Akron, OH March 27, 2006
ActionLink and Merchandise Support, Inc. (MSI) announced today that effective April 1, 2006 MSI will indefinitely suspend operations and allow ActionLink to absorb the highly skilled MSI field management, sales force and civilian client base to create a stronger merchandising, training and sales organization. ActionLink provides channel marketing services to over 50 manufacturers and retailers in the civilian retail channel.
Bruce Finn, Chairman and CEO of ActionLink commented “I am very excited about this opportunity. MSI has been a first class company for over 13 years and has the best trained digital imaging team in America. MSI complements ActionLink’s core business strategy perfectly. We will add MSI’s technology trained field representatives and managers along with some essential recruiting and account management to the ActionLink family. This will allow ActionLink to service more companies, while providing both dedicated and syndicated programs as a full one stop solution for merchandising, training and selling services.”
MSI is a wholly owned subsidiary of BK Global, Inc., and has been in operation since 1992. BK Global’s primary business has been, and remains, the military resale system which is supported through MSI’s sister company, Military Sales and Service Company (MSS). MSS is the industry leader in servicing over 80 top merchandise brands in all aspects of military resale and BK global has made a choice to focus efforts entirely in the military market at this time.
With an extensive regional, territory and training management team, MSI has had a reputation for being a top ranked outsourcing company with a broad base for client services. These services include security merchandising, display design, fixture assembly, managing interactive kiosks and world class data collection.
Over the coming weeks ActionLink will be integrating the former MSI employees to join their already world-class team. The experience added by the highly qualified members of the former MSI team will further enhance ActionLink’s prestigious reputation and retail execution capabilities.
ActionLink’s addition of the former field organization will provide a broader array of comprehensive product training services, merchandising programs, product demonstrations / assisted selling, special event / trade show support, kiosk installation and professional people with over 5500 representatives in the US and Canada. This will also allow for continued growth of ProductLink, launched in 1999, ActionLink’s dynamic web-based training division, rapidly becoming a leader in online interactive training presentations, streaming video, Flash, animation and Pod Casting across multiple platforms to all industries.
ActionLink will continue to run its headquarter operations out of Akron, OH with satellite offices planned for Orange County, CA, Dallas, TX, Richmond, VA and Toronto, Canada.