Responsibilities: Heartland’s finance, operations and administrative activities, internal controls, financial policies and procedures and investor relations.
Professional Background: Bob joined Heartland in October 2000 as chief financial officer and secretary. Under his leadership, Heartland’s value grew from $15 million to more than $1 billion in market capitalization — and in late 2007 he was named president and chief financial officer.
Prior to joining Heartland, Bob was chief financial officer at COMFORCE Corporation in Woodbury, NY, as well as a managing director at Smith Barney and a vice president with Citicorp, both in New York, NY.
Community Involvement:
- Board of Trustees, Princeton Day School, Princeton, NJ
- Member, Nassau Presbyterian Church and Cemetery, Princeton, NJ
Educational Background:
- Master of Business Administration, Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, Stanford, CA
- Bachelor of Arts, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Personal: Bob and his wife, Margaret, live in Princeton, NJ. They have three children.
Responsibilities: All efforts related to sales, particularly in support of Heartland’s national 1,700-member sales and service force.
Professional Background: After joining Heartland at its inception, Sanford was its first sales employee west of the Mississippi. From late 2000 to 2003, Sanford served as Heartland’s senior vice president of hospitality marketing, charged with developing and nurturing relationships with trade associations nationally.
Sanford was then named Heartland’s senior vice president of sales management responsible for sales infrastructure, sales policy, and formulating business development strategies. In early 2006, he was promoted to chief sales officer. That same year, he was recognized by Selling Power magazine as the National Vice President of Sales of the Year.
Community Involvement:
- Heartland’s Give Something Back NetworkTM, Princeton, NJ
- The Children’s Miracle Network
- The American Red Cross
Educational Background:
- Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Personal: Sanford, his wife, Heather, and their son live in Belle Meade, NJ.
Responsibilities: Strategic direction and growth of Heartland Payment Systems, one of the nation’s largest payments processing companies and creator of The Merchant Bill of Rights.
Professional Background: Bob started his career at Parkland College in Champaign, IL, at the age of 21. After serving as a professor, president of the college’s faculty and director of its computer center, he moved to the Bank of Illinois and then started a software and consulting business for small and mid-sized businesses.
In 1997, Bob co-founded Heartland Payment Systems with Heartland Bank. Under his guidance, Heartland has climbed from #61 to #5 in the nation and #9 in the world; from 25 to 2,900 employees; from 2,500 to 250,000 client locations and from a portfolio of $0.4 billion in bankcard volume to more than $80 billion.
On August 11, 2005, Bob rang the bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in the most oversubscribed initial public offering in the payments industry.
In 2009, Bob was elected chair for the steering committee of the Payments Processing Information Sharing Council (PPISC), a forum for sharing information about fraud, threats, vulnerabilities and risk mitigation practices in the payments industry. In 2010, he was elected Associate Member Director on the board of Secure POS Vendor Alliance.
Awards and Recognition:
-
The MidWest Acquirers Association’s first “Lifetime Achievement Award"
- Ernst and Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year Award” (in 2004 and 2007)
- Greater Philadelphia Venture Group’s “Walter M. Aikman Entrepreneur of the Year Award”
- American Business Awards’ “Best Executive”
- The Eastern Technology Alliance’s “Technology CEO of the Year”
- Honorary Doctorate of Humanities, Lewis University, Romeoville, IL
Community Involvement:
- Board of Trustees, Historical Society of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
- Board of Advisors, Seton Hall Business School, South Orange, NJ
- Trustee, Historic Morven, Princeton, NJ
- Advisory Board, Woodrow Wilson House, Washington DC
- Founder, Give Something Back Foundation, a nonprofit which funds academic scholarships for disadvantaged children, recognizes teaching excellence and donates to various charitable organizations
Educational Background:
- Master of Science, Computer Science , University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL
- Bachelor of Science, Mathematics, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL
Personal: Bob and his wife, Jill, have six children, three grandchildren and reside in Princeton, NJ.
Responsibilities: Provides strategic focus for new opportunities and enhancement of existing products and services. Also provides technology vision and leadership for developing and delivering the company's solutions as well as interfacing with intelligence, law enforcement and industry leaders to strategically identify threats.
Professional Background: Steve joined Heartland in November 2008 as a consultant, helping Heartland bring its Software as a Service (SaaS) applications to its merchant base. In January 2009, he became the executive director of end-to-end encryption focusing on developing point-of-sale products and executing Heartland’s E3™ security platform that encrypts cardholder data from the point of swipe/entry at a merchant location through the payments processing network and to the card brands. He was named chief information officer in August 2009.
Steve was the founder of several successful Silicon Valley startup and venture capital firms. He is co-founder and former chief executive officer of ICVerify, Inc., a leader in payments processing integration of PC-based POS software. The company merged with CyberCash, Inc. in 1998 to form an Internet and physical service provider for electronic payments software.
Steve has been an active member of the US Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force for more than six years, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Infragard Electronic Crimes Task Force for the past five years.
Community Involvement:
- Angel Flight, a non-profit organization that provides free air transportation in response to health care and other compelling human needs
- San Francisco Sheriff's Air Squadron past commander and current reserve special deputy sheriff
- USS Hornet Space Science and Discovery Museum board member
Educational Background:
- Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Personal: Steve resides in Lafayette, CA with his wife, Debbie, and their twin children, Andrew and Ashley.
Responsibilities: The continual development and enhancement of strategic marketing initiatives that help fuel the growth of the company.
Professional Background: Nancy joined Heartland in 2006 as executive director of marketing. After launching The Merchant Bill of Rights, a public advocacy initiative that educates business owners about the costs and complexities of card processing, she began building a comprehensive marketing platform that builds the Heartland brand, empowers the sales organization and extends Heartland’s visibility in the marketplace.
Prior to joining Heartland, Nancy was vice president of marketing at Telerx in Horsham, PA, and president/owner of Nancy Gussow Gross Communications.
Educational Background:
- Bachelor of Arts, Journalism, American University, Washington, DC
Personal: Nancy lives in Maple Glen, PA, with her husband, Alan. They have two sons.
Responsibilities: All technology initiatives related to payments processing, including Heartland’s network infrastructures.
Professional Background: Kris joined Heartland in April 2008 as chief security officer and quickly enhanced strategies that protect merchants and consumers through end-to-end data encryption and other technologies. He worked with third parties to ensure Point-of-Sale (POS) systems meet security guidelines and has expanded internal audit capabilities to combat increasing risks from hackers and other criminals.
Kris is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), a Certified Payment-Industry Security Auditor (CPISA) and a member of the Information Systems Security Association. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas Graduate School of Management where he teaches digital forensics.
Prior to joining Heartland, Kris worked at Intervoice, Inc., in Dallas TX, and Alcatel Asia Pacific in Plano, TX, and Shanghai, China.
Community Involvement:
- Children’s religious educator volunteer
Educational Background:
- Master of Science, Computer Science, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX
- Bachelor of Science, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX
Personal: Kris lives in Murphy, TX, with his wife, Renee, and their daughter.
Responsibilities: Securities, compliance, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, commercial transactions, litigation and risk management.
Professional Background: Charles joined Heartland in January 2007 and has successfully managed, settled and won a variety of litigation matters on behalf of the company. He advised on Heartland’s acquisition of the Network Services business from Alliance Data Systems, Heartland’s $75 million syndicated revolving credit facility, acquisition of assets of General Meters Corporation and Chockstone, Inc., as well as the company’s investment in Collective POS.
Before joining Heartland, Charles worked at SunCom Wireless Holdings Incorporated in Berwyn, PA; Eureka Broadband Corporation in New York, NY; 2nd Century Communications in Arlington, VA, and e.spire Communications in Annapolis Junction, MD. Earlier in his career, he served as legislative assistant to United States Senator Arlen Specter.
Charles is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, the New Jersey Bar (Corporate Counsel Admission), the American Bar Association and the American Corporate Counsel Association.
Community Involvement:
- National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Philadelphia, PA
- Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Philadelphia, PA
- Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Philadelphia, PA
Educational Background:
- Juris Doctor, New York University School of Law, New York, NY
- Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Personal: Charles, his wife, Alison, and their three children live in Ambler, PA.
Responsibilities: Daily operations, oversight of Collective POS and Heartland’s service centers, management of third-party relationships (including card brands, sponsor banks and third-party processors) and national accounts. Conan has additional responsibilities as a member of the corporate strategic initiatives team, working on due diligence for mergers and acquisition, contract management and development of new product initiatives.
Professional Background: Conan joined Heartland in August 2007 as executive director of operational productivity and was named chief of operations in January 2009.
Prior to joining Heartland, Conan was chief operations manager at PNC Merchant Services in Pittsburgh, PA. He held several positions there between December 1998 and August 2007.
Community Involvement:
- Executive Committee Member, Heartland Cares Foundation, Princeton, NJ
Educational Background:
- Bachelors of Business Administration, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
Personal: Conan and his wife, Kristen, live in Princeton Junction, NJ. They have three children.
Responsibilities: General management of Heartland’s new service center in Jeffersonville, IN, overseeing functions such as merchant and sales support, underwriting, compliance, policy and audit, Jeffersonville information technology and risk management.
Professional Background: After serving six years at Welsch Financial, which was acquired by Heartland in 2002, Marty transferred to our customer service center in Jeffersonville to manage Heartland’s Sales Compensation department. Soon after, he was promoted to executive director of operations.
Now, as Heartland’s chief service officer, Marty continues to implement the company’s innovative regional service model, focusing on automation and the continued delivery of exceptional customer service.
Educational Background:
- Bachelor of Science, Penn State University, State College, PA
Personal: Marty lives in the Jeffersonville, IN, area, with his wife, Mindy, and their son.
Responsibilities: Heartland information security — leading Heartland’s internal risk assessment programs which include protecting sensitive data through risk and threat modeling. John also ensures Heartland is compliant with internal, industry and regulatory requirements. He is Heartland’s liaison with security professionals in the Financial Services Information Security and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) and is a member of the Payments Processing Information Sharing Council (PPISC).
Professional Background: Prior to joining Heartland in September 2009, John held leadership roles in information security for Convergys (Intervoice) and Alcatel-Lucent. He spent several years in Belgium and Paris leading Alcatel’s European information security operations.
John is an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas where he teaches digital forensics. With Dr. John Nugent, he co-founded the university’s Information Assurance Program — which focuses on corporate security and risk management. The program has been designated a National Security Agency Center of Excellence since it began in 2002.
John has been an active member of the US Secret Service North Texas Electronic Crimes Task Force since its inception in 2003. In addition, he is the founding president of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s North Texas Infragard Electronic Crimes Task Force. John is also a member of the High Technology Crime Investigators Association (TCIA), the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) and the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).
John is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Certified Payment Card Industry Security Auditor (CPISA/M) and will be certified as an Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Service Manager.
Educational Background:
- Bachelor of Arts, History, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
- Masters of Business Administration, University of Dallas, Dallas, TX
Personal: John resides in Plano, TX with his wife, Mary.
Responsibilities: Aligning Heartland’s IT systems and processes with business strategy.
Professional Background: Bryan joined Heartland in August 2005 as a systems architect and senior developer on Heartland’s front-end Exchange platform. During that time, he architected Heartland’s POS gateway. He later served as architect for the company’s enterprise reporting services and stored-value platforms. In 2008, he was named executive director of back-end systems where he directed Heartland’s settlement platform, Passport. In that role, he was responsible for directing Passport’s development, operations and product teams. Bryan was named chief enterprise architect in August 2009.
Prior to joining Heartland, Bryan worked at Electronic Data Systems in Plano, Texas as developer, technical lead, sales support engineer and systems architect working in the healthcare industry.
Educational Background:
- Bachelor of Science, Business Administration and Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Personal: Bryan and his wife, Denise, have two children and live in Propser, TX.
Responsibilities: Heartland’s internal and external accounting reporting processes; tax compliance and reporting; budgeting and forecasting; cash management, treasury functions, due diligence and transaction analysis in merger and acquisition activities.
Professional Background: Joe joined Heartland in 2005 and assisted in the company’s initial public offering. He also led the company’s efforts in Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and actively managed our chief executive officer/chief financial officer certification process. Recently, Joe worked on Heartland’s mergers with General Meters Corporation and the Network Services business of Alliance Data Systems, as well as Heartland’s investment in Collective POS.
Prior to joining Heartland, Joe held positions at American Business Financial Services, Inc., CoreStates Financial Corporation, First Pennsylvania Bank and KPMG, all in Philadelphia, PA.
Educational Background:
- Bachelor of Science, Accounting, LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA
Personal: Joe lives in Elkins Park, PA, with his wife, Terry. They have two sons.