ScanSource, Inc. Announces Executive Appointments

Buck Baker, 47, has been named senior vice president of merchandising for Catalyst Telecom, where he is responsible for the overall strategic management and direction of the companys vendor relationships, focusing on continued growth and development of the companys marketing initiatives and customer recruitment programs. Baker will also work closely with the companys reseller customers to ensure Catalyst is delivering the products and programs they need to grow their business. Baker has more than 15 years of distribution experience, including six years in merchandising management roles at Gates/FA and Gates-Arrow Distributing. With ScanSource since 1995, Baker has held the titles of business development manager and merchandising director, and has served for the past three years as senior vice president of merchandising for the ScanSource AIDC/POS sales unit. His years of merchandising leadership and experience will add great value to the Catalyst team, as they look to continue to cultivate their vendor relationships. Paul Constantine, 37, former vice president of merchandising for the ScanSource AIDC/POS sales unit, has been named vice president of solutions and services across all divisions of the company. Constantine joined ScanSource in 1999 and has 11 years of distribution experience, including five years at broadline computer products distributor Gates-Arrow. He will manage the evolution of the companys value-added services offerings for resellers. Initial plans include the enhancement and expansion of the companys strategic partnerships with independent software vendors (ISVs), acceleration of e-commerce and EDI initiatives designed to facilitate more streamlined communications and ordering efficiencies throughout the supply chain, an increased focus on partner marketing and education programs, and the rollout of the companys managed services initiative. James Sommese, 34, director of reverse logistics, will add the management of System Integration to his position, where he will oversee the companys product and software integration facility inside its 367,000-square-foot distribution center in Memphis. In this new role, one of Sommeses major responsibilities will be to help enhance and expand the companys world-class System Integration offerings and efficiencies, enabling more customers to take advantage of the benefits offered by outsourced System Integration services. Sommese has 10 years of experience in distribution, including six years with Arrow Electronics and Gates-Arrow Distributing where he held positions in sales, as well as management positions in the merchandising and purchasing departments. Sommese has been at ScanSource for four years. In addition to his new duties, Sommese, will continue to manage the customer service and return center departments. Jeff Yelton, 46, joins ScanSource as vice president of merchandising for the ScanSource AIDC/POS sales unit. Yelton will provide strategic direction and management of the companys vendor relationships, working closely with vendors to devise marketing programs and business-building growth strategies. Yelton comes to ScanSource from Retalix Ltd., where he served for over two years as CEO of Retalix North America and executive vice president of acquisitions and business development of Retalix. He spent much of his time creating and implementing strategic initiatives for the corporation. Prior to that, Yelton worked with IBM Corporation for 12 years, and for seven years with Kyrus Corporation, where he held sales, business development, and senior management positions.