BV Investment Partners Acquires ECRM

SOLON, OH--(Marketwired - Jul 9, 2013) - Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM®), a leader in business innovation and technology, is proud to announce that BV Investment Partners (BV) will become ECRM's majority shareholder, effective immediately. This strategic partnership will drive ECRM's growth within current endeavors while simultaneously expanding into new areas.

Founded in 1994 by the late Charlie Bowlus and his son Mitch Bowlus, ECRM is known for strategic events and promotional tracking and analysis in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry. It is with this already strong foundation that ECRM looks to BV as a way to develop the business further, "I'm excited to partner with BV to help bring the company that my father and I built together to its next stage of growth," Mitch Bowlus explains. 

With this transition, Mitch Bowlus, is stepping down as President, "I will continue to be a significant shareholder and will be involved in the future strategic growth of the business but will be transitioning out of the day to day operations. With this, I am pleased to announce Greg Farrar as our (ECRM) new CEO," says Bowlus. Upon building a strong business relationship with Bowlus, it became clear that Farrar's proven credentials and established knowledge of the CPG industry made him the ideal CEO candidate to lead ECRM into a successful future.

Farrar, formerly the CEO of Trade Only Design Library (TODL), the leading online product research and specification library exclusively for interior designers, architects, and other trade professionals, is an innovative business-to-business media executive with a track record of successfully transforming and growing businesses. Under Farrar's leadership, TODL's professional membership grew by 50% while its manufacturer library increased by over 60%.

Prior to his time at TODL, from 2007 until 2010, Farrar served as President of Nielsen Business Media, a 760 employee, $310 million business-to-business media company. He successfully led the business through unusually severe economic conditions and re-positioned it for future growth. Prior to that, in 2006 Greg was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Nielsen Business Media where he spearheaded the market-focused reorganization of the company's operations. 

"This is about growing and serving our customers better. It's about taking the opportunity to enter into markets we don't currently serve yet," Farrar said while explaining his vision for ECRM's future. 

"The executive team is very excited that we have found a seasoned senior leader who will undoubtedly help us propel the future growth of the company," Bowlus goes on to say. 

About ECRM:
ECRM® is a global leader in retailer promotional data syndication and analysis. ECRM® provides business solutions by integrating process, vision and technology. ECRM has revolutionized the sales and marketing process by uniting retailers and suppliers of the consumer packaged goods industry at Efficient Program Planning Sessions, or EPPS® events.