PPB November 2019

Chr i s Ande r son W hen Chris Anderson considers his future in promo, it involves growth, expansion—and being the first promotional products professional in outer space. “Elon, Jeff, Richard, give me a call. I’m ready to sign up,” says the new CEO of HUB Promotional Group (HPG) based in Braintree, Massachusetts. “I live by the ‘work hard, play hard’ mantra, and I try to pack as many experiences and opportunities into my life as possible,” he says. But until his day of space travel arrives, Anderson is steadfastly preparing for innovation on the ground. After serving as the executive chairman of Salt Lake City, Utah-based supplier HandStands, where he worked for more than 16 years and also previously served as president and CEO, Anderson joined HPG as chief operating officer following HPG’s acquisition of HandStands in December 2018. The company became the eighth brand operating under the HPG umbrella that also includes HUB Pen, Beacon, BEST Promotions USA, Cooler Graphics, Debco, BCG Creations and Origaudio. Just six months after settling in as COO, Anderson was appointed CEO of HPG in June 2019, following the resignation of longtime CEO Joe Fleming, who had led the company for more than 30 years. Fleming remains a shareholder and a member of the HPG board of directors. Anderson was up for the challenge, and with a background rich in leadership, he’s prepared to take HPG in the right direction. “My background has been one ‘intrapreneurial’ chapter after another, where I have joined already existing (and successful) teams and businesses, and sought to find ways to catalyze the growth and fortify the enterprise,” he says. “In each stop, I worked to create the reputation of being a win- win-oriented problem-solver and innovator, and one who takes his job very seriously, but not himself.” All of his life Anderson has enjoyed challenging himself and taking calculated risks. He learned to fly an airplane before he could drive a car (he soloed in the cockpit on his 16th birthday while working an after-school job to pay for flying lessons). One of Anderson’s major areas of focus as CEO is to develop HPG’s brands, while being careful to preserve and embrace what makes each company unique and their products distinctive. HPG, he explains, is a union of brands with their own “unique dialects and cultural elements,” with a whole that’s even better than the sum of its parts. Anderson feels it is his responsibility to protect these elements and to ensure each brand continues to perfect what it does best. “HUB Promotional Group consists of several great brands that were very successful as independent companies,” he says. “My job is to avoid the temptation to fix what isn’t broken within each of Ripe For Change Chris Anderson, HUB Promotional Group’s new CEO, brings vision, wit and focus to his new position. by Danielle Renda 66 | NOVEMBER 2019 | THINK