Deerfield, Ill. – July 6, 2009 – Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. [Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE:FO)], the leading American spirits company, and Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. (Southern), the nation’s leading wine and spirits distributor and control state broker, are pleased to jointly announce the appointment of Tim Condron to Southern Wine & Spirits as Vice President Sales & Marketing for the Beam Global portfolio. Condron joins Southern from Beam Global where he most recently served as Group Vice President of National Accounts and Sales Strategy.
In his new role at Southern, Condron will be responsible for accelerating the growth of Beam Global’s brands, focusing on national accounts. Southern distributes Beam Global’s portfolio of brands including Jim Beam Bourbon, Hornitos Tequila, Canadian Club Whisky, Courvoisier Cognac, Maker's Mark Bourbon, Laphroaig Scotch Whisky, Cruzan Rum and DeKuyper Cordials and Liqueurs in 21 states.
“Tim has been and will continue to be a critical member of our Beam Global family,” stated Bill Newlands, president of Beam Global’s U.S. business. “We look forward to continuing to work with him as he joins Southern. In this new position, Tim will help us and Southern strategically align our business priorities. Ultimately, this appointment further strengthens our relationship with Southern and our ‘BeAmerica’ strategy of doing business—to be ‘Smarter. Faster. Better’ for our customers.”
“We are pleased to have Tim on our team focusing on the Beam Global portfolio,” said Brad Vassar, executive vice president, general manager of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. “With Southern representing more than 50 percent of Beam’s U.S. business, we wanted to ensure we were focusing our top resources on Beam Global’s leading brands such as Jim Beam, Hornitos, Maker's Mark and Cruzan, among the many other Beam Global brands.”
Condron brings 20 years of experience and credibility in the industry at Beam Global. He will report directly to Kevin Fennessey, Senior Vice President-Marketing of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc.