Jason Stein to Lead Border States TechStack

Okay, when did you last see a sales leader evolve to become a technology leader?

Border States‘ Jason Stein is taking such a plunge, having been appointed CIO for the $4+ billion ESOP distributor.

According to Border States’ press release:

“Jason Stein has been named Chief Information Officer at Border States. Stein previously held the role of Executive VP Sales and Marketing and brings nearly 30 years of experience with Border States to this new role.

“The future of our business will be shaped by, and success delivered through, people and technology,” said Jason Seger, President. “Because of the transformative nature of IT in our business, it’s vital that we provide executive-level support with proven leadership who understands our business. Having Jason complement our talented IT group with his vast business experience is a real opportunity to amplify the impact technology has on our results.”

Stein’s years of focusing on customer and user experience is a passion he brings to this new role. He has experience working with customers, vendors and employee-owners at all levels of the organization.

“I believe customers will make choices based on their experiences, which are driven by people, process and technology,” Stein said. “We have a fantastic IT department, and I’m thrilled at the opportunity to work with them as we transform our business. The pace of technological change is accelerating along with the experience customers, vendors and employee-owners expect — I can’t think of a more exciting time to be part of our IT team as we transform from a traditional box-in, box-out company to one that delivers experiences through Border States’ services and solutions.”

Stein joined Border States in May 1995 as a Management Trainee. He worked in various customer- and vendor-facing positions and was named Executive VP Sales and Marketing in 2018. Stein is also involved in numerous industry organizations, including those focused on supporting technological innovation throughout the electrical distribution industry.”

Border States has always been on the leading technological edge for electrical distribution. They are one of the few electrical distributors using SAP and actively seek to drive efficiencies with their suppliers. Having someone who not only understands the business, as Jason Seger points out, but more importantly has customer and sales empathy to hopefully drive customer and sales-centric systems, will be a major benefit. Hiring quality “tech” people and investing into the tools is the “easy” part of optimizing processes. Infusing them with knowledge of the business, an understanding of customer needs, the “strengths” of the past, “management” informational needs, and an ability to envision Border States’ future will help the company design “the right systems” to support profitable growth.

Congratulations Jason.