Rod Kempkes - President

Rod Kempkes joined West in 1989 as part of the finance group and has held various executive positions.  Throughout his 20 plus year tenure at West, Rod has been involved in many of West's businesses in various capacities.   As President of West Direct, Rod has responsibility for Direct Response and West Language Services.  In addition Rod drives the strategy and oversight for West Corporations Governmental Services efforts. Prior to joining West Rod was a practicing CPA.

Jim Speidel - Vice President, New Business Development

As Vice President of New Business Development for West Direct, Jim oversees both sales and new business efforts across a wide variety of verticals for the West Direct business unit. His responsibilities include management of a dedicated Sales team responsible for new client acquisition and retention. In addition, Jim is considered a key contributor in the design and implementation of new service offerings that West brings to market. 

Jim began his career with West Corporation in 1996 when he joined the direct response division as an Account Manager.  In 2000, Jim took a position at West Interactive where he spent 4 years in various leadership roles until returning to direct response as Senior Director of Business Development for West Direct.  Jim held this position until 2007 when he was promoted to his current position as Vice President, New Business Development for West Direct.

Throughout his career at West, Jim has served on various industry related organizations as a participant, speaker and presenter. Currently, Jim is a member of the Response Magazine Advisory Board.

Bob Heeks - Vice President, Partnership Marketing

Bob Heeks has been part of the senior management team of West Direct since 2001. As VP of Partnership Marketing he is responsible for establishing and managing third party relationships that enable clients to monetize their customer touch points using West's proprietarily SmartSell® offer delivery system.

Prior to West Direct,  Heeks spent over 15 years working  with leading direct marketing companies that specialized in book clubs and other continuity marketing programs. 

Heeks received a BA in Economics and Statistics from University of Rochester and received his MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Simon School, University of Rochester

Susan Scholl - Vice President, Client Services

Susan joined West in 1991 after spending 13 years in retail management. During her tenure at West, Susan has held a variety of management positions including both account and project management. In these positions Susan was tasked with managing several of West's largest accounts. In 1999, Susan was promoted to Vice President for West Direct where she remains today. Susan's primary responsibility with West Direct is to provide the leadership for the Client Services account teams that manage West Directs clients day-to-day activities.

Mark Pettay - Sr. Vice President, Information Services

Mark Pettay is Senior Vice President of Information Services for West Direct. He has over 30 years of IT experience including 20+ developing and deploying out-sourced call center solutions and internet solutions for West Corporation.  Mark has authored or co-authored 10 patents in the areas of voice biometrics, speech recognition, data security, and micro-payments.  Mark is a graduate of Emporia State University in Emporia Kansas.

Kelli Smith - Vice President of Operation

As Vice President of Operations, Kelli leads the Operations teams within West Direct’s Brick and Mortar and Work at Home call centers. In this role, Kelli is accountable for all aspects of call center operations, service levels and agent performance. Additionally, Kelli is responsible for developing and implementing strategic initiatives to maximize operational efficiencies.

Ms. Smith joined West in 1998 as a Client Services Account Manager and promoted to a Client Services Manager in 2001. In 2006, Kelli was promoted to Regional Director Performance and Implementation where she was responsible for ensuring the Operations call center teams were exceeding client’s program goals for conversion, revenue and service levels. Ms. Smith was promoted to Vice President, Operations in 2008.

Monty Horine - Vice President, Government Services

As Vice President, Government Services, Monty Horine oversees the government vertical for the West companies.  In his role, Monty is responsible for all aspects of business development and contract administration related to state, local and federal contracts.

Monty joined West in 1991 as a Client Services Account Manager and was promoted to Client Services Manager in 1994 then Director, Client Services in 1999. In 2004 Monty was promoted to the role of Director, Relationship Management in the West Sales department.  In January, 2006 he was promoted to Vice President, Operations of West Telemarketing responsible for Direct Response call center and home agent operations.  He became Vice President, Government Service and Client Operations in December 2008 and Vice President, Government Services in February 2010.    

Kristin Gladu - Director, Government Contract Administrator

As the Director, Government Contract Administration Kristin Gladu is responsible for managing government contract compliance for West Direct.  She manages WDI’s prime and subcontracts with the government including reporting, financial oversight, and conformity with contract terms and conditions.  Kristin manages post contract award interactions with government contracting entities, and ensures continued good relationships with government customers.

Kristin’s experience prior to joining West in 2008 included project management, earned value management, cost estimating, proposal pricing and government hardware acquisitions. She is a graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.

   

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