Herff Jones, a subsidiary of Varsity Brands, announced the addition of Jeff Blade to its executive leadership team as chief financial officer and chief operating officer.
Blade will report to both Herff Jones President Steve Down and Varsity Brands Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer John Hutchinson. He will assume day-to-day responsibilities for finance, corporate strategy and program management in addition to owning the business processes supporting the company’s initiatives to successfully drive commercial and operations.
Blade most recently served as interim senior vice president and COO at Bradley University where he was instrumental in helping the institution navigate through the strategic and tactical challenges of COVID-19. His tenure also includes leadership roles with international and national brands such as Vera Bradley and Steak ‘n Shake, where he provided a seamless transition to the public offering for both. At Matilda Jane Clothing, Blade helped transform the company’s network of independent field consultants into industry leaders.
“With an eye towards a return to normalcy post-vaccine by the fall of 2021, and strong confidence in our supply chain, we look forward to making further investments in innovation and technology and an expanded sales footprint in 2021 to better serve the nation’s schools and to help improve the lives of more than 55 million kids in K-12 and 19 million students in college,” said Down. “Jeff is a multi-dimensional leader who brings to the table a wealth of experience working in fast-paced, complex organizations in highly competitive, consumer-facing industries. All of this will enable us to build upon Herff Jones’ reputation for excellence, product development and unrivaled, leading-edge solutions and applications as we look to strengthen our competitive positioning and expand our reach to better serve our customers and the industry at large.”
Varsity Brands is a portfolio company of Bain Capital Private Equity.
