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Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Hershey's Board of Directors consists of individuals that bring complimentary skills, and prudent judgment, to a dynamically changing industry. As detailed below, Hershey is lead by executives with diverse leadership backgrounds in sales, operations, finance, technology, business management, and marketing. Hershey's Board of Directors represents an outstanding blend of experience and innovation.
Kent F. Boom
Kent Boom is the Chairman of the Board for Hershey Systems. Mr. Boom is one of the co-founders of Hershey and served as the Chief Executive Officer for more than 20 years. Prior to Hershey, he held management positions with IBM Corporations and N.V. Philips of Holland. Mr. Boom and his partner, Keith Bambrick, founded an equipment leasing company and built a four-state wholesale distribution company. Mr. Boom has served as President of the Southern California Business Technology Association (BTA) where he received two national BTA awards for Committee Chairman Leadership and the National Volunteer of the Year. He is currently an active member of AIIM (Association of Imaging Information Management). He is also a member of the Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA).
Keith James Bambrick
Keith Bambrick is one of the co-founders of Hershey and served as the President for more than 20 years. Mr. Bambrick has been on the Board of Directors of three companies and started several other companies with his partner, Kent Boom. Teaming with Mr. Boom, Mr. Bambrick acquired Hershey Systems in 1983. He brought to Hershey its' client-centric business philosophy. Professionalism, character and subject matter expertise are qualities Mr. Bambrick has required in building one of the finest sales and marketing organizations in the industry.
Ron K. Christian
Ron Christian is the President of Hershey Systems. Mr. Christian joined Hershey in 2005 as the Vice President of Sales establishing the company's sales and marketing strategy focusing on market penetration through its direct and indirect sales. His career includes more than 15 years in the IT industry with 10 years in the business process and document management software market. Throughout his career, Mr. Christian has held several leadership positions in North America and Europe. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business in Management Information Systems from Western Illinois University.
Christopher Dax Coan
Dax Coan is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer for Hershey Systems. Mr. Coan is responsible for the product vision and research & development. Prior to joining Hershey Systems, Mr. Coan was the CTO of 3iNetworks, a software designer/developer of web based software systems to meet high transaction hosted customer needs. He holds design patents for Java, J2EE, XML and SOAP based enterprise application integration (EAI) serve. Mr. Coan is certified as a Sun Certified Java 2 Programmer and Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer. He has a Master's Degree in Engineering from North Carolina State University.
Thomas M. Kretschmar, CPA
Thomas Kretschmar has practiced as a Certified Public Accountant for over 20 years and as a Chief Financial Officer for 5 years. Mr. Kretschmar is a partner at White, Nelson & Co. LLP where he is responsible for the client satisfaction in the areas of financial statement, reporting, tax compliance and governmental audits. Mr. Kretschmar consults with clients in various aspects of their business, such as budgeting and forecasting, operations, financial controls, human resource, business valuation, cost accounting, banking & financing, merger & acquisition, bankruptcy and business management. He is a member of Member AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), CSCPA (California Society of Certified Public Accountants) and IBA (The Institute of Business Appraisers). Mr. Kretschmar graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from San Jose State University.