POSITION OVERVIEW

As the head of The Satell Center for Executive Education, this General Manager will be responsible for developing and executing a plan to drive PBP’s eLearning business focused on online executive education. He/she will work with the team to develop new products, oversee curriculum, and launch new programs via email and other direct marketing and advertising campaigns. Additionally, the GM is expected to conduct customer and market research to determine other new areas of opportunity in executive development.

The mission of this new GM is to give the 150,000 executives annually who pay to attend PBP’s executive conferences access to quality advanced certifications, degrees, and instruction. This position is critical as PBP seeks to transition from a diversified B2B information provider into a premiere online adult education company.

PROGRESSIVE BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS IN THE NEWS

http://www.pbp.com/ProgressivePR04232009.asp

http://www.pbp.com/ProgressivePR073108.asp

http://www.pbp.com/ProgressivePR061908.asp

THE COMPANY

PBP is a leading diversified information and executive education company. Its mission is simply to help executives do their jobs better. PBP is a “Built-to-Last” company that has achieved 18 consecutive years of growth, fueled over the past seven years by the launch of nine successful start-up businesses and acquisition of one company. PBP currently has well over 150,000 customers, including virtually all of the Fortune 1000.

For over two decades Progressive Business Publications has quietly achieved unparalleled success in the field of specialized publishing and information services. Supported by a telemarketing department employing more than 500 full-time people in 14 offices across three states, the company’s record of new product launches and successful expansion into high-growth business areas is unmatched in the industry.

Along the way, PBP has attracted and retained an extraordinary staff of talented professionals who are committed to building the company's future. PBP's unique culture stresses long-term thinking with respect to its customers, employees, and financial goals.

History and Products

Progressive Business Publications was founded by Ed Satell in 1989 with a single publication. Building on that model, PBP quickly accelerated into fast-growth mode, adding an average of more than two publications per year through the 1990's.

PBP today has 25 business-to-business publications, with an average revenue per publication three times that of the industry average. The company's average annual subscription and revenue growth rates also have far exceeded the industry average, making PBP the industry leader.

Building on the success of these publications, the company has expanded to become a diversified information services provider, now publishing over 60 publications and offering a wide range of reference, compliance, and educational products in a variety of formats. PBP’s recently launched audio conference unit has quickly grown to become the largest in its field.

Key factors contributing to PBP's success have been:

§ Strong focus on quality for its products and services

§ Strong commitment to state-of-the-art technology

§ Ability to acquire subscribers

§ Ability to attract and retain good people

Today, PBP employs more than 600 people, including 150 editorial, marketing and administrative professionals as well as 500 staffers in its telemarketing division.

PBP headquarters are located on 11 acres of land in the Great Valley Corporate Center in Malvern, about 30 minutes northwest of downtown Philadelphia.

PBP Products and Services

Progressive Business Publications is a diversified information provider serving the needs of its customers through a wide range of products and services across its fully-owned business units.

The Satell Center for Executive Education provides executive and graduate level education and certifications through the following programs—

§ The American Center for Educators division – offering professional development courses to teachers and administrators nationwide

§ Progressive Business Institute – offering advanced professional certificates to increase knowledge and enhance essential skills

§ Satell Center Mini MBA programs – providing Executive Mini-MBAs in Human Resources, Women’s Leadership, Core Principles, and Strategy and Leadership

Currently PBP provides education and professional certifications in human resources, finance, legal, healthcare and K12 education.

Progressive Business Publications Newsletters, the core newsletter unit, publishes 25 leading business-to-business newsletters in the following areas: Sales and Marketing, Financial Management, Business Management, Human Resources, Regulatory/Compliance, Nonprofit Management and Medical Coding and Reimbursement.

These publications adhere to an editorial philosophy driven by three principles:

1. Fast read

Executives are extremely busy. They want information packaged so it can be easily digested. They want a one-stop shop. PBP editors excel at making their newsletters easy to read and providing a lot of value in a little space.

2. Expert to expert

PBP publications are not written for beginners; they're written for leaders in the field. That's why the standard we set for its editors is mastery of their subjects. They develop highly specialized knowledge of their given disciplines, and keep up to date by attending top industry conferences, networking with industry notables and talking to practitioners regularly.

3. Actionability

Readers suffer from information overload. Giving them more only complicates their lives. But "actionable" information - information they can take action on today to make money, save money or keep their companies out of trouble - has tremendous value. That's what PBP provides.

The Center for Education and Employment Law serves executives in the HR and education fields by providing cutting-edge legal information through its newsletters, annual guides and desktop reference books.

The Progressive Business Audio Conferences unit produces over 650 executive-level conferences annually that bring the top subject matter experts to thousands of the nation's top executives in the fields of HR, Finance, Safety, Marketing & Sales, Education, Government, Energy and Non-Profits.

The National Constitution Center Audio Conferences unit produces over 120 annual audio conferences, serving the needs of the legal community with nationally-recognized experts speaking on a wide variety of legal topics.

The Progressive Business Compliance unit helps customers meet their compliance obligations by providing federal and state labor law posters for all 50 states, as well as regulatory forms.

Progressive Gifts & Incentives provides employee and customer gifts and incentives for recognition, employee motivation, team building, and safety.

The Signature Collection by Progressive Gifts and Incentives offers holiday and occasional greeting cards for employees and customers.
The Better Buys for Business unit publishes the industry-leading Better Buys for Business series of office equipment guides, rating every model by every manufacturer.

Work-Life Balance at PBP

Progressive Business Publications also believes in providing a well-balanced work/personal life experience. It provides its employees with educational and cultural activities in the surrounding communities, and is a strong supporter of local civic institutions. In its pursuit of fun, the company has—

§ A luxury suite at Lincoln Financial Field and season tickets to all Eagles games

§ Club Box seats at The Wachovia Center and season tickets to all 76ers and Flyers games

§ Pre-sale access to tickets for superstar concerts and events at insider prices

§ Sponsored invitations to events and special seating at the Walnut Street Theater

§ Sponsored invitations to prestigious events at The Union League, The National Constitution Center, The National Liberty Museum, The Franklin Institute, The World Affairs Council, and many others

§ A championship co-ed softball team that is always looking for new players

§ A corporate basketball team (that can use some better talent)

§ A co-ed tennis team that plays year round

§ The opportunity to mentor and teach disadvantaged schoolchildren (during work hours) through our adopt-a-school program

§ The opportunity to work with Junior Achievement and teach business and life skills to students of all ages

The company also provides its co-workers with regular Employee Appreciation Days, Leadership Lunches, an annual Company Picnic, continuous learning conferences, and many other employee activities that promote a high-performance team atmosphere.

THE POSITION

As part of its expansion plans, PBP will be hiring a senior executive to drive its new direction into the online executive education and training market sector. With a reporting staff that current numbers close to 15, this General Manager will have overall responsibility for driving the business by developing and implementing a commercial business plan and establishing, building, and managing a successful global eLearning business focused on executive leadership development—leveraging the company’s database of senior executives. The goal of this division is to develop a highly profitable business through recurring revenues.

Reporting to the CEO in Malvern, the new General Manager will work with him, the COO and leadership team to quickly build the Executive Education Division into a $25M operation growing towards $100M. The new GM will use his or her previous expertise and knowledge of the online leadership development market to expand the new online executive programs and identify and develop a new eLearning market sector for the company that builds on the company’s core businesses and database.

Critical to his/her success will be the ability to assess market trends and opportunities, and move aggressively to create new businesses that exploits these opportunities. This requires not only strategic vision but also the ability to establish an appropriate distribution model and possibly develop partnerships and joint venture relationships. Success will be measured by a combination of growth, profitability, and ultimately enhancement of company value.

Specific responsibilities and expectations include the following:

1. Marketing, Sales and Profitability

Ø Identify market opportunities associated with online executive education and professional certification, integrate these, and develop a comprehensive business plan for creating revenue streams for each of these markets

Ø Manage all aspects of the customer acquisition experience from inquiry through subscription or enrollment

Ø Create an effective, accountable process for converting leads into enrolled customers and for retaining these customers

Ø Create an effective online marketing campaign strategy

Ø Analyze campaign results and leverage campaign success to build the next

Ø Manage this business profitably while achieving rapid growth in revenues

Ø Leverage PBP’s market reputation, proprietary database of executives, and direct marketing expertise to package and sell these various programs through multiple channels

2. Management

Ø Create and staff executive education programs, certification and other, for each of these identified markets

Ø Operate as “Pied Piper”—recruiting and mentoring talent into the organization from previous companies as well as other eLearning companies as necessary

Ø Work effectively and harmoniously within a matrix organization with other division managers

3. Content

Ø Develop or obtain courses, learning materials, assessments, and other resources to be delivered online to customers, utilizing PBP’s vast reservoir of content, authors, and advisors

THE CAREER OPPORTUNITY

To an experienced builder-leader executive, this opportunity offers several attractive features:

• The opportunity to work for a “Built-to-Last,” values-based company where people stay and grow
• The opportunity to establish, manage and lead a profitable, high quality, rapidly growing division, with the company’s valuation strongly influenced by the GM’s performance
• The opportunity to create an enterprise, not just optimize what someone else has built—to help lead and grow a cutting edge, state-of-the-art eLearning business
• A starting base—the opportunity to leverage the company’s reputation, its superb infrastructure, its large database of executives, its marketing expertise, and its existing certification programs to achieve success
• The opportunity to be entrepreneurial while being part of a small executive team and have “a seat at the table” as the company charts its future
• Strong, committed private ownership that is willing to fund growth
• The opportunity to work in an attractive suburban Philadelphia setting

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate currently is the General Manager, COO, President, Chief Marketing Officer, or other senior operating executive of a company or division that provides executive education and training online. He or she has P&L responsibility and has demonstrated an ability to identify market trends and products, proven experience in acquiring corporate customers through direct marketing (especially telemarketing and web marketing), and success building a profitable online business focused on executives in multiple industries.

Specifically, this individual has—

• Significant experience and success marketing, selling, and managing an eLearning business focused on executive development, ideally from a “best of breed” company
• A strong record of performance taking a company or division from startup to revenues of $25M to $100M or more as operating manager with P&L responsibility
• Outstanding general management and leadership skills developed in a fast-paced, dynamic, multi-tasking, and matrixed environment
• Experience in managing the design and development of educational curricula, with focus on one or more of the following areas a plus: Human Resources, Accounting, Safety, Legal, Sales/Marketing, Medical, Education, IT/Accounting Software
• Experience developing a strategic commercial business plan and implementing it
• Particular strength in B2B and B2C customer acquisition through web marketing, including analytics (eg, Google Analytics), customer lead generation, and advertising
• Broad functional experience that includes product development, product management, sales management, and business development
• A leadership style that is open and transparent, absent of politics and hidden agendas; a team player mentality, with a strong commitment to developing close working relationships with the CEO, COO and other senior managers
• Experience in the eLearning arena with strong understanding of the market— able to anticipate where the international market is going vs where it has been
• A willingness to relocate to suburban Philadelphia if not already located there
• A college degree; MBA preferable, with strong problem solving skills

This involves a range of personal attributes-- flexibility and adaptability; a great work ethic; strong leadership skills; an ability to develop a strategic commercial plan and implement it; an ability to analyze and evaluate one’s own (and other’s) performance and to develop plans to improve performance; excellent presentation skills; willingness to take responsibility for both success and failure; a thick skin; self-confidence; a positive attitude about self, company, marketplace; and a strong desire for success.

COMPENSATION

Compensation will include salary and bonus in line with the individual’s experience.

TRAVEL

Travel may be as much as 10 percent in addition to any commuting.

CONTACT

Resume should be sent as a Word document to Ralph Protsik (ralph@bsgtv.com) and Ardith Myers (amyers@bsgtv.com) and also posted on the BSG website, www.bsgtv.com.