Trigger Transformation, Inc., an organization that is using technology to transform how organizations evaluate and develop their employee talent, announced that Bob Barry has joined its executive team as Vice President of Business Development. Barry will join forces with existing Vice President of Business Development John Dinkel, former publisher of The Baltimore Business Journal, to expand business opportunities for the company.
A graduate of Florida International University, Barry brings 35 years of transformation leadership experience to Trigger. For the past 12 years, he served as COO and since 2012 as CEO of The Greene Turtle Franchising Corporation, a chain of more than 40 sports-themed bar and grille restaurants distributed throughout the Eastern Seaboard. During his tenure there, he focused on building business by adding franchised and company-operated locations and maximizing sales and profitability systemwide. Earlier in his career, he also held leadership positions with Marriott Corp., retail chain The Great Cookie, Ltd., Bakery Resources Group – Ms. Desserts, Atkins International Foods, and W.R. Grace & Co. He also served on the boards of the American Heart Association and the Restaurant Association of Maryland.
“Bob’s experience leading multiple organizations in the highly competitive foodservice and hospitality industry adds a ton of value to our sales team,” says Trigger CEO Lisa First-Willis. “He and John Dinkel share a passion for developing strong customer relationships and I know we can expect big things from their joint business development efforts in the coming months.”
“Great teams all have three things in common: great talent, great talent evaluators and great talent developers,” adds Trigger co-founder Gerry Sandusky. “Bob Barry is all three in one. He’s a major addition to our team.”
Trigger Transformation was born when Sandusky, then the sports anchor and play-by-play radio voice of the Baltimore Ravens for WBAL-TV, observed that businesses needed a more timely and effective way to manage employee performance. He and Co-Founder First-Willis set out to systemize the approach and methodology he had seen professional sports organizations use to evaluate and grow their teams and talent. Trigger’s proprietary algorithm evaluates responses to a short list of carefully crafted questions. In as little as two minutes, organizations can capture deep insights that enable them to identify which employees are most valuable, which they are at risk of losing, and which pose the greatest threats to overall productivity and profitability.
In January 2019, Trigger launched a digital and mobile app to put this tool in the hands of business leaders. Since then, the company has added two customers a month, on average, and remains on track to double its customer base in coming months.
Barry said he’ll first look to leverage his ties to the restaurant/foodservice sector, showing companies like those he’s run in the past how they can take advantage of Trigger’s tools. He added that the company is also targeting categories where it has existing clients, including the government, automotive, trade association, credit union, construction, media, marketing, business consulting, electrical and general contracting and accounting and auditing segments.
“Based on the staffing challenges I’ve had to tackle in my past roles, I know that other business leaders will love the competitive advantage this tool gives them,” he said. “Trigger has so much potential and is backed by a dynamic team. I’m looking forward to introducing it to colleagues in many business segments that I know can benefit from it.”
