Bristol, England. Since founding TaigMarks in 1998, Steve has worked with industry leaders in a number of fields: Navistar, Dometic, Zimmer, Remy Electric Motors, and many others. Originally from England, Steve is an IU graduate with a degree in Marketing and Advertising. While at IU, he earned the prestigious Wall Street Journal Award. Since then he and TaigMarks have earned numerous advertising and marketing awards at the local and national level.

David is responsible for overall creative direction and brand continuity. David works directly with the marketing team, art directors and web designers to reach the chosen targeted audience in a creative and memorable way. His prior positions include a stint as Creative Director at “another advertising agency” where he was responsible for creative direction and brand development. There he worked with his current business partner Steve Taig for 10 years before founding TaigMarks in 1998. David has over 35 years experience working with companies in a variety of fields such as agricultural, healthcare, manufacturing, automotive and finance. David earned his associates degree from IVY Technical College many years ago. In his professional life, David has earned numerous awards in advertising and broadcast. David is a current board member of the Samaritan Center in Elkhart and editor of the River Valley Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America.

Abby recently accepted a position at Spearhead as coordinator/designer. Prior to working at Spearhead she was employed as the Marketing/Graphic Design Specialist at the Greater Elkhart Chamber. Before that she worked at The Elkhart Truth in their graphic and marketing department. She also worked as a graphic designer for a magazine and a book publishing/software company. Her duties included designing entire campaigns for various events, logos, billboards, flyers, brochures, banners, postcards, web banners, and more. Abby is bringing over 19 years of experience in graphic design to Spearhead, including 11 years working in a Marketing Department and 5 years as a part time freelance designer for several local businesses and not-for-profit organizations. She is a graduate of Kendall College of Art & Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communication.