Blair named president, COO of Ace World Wide
David J. Blair has been named president and chief operating officer of Ace World Wide, a Milwaukee-based national transportation company with 15 coast-to-coast locations.
Blair joined ACE in early 2001 as senior vice president of sales and marketing.
"In his tenure with Ace World Wide, Dave Blair has dedicated himself to enhancing quality to provide clients with the most outstanding service possible," said John W. Steiner, chairman of Ace World Wide. "As a result, we have seen increased business in several service lines — even during a tough economy.
"Dave Blair has also been integral to our diversification strategy," said Steiner. "He has helped us open new opportunities and relationships that are consistent with our goal of dominating in the moving, storage and transportation industries."
Blair began his moving career in the early 1970s as a "lumper," helping his parents (a husband/wife trucking team for North American Van Lines) load and unload furniture during the summer months.
His formal entry into the moving industry was as a C.O.D. salesman with a San Diego moving agent in 1979.
In 1986, Blair joined his parents in opening an agency for North American Van Lines- Blair North American in Sarasota, Fla. By 1988, he had purchased the company, and over the next two years worked to increase revenues while winning every North American Van Lines quality award possible.
Blair sold the company to Atlantic North American in 1992, where he stayed on as general manager.
Later in his tenure, he assumed the role of executive vice president of the company. In 1997, Blair was instrumental in one of the largest conversions in the history of the industry — the conversion of Atlantic from a North American to an Atlas Van Lines agency.
Prior to taking a position at Ace in 2001, Blair served as regional vice president for Graebel Van Lines in Orlando, Fla.
Blair graduated from the University of Southern California in 1979 with two undergraduate degrees, one in public relations and another in communication. He and his wife are in the process of moving from San Diego to the Milwaukee area.
July 25, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
