Main Street Gourmet is pleased to announce the hiring of 2 new positions and the formation and expansion of a new leadership team. Karl Driggs has been hired as the company’s Chief Operating Officer and Robert Ecker has been hired as the company’s Chief Financial Officer.

Both Driggs and Ecker, along with Director of Sales Nate Searles, will form a new leadership team to manage the company’s operations. “Over the last several months, we have been focusing on developing a transition of leadership to the team that will be managing the day?to?day business over the next several years,” said Steve Marks, Co?CEO and Co?Founder. “We know that Karl, Bob, and Nate have a great balance of talent and expertise to achieve our long term goals. We are very confident that they will be able to continue our growth and company culture,” Harvey Nelson, Co?CEO and Co?Founder added. Both Steve and Harvey will remain as Co?CEOs.

Karl Driggs has held numerous operations and financial leadership positions in both the manufacturing and service sectors in Northeastern Ohio. He has a solid history of improving productivity and efficiencies, training, sustainable growth strategies, process improvement and industry quality standards, as well as experience in human resources. Karl holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ashland University in Management Science and Marketing and attended Cleveland State University, studying Marketing and Finance.

Robert Ecker brings to Main Street Gourmet a diverse, broad?based background in finance, operations and asset management, strategic planning and administration, new business development and transactions as well as pricing and margin management experience in the manufacturing and consumer products industries. Bob has held leadership roles with a focus on driving sustainable profitable growth and continuous improvement in people and processes, while ensuring well-controlled operating environments. Bob received his MBA in Finance from Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business, JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Nate has been with Main Street Gourmet since 2005, starting as an Account Executive. During that time he has grown into the role of Director of Sales where he has had primary responsibility for national sales growth while developing key relationships within the industry. In his new role, Nate will lead the entire sales and customer service team and be accountable for the company sales strategy while continuing to oversee many of the company’s national custom accounts. Nate received his Bachelor degree in Sport Management with a minor in Marketing from Bowling Green State University.

Main Street Gourmet is a bakery and dessert customization expert. Having started as a small retail muffin shop in downtown Akron, OH in 1987, Main Street Gourmet has grown into a national bakery supplier helping customers become more successful, while ensuring the highest quality and product safety. The product line features muffins, brownies and bars, cookies, granola and custom bakery formulations with distribution throughout the United States to food operators and specialty grocery stores. For more information, please visit www.mainstreetgourmet.com.