Latam Business Development Specialist

THOMAS GERHOLD

Omaha, NE

Cell: 402-***-****

**********@*****.***

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Tom is a fully trilingual (English, Portuguese, and Spanish) business development professional, with his most recent experience in export sales and business development focused on the LATAM region. Spending nearly four years working out of Rio de Janeiro, Tom developed the ability to effectively work with professionals from all cultures and to overcome obstacles to doing business with a creative yet focused approach. Aside from his business development and sales management experience, he possesses a law degree from the University of Nebraska, and has earned a Capstone Certificate from Wharton for completion of courses in finance, operations, accounting, and marketing. Tom's broad and unique background has molded him into a professional that can fill many roles and wear many hats for the right company.

CORE QUALIFICATIONS

Market Research and Sales Strategy Implementation Marketing Contract Negotiations Financial Analysis and Pricing Sales Cycle and Relationship Management Logistics Management Customs and Export Compliance Sales Forecasting and New Market Development Lead Generation

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

NEBRASKA IRRIGATION, INC.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Director of Business Development- LATAM 11/2013 to Current Charged with developing and implementing sales strategy throughout LATAM to grow export sales to the region. Gained extensive experience working with clients in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, with the additions of Spain and Portugal. Grew customer base of OEM's and dealers from 2 initial clients to over 18 at present. Grew company exports to the region from

$60,000 in 2013, to an expected $750,000 in 2016.

Created and implemented marketing campaigns to grow our brand and distribution in the region and expand client base. Developed pricing models in Excel for the Mercosur countries, encompassing 1200 products and 50 HS Codes by gathering and analyzing competitor pricing, relevant tariff for the region, VATs, exchange rates, and logistics costs to ensure price competitiveness and maximizing margins where possible. Respond to quotes, create Proformas, and resolve any problems during the sales cycle. Conduct client visits giving sales presentations and training on products and marketing of products to end users. Remotely managed and collaborated with marketing, shipping, IT, and the VP to implement new processes to increase our market share in the region.

Sought out and manage foreign logistics partners to lower company freight costs. Provide sales forecasting to upper management as well as purchasing and manufacturing to adequately prepare for and time large demand in certain product categories, ensuring we can buy at reduced bulk pricing while minimizing turn-around time.

Oversee export paperwork to ensure compliance with destination regulations. GLOBAL INDEX INTERNATIONAL

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Business Development Manager 05/2013 to 06/2014

Global Index International is a British wealth management company based out of Rio de Janeiro, with satellite offices in 5 countries and over $400 million under management, they provide financial services to expats and senior management in the oil and gas industry.

Managed a multicultural team of 5 associates based out of the home office in Rio de Janeiro, coordinating and supporting our sales consultants based in Rio, Sao Paulo, Bogota, and Luanda (Angola). Implemented a new process for seeking out prospects through analyzing existing client data to identify what was our "ideal" prospective client profile and effectively generating over 500 new "qualified" leads in 4 countries per month.

Lead a team that brought in over $10 million USD of new money under management for the company during my tenure.

Repeatedly won monthly and weekly Achievement Awards for being the best producer in our Rio office in terms of new business closed.

Given my legal background was responsible for generating additional business from our existing clients by analyzing their specific tax needs and researching applicable tax laws that affect their expat situations and offering financial solutions to minimize their future liability through trusts, financial products, etc. Managed and trained junior associates to ensure they were meeting targets and following procedures to ensure their success.

Ensured new client paperwork was correct before sending to our institutional partners. AMERICAN FUTURES & OPTIONS

Naples, FL

Senior Futures Broker - Futures and Commodities 05/2008 to 04/2010 Generated a book of business of 70 retail clients and three institutional clients (hedging accounts), and a book of business of over 1 million dollars on deposit.

Used various methods to prospect including cold calling, live presentations throughout Florida with attendance between 25-70 individuals, and providing a daily webcast and newsletter as means of acquiring new business. Oversaw and trained a team of 5 junior brokers ensuring they meet weekly and monthly goals, as well as trained on software and trading platforms.

Shared duties overseeing the company's trade book to ensure neither clients, nor the firm, were exposed to risk above set thresholds.

Responsible for technical analysis for the firm in the areas of currency products, metals, and grains, and updating our site and writing a weekly newsletter to our clients advising of opportunties in said markets. Provided technical support and training to clients on using trading platforms, indicators, and strategies. Developed and coded an in-house algorithmic market indicator which we provided to our clients for a monthly subscription charge generating addition revenue for the firm. EURO LANGUAGE CONSULTANTS

Madrid, Spain

ELS Teacher 12/2006 to 01/2008

Taught business level English to employees of a broad range of companies. KLEEB FOR CONGRESS

Kearney, NE

Field Director 01/2006 to 07/2006

Organized all campaign events with duties including reserving locations for events, to ensuring supporter turnout throughout the third district of Nebraska.

Directed our 800 volunteers throughout the State in organizing campaign events, fundraisers, and campaign related activities.

Managed and directed our six interns, giving them relevant projects to work on depending on needs of the campaign.

Ensured raised funds were properly reported to the FEC. Performed donor database searches to find likely donors and calling upon them to raise funds. EDUCATION

CAPSTONE CERTIFICATE: ENTREPRENEURSHIP: LAUNCHING AN INNOVATIVE BUSINESS 2015 University of Maryland

Offered in conjunction with Coursera, I earned the Capstone Certificate with Distinction in condensed core courses offered by the University of Maryland's Master of Professional Studies in Technology Entrepreneurship. Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies - Topics included identifying and analyzing entrepreneurial opportunities, improving strategic decision-making, and building innovative business models. Grade Achieved: 95.7% Innovation for Entrepreneurs: Topics covered included developing insights on navigating the innovation process from idea generation to commercialization, strategies to bring innovations to market, and developing a business model canvas for your venture. Grade Achieved: 97.0%

New Venture Finance - Startup Funding for Entrepreneurs - Topics covered included valuations, dilution and non-dilutive funding sources, understanding capital structure for new ventures, term sheets and how to negotiate them, and the differences between early-stage versus later-stage financing, and investor pitches. Grade achieved 98%. CAPSTONE CERTIFICATE: BUSINESS FOUNDATIONS 2014

Wharton

Taking first year MBA courses offered by Wharton in conjunction with Coursera, I earned the Capstone Certificate completing:

Introduction to Marketing - Topics covered were Branding, Go-to-Market Strategies, and Customer Centricity. Received a 98% in the course.

Introduction to Corporate Finance - Key concepts and applications include: time value of money, risk-return tradeoff, cost of capital, interest rates, retirement savings, mortgage financing, auto leasing, capital budgeting, asset valuation, discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, net present value, internal rate of return, hurdle rate, payback period. Introduction to Financial Accounting - Focused on the technical skills needed to analyze financial statements and disclosures for use in financial analysis; most notably, income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow. Introduction to Operations Management - Key concepts include process analysis, bottlenecks, flows rates, and inventory levels turns.

J.D.: LAW 2013

University of Nebraska College of Law

Excelled in the following courses:

Law and Economic Regulation - (Perfect Score)

Foreign Affairs Law Seminar - Seminar paper analyzed US trade policy with Mercosu and non-tariff barriers to trade.

International Transactions Drafting

Law and Climate Change

International Trade Law

-President of the International Law Students Association (2013).

-Runner-Up at the Nebraska Mediation Competition.

-Legal Internship at the Mediation Center in Rio de Janeiro.

-Gained certification as a Nebraska Certified Mediator. DUAL MAJOR BACHELOR OF SCIENCE: POLITICAL SCIENCE & SPANISH 12/2005 Nebraska Wesleyan University

Gained proficiency in statistical qualitative and quantitative analysis. SPSS proficient.

Fluency in Spanish gained through a 1 year study abroad in Spain.

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