Sep 7, 2011

Jack Ryan Rejoins AmericaMart Atlanta as Chief Financial Officer

Jack Ryan returns to AmericasMart as acting Chief Financial Officer with the appointment signaling continuing senior management team strength and advancement in the company’s 50th-anniversary year, according to Jeffrey L. Portman, Sr., president and chief operating officer of AmericasMart Atlanta and its AMC, Inc. parent entity.

Ryan rejoins AMC following his 2001 retirement from its presidency, which he held from 1994 during AmericasMart’s early formative years following the 1996 rebranding of the former Atlanta Market Center. A financial industry veteran with a long and distinguished career, including more than 22 years with the AMC-affiliated Portman Companies, Ryan will direct all AMC financial operations and will help to represent AMC’s interests across the financial community at large.

“Jack’s leadership, particularly during the creation and early development of AmericasMart, was critical to our initial successes in building market share and brand equity. As his direct report, I learned much from Jack then and will continue to gain from his expertise,” notes Portman, who was appointed AMC president and chief operating officer at Ryan’s retirement.

During Ryan’s original tenure, the AMC global home and gift franchise grew significantly with the advancement of AmericasMart’s national and international buyer base, the alignment of its Atlanta operations and the AMC-managed California Gift Show (later divested) and the expansion of international partnerships with affiliates in the United Kingdom and Europe.

“We are a much-different company today than we were at Jack’s departure, with a different industry landscape presenting huge opportunities for growth. We look forward to Jack’s decisive financial leadership in our vigorous pursuit of that growth,” adds Portman.