Patrick Simmons Email & Phone Number

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

I am CEO of Blackeye Beverage. I lead a great team of people who "Craft Your Beverage from the Ground(s) Up". We develop, manufacture and can crafted beverages like cold brew coffees, sparkling waters, energy drinks, mocktails, teas and more.

Greater Milwaukee Area

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Board Member

Minneapolis, Mn

• Led the development and integration of the new partnership between Lifefloor LLC and WhiteWater West, the worlds largest waterpark manufacturer. Helped generate largest order in 7 year history and partnered to build a $10M pipeline.• Created new product recommendation for Radiologist Consulting Group. Assessed new product potential, identified product features and benefits, and created organizational recommendations for launch.• Supported Buddy Squirrel Inc. in development or marketing launch plan for new product.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Led 2 cross-functional teams of 25 members including operations, consumer insights and finance. Reported to Senior VP, Finance for North American Operating Unit.• Developed project to reduce cost by $80M through innovative inventory management approach.• Developed unique future-focused, consumer trend based analysis of General Mills’ business portfolio for CEO’s strategic planning that illuminated key portfolio brands as potential for redirected growth or divestiture.

Mississauga, Ontario Canada

Led 9 direct reports and 150 person sales team selling all brands. Reported to President, General Mills Canada. Managed and deployed $400M+ spending budget across all Canadian accounts.• Drove record profit and volume growth for General Mills Canada, developed new annual planning process and accountability approach.• Created new customer profitability model which drove flat spending for first time in 5 years.• Led organizational redesign for General Mills Canada, reducing headcount by 25%.

Mississauga, Ontario Canada

Led integration of $350M Yoplait business into General Mills Canada by building first ever team from zero to 40+ employees. Responsible for all functional aspects of business. Reported to President, General Mills Canada.• Built team from inception to operational in 108 days delivering on year one targets.• Rebuilt distribution network and negotiated new customer agreements across Canada resulting in improved profitability of over $7M in first two years.• Led introduction of Diet Greek Yogurt product into marketplace, resulting in leading share.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Created General Mills’ first ever customer facing marketing team to deliver new growth opportunities with 15 largest customers including; Walmart, Safeway, Supervalu and Kroger. Reported to SVP, Sales.• Secured CEO approval and built team of marketers fully integrated with local sales teams creating a value added selling approach. • Created comprehensive customer solution that leveraged cross-brand and cross-manufacturer marketing content for largest retailers• Developed National Retail Event strategies for Box Tops for Education, Outnumber Hunger, Save Lids to Save Lives and movie properties (Ice Age, Batman, Shrek 4).• Led $14M Nascar investment providing unique and creative opportunity utilized to drive growth in sales regions. Owned the relationship with Richard Childress, driver Jeff Burton, and the marketing assets for the “Wheaties car.”

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

General Management leadership for $60M, Soy Milk Joint Venture between General Mills and DuPont, Led all functions: Finance, Marketing, Sales, Operations, Product Development and Research. Reported to Board of Directors, included EVP and CFO from General Mills and DuPont Group VP.• Led Board of Directors Meetings and strategy development sessions that positioned the venture for aggressive growth and successful sale.• Developed and implemented national role out strategy for 8th Continent Soymilk, achieving #2 position in marketplace in 1st year.• Drove business model transformation yielding 25 point improvement in delivered margin.• Delivered highest growth rates within General Mills, adding >400% over 4 year period.• Accelerated new product innovation to launch new products representing 55% of sales.• Led highly confidential effort culminating in sale of 8th Continent to Stremick’s Heritage Foods. o Developed Offering Memorandum in preparation for successful sale. o Created and delivered sales presentation to multiple large beverage manufacturers. o Led transition efforts to new buyer; coordinating sales, marketing and operations. o Developed human resource and communication plan for retention and placement of all 8th Continent employees back into their parent companies.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

P/L accountability for Salty Snack brands (Chex Snack Mix, Bugles, Gardetto’s and Pop Secret Popcorn) and Division non-grocery sales of $700M. Delivered record profit with a team of 5 direct reports and 19 person marketing team while reporting to the President of Snacks Division.• Created and implemented new Salty snack strategy unifying brands and creating a new level of scale and presence within retail outlets • Developed new positioning and fundamentally new building blocks for entire Pop Secret brand

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Marketing leadership for all established and new products across Yogurt division. Delivered record sales of $600M while growing earnings 60% and 98% over the last two year respectively. Led 11 person marketing team and reported directly to President of Yoplait Division• Implemented radical 30% sku reduction across division that drove profitability and sale focus on most margin accretive products.• Led introduction of $100M revolutionary new yogurt product, Go-Gurt, the first portable and freezable yogurt for kids.• Received Corporate Chairman’s award for launch of Go-Gurt.• Developed key marketing strategies which took Yoplait from a secondary position in the yogurt category to position of strong share leadership in 2 years.• Launched new “higher purpose” marketing campaign, Save Lids to Save Lives, joining consumers and Yoplait brand, ultimately raising more than $10M in the fight to find a cure for women’s breast cancer.• Responsible for $30M advertising budget across kid and adult brands

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Led initial marketing team during Chex cereal acquisition from Ralcorp. Coordinated integration of $250M Chex cereal acquisition. Reported directly to President of Cereal division. • Built and presented annual marketing plan in less than 14 days.• Led advertising agency selection process.• Developed new brand positioning, tv advertising and new product plan.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Marketing Manager, Gold Medal Flour (1995-1996) Minneapolis, MN Led team of 5 with direct P&L responsibility for 6 brands and $200M in sales• Drove record profit and record share on company’s oldest brands• Generated $6M cost savings through implementation of options strategy on ingredient purchasesMarketing Manager, Nature Valley Granola (1994-1995)Led team of 7 responsible for $51M in marketing spending• Developed reduced fat granola bar, turning volume from declining 30% to growing 5% per year Assistant Marketing ManagerDesserts, Cake and Frosting Products (1993-1994)Desserts, New Products (1992-1993) Main Meals, Hamburger Helper (1991-1992)

San Francisco Bay Area

Product Manager, Marketing Department, Optoelectronics division (1988-1989)Managed three Sales Development Engineers (SDE's) responsible for sales development of display products totaling $80M• Drove program toward meeting customer interface objectives and sales targets Product Marketing Engineer (1986-1988) Created motion control product definitions for entry into previously untapped Japanese market

Master Of Business Administration - Mba, Business Administration And Management, General

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Mechanical Engineering