Leadership

Jim Higgins, President
The President and co-founder of BAO, Jim's vision of providing companies with a streamlined approach to generating revenue through new business fueled his creation and development of BAO. Today he is responsible for BAO's strategic direction, and has led the efforts in growing BAO to a 200-person company serving over 150 Clients. Jim brings 13 years of experience in sales, business operations, and management to his current role. Prior to BAO, Jim held leadership positions at Hyperion, KPMG, Grant Thorton and American Management Systems. In addition to his professional success at BAO, Jim is committed to entrepreneurship, serving as a member of the prestigious Young Entrepreneurs Organization. Jim received a B.A. in Economics from The College of William and Mary.

Michael Farrell, Chief Operating Officer
As COO, Mike is responsible for BAO’s strategic direction, growth, and day-to-day business operations. Mike utilizes his 20+ years of experience working in both entrepreneurial and Fortune 1000 companies, as well as his breadth of experience selling into Fortune 500 companies, mid-market companies and the public sector market (Federal and State Government and Education). Mike has a wealth of experience in software, networking and hardware solution sales, including field sales, service and telesales management. Prior to joining BAO, Mike fulfilled the Vice President of Sales positions at GovConnection, PC Connection Sales Corp., CompuCom Systems, CIC Systems and Copley Systems. Mike is a graduate of Merrimack College.

Greg Hunt, Chief Financial Officer
Greg directs financial strategy, planning and forecasts, and oversees all company accounting practices, preparing budgets, financial reports, and tax and audit functions. Greg brings wide experience to this position. He has been a staff CFO for several companies, most recently Nations Financial Solutions, Inc., and First American Financial Solutions, Inc., and has also served as a consulting CFO for eleven companies in a variety of industries. Greg did his undergraduate work at the University of New Hampshire and received his MBA from Whittemore School of Business and Economics. He also served for four years in the US Army Corp of Engineers and Military Intelligence.

Suzanne Higgins, Executive Vice President, Client Services
Suzanne co-founded BAO in 1997 and has served as the company's Executive Vice President of Client Services since its inception. Suzanne is responsible for the overall success of BAO's Clients and leads the Client Services team in developing customized, effective Client programs. Suzanne has over 20 years of experience in sales and publishing, including leadership positions at A+ America and Ginn & Co. Suzanne is a graduate of Temple University.

Jessica Pilat, Vice President of Marketing
As VP of Marketing, Jessica manages the development and implementation of effective internal and external communications strategies. Jessica's responsibilities include field sales activities, strategic partnerships and Client communication strategies. Prior to joining BAO, Jessica was an Account Manager at FitzGerald Communications, where she led the communications programs for high-tech and consumer-technology customers, including LoJack, Sonera zed, Circles and Granite Systems. Jessica has held marketing and sales positions at CCBN and Kessler Financial Services, and is a graduate of The University of Maryland.

John Hartman, Vice President of Sales, Eastern Region
As Vice President of Sales, John is responsible for leading BAO's sales efforts in the Eastern Region. As one of BAO's first employees, John has built and steered the sales and marketing efforts and processes since its founding. In addition to managing the Eastern Region team of sales executives, John handles strategic account growth and acquisition, while expanding relationships with existing Clients. John has 25 years of sales and marketing experience. Having worked for a number of Fortune 1000 companies, John has developed extensive experience in sales management on a regional, national and channel basis, as well as domestic and international marketing. John is a graduate of Temple University and has done extensive graduate work at TTU and Moravian College.

Derek Gray, Vice President & General Manager
Derek oversees the operations of BAO's Mesa, AZ facility. As one of the original employees to open the Mesa office in 2000, Derek has grown the operation to fully support the needs of a diverse high-tech Client base.  With Client Services, Inside Sales Representatives, IT and administrative teams, Derek builds and executes Client demand generation and Precision Marketing programs. Prior to joining BAO, Derek had over a decade of experience in sales and marketing, including positions at MAI Alper, Off-Tech, and Winstar. Derek is a graduate of Westfield State College.

Amy Tessier, Vice President & General Manager, Enterprise Solutions Group
Amy heads up the Enterprise Solutions team in BAO’s Burlington, MA location, serving Clients in the enterprise segment with BAO’s demand generation and Precision Marketing Solutions. Leading the Enterprise Client Services and Inside Sales Representative teams, Amy partners with Clients to strategize and deliver pipeline opportunities.  Prior to joining BAO, Amy was the Director of Corporate Sales Operations at Kronos. Over the course of her career, she has developed expertise in integrating systems and technologies, building high performance teams, creating and developing productivity enhancing programs and quality improvement strategies, and designing organizational policies and procedures. Amy is a graduate of Fitchburg State College and received her MBA from Rivier College.

Brian Giguère, Vice President & General Manager
Brian leads the Channel Solutions Group serving Clients in the channel sector with BAO’s demand generation and Precision Marketing solutions. As head of the Channel Client Services and inside sales operations teams, Brian works closely with Clients to strategize and deliver pipeline opportunities. Before joining BAO, Brian was Director for new business sales at Hello Direct Inc., where he managed the outbound sales team. He has also held key positions at Cisco Systems and CompUSA, where he started up and revitalized sales operations and seized new business opportunities. Brian brings years of experience in growing sales in the technology market, streamlining sales operations and building, training, and leading highly effective sales teams.  Brian began his career with the United States Air Force.

Linda Metzger, Vice President, Human Resources and Administration
Linda leads the HR team to build, strengthen and maintain the key resource at BAO, its employees.  Collaborating with managers, Linda develops strategies to identify, acquire and grow talent at every level of the organization.  The HR team also supports the organization by providing benefits and other services to its constituents.  Prior to joining BAO, she served in executive positions at Momentix, Tissue Engineering, Inc. (now TEI Biosciences), and Colorgen, Inc., with oversight of finance, human resources, investor relations and business administration. A graduate of Brooklyn College, Linda earned her MBA from Simmons College.

John is responsible for strategic planning of the IT portfolio to ensure that we invest in the highest-impact technology, software and procedures. He creates and manages the IT strategy to balance operational stability, business value and cost optimization. John has more than 20 years of diversified systems planning, development and integration experience. He has been responsible for IT systems at companies such as Hello Direct, PC Connection and Microwarehouse. John has a BS in Business Management from Widener University and an MBA from Villanova.

Debbie Pepper, Director, Precision Marketing Group
Debbie leads BAO’s Precision Marketing Group, overseeing a team of Account Managers and Market Research Specialists.  The PMG Team is responsible for providing actionable market intelligence on prospect companies for our Clients, so they can fully and accurately define their target audiences. Debbie has significant experience producing high-impact and audience-appropriate communications solutions, most recently as Senior Staff Consultant/Communications Manager at John Hancock Financial Services. She has both a BA and an MA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.