John Musante
Business Strategist / Entrepreneurial Visionary / Pharmaceutical Leadership / M&A
John has spent twenty-two years in the pharmaceutical industry encompassing both large and small pharmaceutical companies. Beginning as a sales rep in 1985 for Glaxo, his career advancement and experiences include sales, management, national accounts, marketing, business development, company operations and P&L responsibilities. In the late 90’s, John left GSK to establish his first pharmaceutical company AcSentient, leading it to a successful acquisition. From that point, John went on to build two additional pharmaceutical companies where he led and directed the operations and business development activities at the executive level with P&L responsibilities.
John brings a mature leadership style and the ability to think creatively and strategically with a proven track record of assembling quality commercial teams, meeting commercial objectives and leading an organization in a fiscally responsible manner.
John Denny
New Product Design and Manufacturing
John brings more than thirty years experience successfully commercializing new products in a number of industries. John is the founder and CEO of Alaeras, Inc., a drug delivery company currently developing dry powder vaccines. This platform inhaler is capable of delivering a variety of vaccines including flu, malaria, and rotavirus. He has launched more than fifty new products in his career, spanning many different industries, generating more than $1B in revenue. John brings the following areas of expertise to the SmartCore Business Solutions team:
- Industrial Design
- Product Engineering
- Testing and Evaluation
- Regulatory Compliance
- Quality Assurance
John has ten years experience designing and manufacturing pharmaceutical and medical devices. Prior to starting Alaeras, he worked for GSK and was responsible for all global pharmaceutical device programs, including dry powder inhalers, metered dose inhalers, needle free syringes, and liquid nebulizers. He started the Veramyst nasal spray program, which has received many design awards and has been a huge commercial success.
John has worked for Global 500 companies (GSK and Alstom) as well as for three start ups. He has extensive project management experience and has worked with most major CAD design software, including Solidworks and ProE. John has expertise in all types of manufacturing processes such as plastics molding, metal processing, high volume manufacturing and assembly, and sterile and aseptic filling methods.
John has a B.S. Mechanical Engineering degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an Executive MBA. from Columbia University.
Jim Kasper
Leadership Development, Sales Training & Senior Business Consultant
Serving on the Board of Advisors and as an Executive Partner for SmartCore Business Solutions, Jim brings a broad knowledge base and extensive expertise to SmartCore’s customized service offerings. Jim maintains his position as President and CEO of Interactive Resource Group, an 18 year old customized sales and sales management training and consulting company. He holds a Bachelor of Science, with a double major in economics and political science, from Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Jim also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Northern Illinois University. For several years, he has been an assistant professor of marketing at Regis University, a 130 year old Jesuit university in Denver, Colorado and is the recipient of the Faculty Excellence Award, an honor bestowed by Regis students. He has taught undergraduate marketing, advertising and promotion, channel management and consumer behavior.
Mr. Kasper is also Executive Chairman and co-founder of Precallpro.com. It is the first and only pre-call planning online software available. This rapidly growing company is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Jim’s first book, Short Cycle Selling: Beating Your Competitors in the Sales Race was published in 2002 by McGraw Hill. It was on the Wall Street West Business Bestseller list 3 times, including #1. For several months, the book was the number 1 seller on Amazon.com in 2 categories: Sales Management and Sales Techniques. His second book, Creating The #1 Sales Force: What It Takes To Transform Your Sales Culture, Dearborn Publishing, was released in 2005. Jim is currently preparing his third book and has been published in many business trade journals, including a regular column for USP Age in Mumbai, India.
Jim Tompkins
Global Supply Chain Consulting / Benchmarking and Best Practices
Jim is an internationally known expert on global supply chain strategy, including benchmarking and best practices, logistics, warehousing, material handling and technology implementation, and outsourcing. Serving on the Board of Advisors for SmartCore Business Solutions, he is a motivator and an innovator who has consulted with numerous Fortune 500 companies around the world in various industries – embracing retail, consumer products, pharmaceutical, high technology, food and beverage, private equity and automotive. His experience in helping organizations achieve success through Supply Chain Excellence, developing and executing the integration of their supply chain strategy with the broader business strategy and supporting mergers and acquisitions, gives him an insider’s view into what makes great companies even better.
As President and CEO of Tompkins Associates for the past 34 years, Jim has written or contributed to more than 30 books, including Caught Between the Tiger and the Dragon, Bold Leadership for Organizational Acceleration, Logistics and Manufacturing Outsourcing, and The Supply Chain Handbook. His textbook The Warehouse Management Handbook, first written more than 20 years ago, remains the definitive reference on operating and maintaining warehouses. Jim also writes a popular business blog called GoGoGo! that is featured regularly on IndustryWeek.com.
He is a past recipient of the Reed-Apple Award from the Material Handling Education Foundation and the past president of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, the Material Handling and Management Society, and the College-Industry Council on Material Handling Education. Jim has received the Distinguished Engineer Award from Purdue University’s School of Engineering and has been inducted into Modern Materials Handling's Hall of Fame. He has a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, all from Purdue University.
Jeff Chambers
Human Capital
Jeff Chambers is a solution-oriented senior executive with strong strategic and tactical skills in law, human resources and business. For more than 20 years, his background as an attorney and his experience as a successful leader in both the Fortune 500 and entrepreneurial space and has proven his ability to:
- Develop and execute integrated talent management strategies aligned with business strategy;
- reate and enhance award-winning corporate cultures that attract, retain and engage critical talent;
- Balance legal risks with business objectives;
- Negotiate complex transactions; and
- Communicate effectively, build consensus and lead by example.
Prior to joining SmartCore Business Solutions, Jeff was Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Legal Affairs of PRA International, a leading clinical research organization. As a member of PRA’s Executive Committee, Jeff led the HR, Legal and Internal Communications functions. Before joining PRA, Jeff served as Vice President, Human Resources and General Counsel for SAS, the world’s largest private software company. For more than 10 years, Jeff was instrumental in helping shape one of the most highly acclaimed corporate cultures in America. During his tenure, SAS was repeatedly named one of Fortune Magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For."
During his legal career, Jeff not only served as Senior Corporate Counsel for SAS, but also as the Corporate Counsel at MassMutual Life Insurance Company. Jeff earned a B.A. in political science from Bucknell University and a J.D. from Villanova University of Law.
Jeff is on the Board of Directors for World At Work and is a frequent speaker on the importance of Total Reward strategies teaching companies how then can apply the SAS and the work/life model to enhance their overall business and financial performance.
