![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Jim-Cerkleski-CGI.jpg\")
Jim Cerkleski, CEO
Clover Holdings<\/p><\/div>\n
In a little more than 20 years, Clover has grown to mammoth proportions. In the last five years alone, it has spawned Clover Wireless (a mobile device solutions platform), Clover Telecom (a telecom hardware and engineering services business) and Clover Imaging Group (which supplies printing consumables, parts and services to the global mid-market).<\/p>\n
Yet, Cerkleski remains a grounded executive, fully attuned to his humble beginnings. He may engage in the proverbial 30,000-foot executive perspective, but Cerkleski is quick to roll up his sleeves and get entrenched in the granular details of business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a very approachable CEO with an open door policy,\u201d said Cerkleski, a 2017 ENX Magazine<\/em> Difference Maker. \u201cPeople can have candid conversations with me about the company or changes that are occurring. I\u2019m not your typical ivory tower CEO. I get involved in all aspects of the business\u2014the pricing side, customer side and vendor side. It\u2019s not about being a control freak, it\u2019s about wanting to add as much value to the company as I can with my years of knowledge in this industry.\u201d<\/p>\n The onset of Cerkleski\u2019s career didn\u2019t quite portend the heights to which he has risen. Upon graduating from Northern Illinois University, he sold hardware (word processors, typewriters, etc.) for IBM. After several years, he decided to strike out on his own, backed by some impressive portables. Unfortunately, Cerkleski was in violation of his non-compete clause, and IBM was less than magnanimous toward its former employee\u2019s industriousness. Cerkleski pivoted his business toward the supplies side and sold ribbons, fax paper and toner cartridges to many large clients in the Chicagoland area, including Kraft, Motorola, United Airlines and Baxter.<\/p>\n Cerkleski\u2019s Superior Office Products quickly grew to a $20 million performer before it was sold to U.S. Office Products (later Corporate Express, then Staples). U.S. Office Products became a major rollup player, acquiring 250 independent office products companies, and Cerkleski cut his M&A teeth during this period, learning about due diligence and other aspects of acquisition.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a vision to do the same for the imaging supplies business because it was such a cottage industry and ripe for rollup,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I used the knowledge base that I learned in the office products channel.\u201d<\/p>\n Clover Business Products was one of Cerkleski\u2019s vendors; in fact, Superior Office Products was Clover\u2019s largest customer. He continued to do business with Clover after Superior joined the U.S. Office Products fold and helped the manufacturer grow on a national level. Cerkleski was intrigued by the manufacturing business and in 1999 he bought a 60 percent share in Clover. He changed the name to Clover Technologies Group, in part, because CTG is the acronym for cartridge, and served many of the heavyweights in the office products space, including Staples, Office Depot, OfficeMax and Quill.<\/p>\n When the office products space began to shrink due to pressure from online retailers such as Amazon, and with the BTA space also constricting, Clover focused its efforts on managed print services and software solutions. \u201cGetting more into the parts and the refurbishing of printer parts turned out to be a good move for us, because that\u2019s where all the strength and growth is,\u201d Cerkleski observed. \u201cWe just don\u2019t see growth in the office products channel anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Cerkleski comes from a blue-collar background\u2014his father, Richard, was a sheet metal worker\u2014and credits him for instilling that work ethic. That tireless mantra has served Cerkleski well as the tides of business have constantly shifted. He\u2019s made some tough business decisions over the years, but it has always been to the benefit of the organization as a whole.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as business is concerned, don\u2019t fall asleep at the wheel,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you do, your competition will jump ahead. You always have to be moving and shaking the trees for new business. Print is changing and it brings about the change you have to have in an organization, and we\u2019re going through it. We\u2019ve bought a lot of companies and we\u2019ve consolidated. It\u2019s tough to make those changes, but if you sit still, you\u2019re done.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2016 campaign was spent rationalizing and streamlining business operations, a recognition of the shrinking industry, but the consolidation made for a stronger Clover organization. That paved the way for a 2017 that firmly established Clover in the world of MPS.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of companies now are utilizing our capabilities for MPS, beyond just a software,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s talking about our jumbo technology, our distribution expansion, to get product to the customer and end user the next day. The fact that we do not sell direct is part of our story. All of our competitors are selling direct. We continue to support the dealer and will grow our programs in 2018 so they can go out and sell more. The biggest\u001b thing in 2018 is the dealer support programs. We have all these new marketing programs for our dealers so we can help them be successful and show them what we know.\u201d<\/p>\n When he\u2019s not at the office, Cerkleski enjoys bass fishing, and Key West, FL, is one of his favorite angling haunts. \u201cI\u2019ve been dabbling in Muskie, but you can\u2019t beat bass fishing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Cerkleski and his wife, Cheryl, have been married for 21 years. They have two children\u2014Kelsey, who attends Texas Christian University, and Bryce, a junior in high school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If any chief executive has earned the right to be cloistered in a proverbial ivory tower, it would be Jim Cerkleski. He is the CEO of Clover Holdings, a company with annual revenue in excess of $1 billion, backed by more than 19,000 employees and 60 locations in 18 countries. It stakes a claim to being the world\u2019s largest provider of remanufactured laser and inkjet cartridges and printer parts. In a little more than 20 years, Clover has grown to mammoth proportions. In the last five years alone, it has spawned Clover Wireless (a mobile device solutions platform), Clover Telecom (a telecom hardware and engineering services business) and Clover Imaging Group (which supplies printing consumables, parts and services to the global mid-market). Yet, Cerkleski remains a grounded executive, fully attuned to his humble beginnings. He may engage in the proverbial 30,000-foot executive perspective, but Cerkleski is quick to roll up his sleeves and get entrenched in the granular details of business. \u201cI\u2019m a very approachable CEO with an open door policy,\u201d said Cerkleski, a 2017 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. \u201cPeople can have candid conversations with me about the company or changes that are occurring. I\u2019m not your typical ivory tower CEO. I get involved in all aspects of the business\u2014the pricing side, customer side and vendor side. It\u2019s not about being a control freak, it\u2019s about wanting to add as much value to the company as I can with my years of knowledge in this industry.\u201d The onset of Cerkleski\u2019s career didn\u2019t quite portend the heights to which he has risen. Upon graduating from Northern Illinois University, he sold hardware (word processors, typewriters, etc.) for IBM. After several years, he decided to strike out on his own, backed by some impressive portables. Unfortunately, Cerkleski was in violation of his non-compete clause, and IBM was less than magnanimous toward its former employee\u2019s industriousness. Cerkleski pivoted his business toward the supplies side and sold ribbons, fax paper and toner cartridges to many large clients in the Chicagoland area, including Kraft, Motorola, United Airlines and Baxter. Cerkleski\u2019s Superior Office Products quickly grew to a $20 million performer before it was sold to U.S. Office Products (later Corporate Express, then Staples). U.S. Office Products became a major rollup player, acquiring 250 independent office products companies, and Cerkleski cut his M&A teeth during this period, learning about due diligence and other aspects of acquisition. \u201cI had a vision to do the same for the imaging supplies business because it was such a cottage industry and ripe for rollup,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I used the knowledge base that I learned in the office products channel.\u201d Clover Business Products was one of Cerkleski\u2019s vendors; in fact, Superior Office Products was Clover\u2019s largest customer. He continued to do business with Clover after Superior joined the U.S. Office Products fold and helped the manufacturer grow on a national level. Cerkleski was intrigued by the manufacturing business and in 1999 he bought a 60 percent share in Clover. He changed the name to Clover Technologies Group, in part, because CTG is the acronym for cartridge, and served many of the heavyweights in the office products space, including Staples, Office Depot, OfficeMax and Quill. When the office products space began to shrink due to pressure from online retailers such as Amazon, and with the BTA space also constricting, Clover focused its efforts on managed print services and software solutions. \u201cGetting more into the parts and the refurbishing of printer parts turned out to be a good move for us, because that\u2019s where all the strength and growth is,\u201d Cerkleski observed. \u201cWe just don\u2019t see growth in the office products channel anymore.\u201d Cerkleski comes from a blue-collar background\u2014his father, Richard, was a sheet metal worker\u2014and credits him for instilling that work ethic. That tireless mantra has served Cerkleski well as the tides of business have constantly shifted. He\u2019s made some tough business decisions over the years, but it has always been to the benefit of the organization as a whole. \u201cAs far as business is concerned, don\u2019t fall asleep at the wheel,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you do, your competition will jump ahead. You always have to be moving and shaking the trees for new business. Print is changing and it brings about the change you have to have in an organization, and we\u2019re going through it. We\u2019ve bought a lot of companies and we\u2019ve consolidated. It\u2019s tough to make those changes, but if you sit still, you\u2019re done.\u201d The 2016 campaign was spent rationalizing and streamlining business operations, a recognition of the shrinking industry, but the consolidation made for a stronger Clover organization. That paved the way for a 2017 that firmly established Clover in the world of MPS. \u201cA lot of companies now are utilizing our capabilities for MPS, beyond just a software,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s talking about our jumbo technology, our distribution expansion, to get product to the customer and end user the next day. The fact that we do not sell direct is part of our story. All of our competitors are selling direct. We continue to support the dealer and will grow our programs in 2018 so they can go out and sell more. The biggest\u001b thing in 2018 is the dealer support programs. We have all these new marketing programs for our dealers so we can help them be successful and show them what we know.\u201d When he\u2019s not at the office, Cerkleski enjoys bass fishing, and Key West, FL, is one of his favorite angling haunts. \u201cI\u2019ve been dabbling in Muskie, but you can\u2019t beat bass fishing,\u201d he said. Cerkleski and his wife, Cheryl, have been married for 21 years. They have two children\u2014Kelsey, who attends Texas Christian University, and Bryce, a junior in high school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":23504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1650,82,84,1638],"tags":[579,2540],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25906"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25906"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25920,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25906\/revisions\/25920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}