Ben Barras

Bio

Ben Barras is an executive leader and subject matter expert in the Retail, Consumer Goods, Supply Chain and Technology industries.

Ben spent his early career with a leading global consumer goods manufacturer and retailer, Hanesbrands Inc. (aka Sara Lee Branded Apparel), working with global brands such as Playtex Apparel, Isotoner, Champion and Hanes. At Hanesbrands Inc. Ben held various leadership roles in Sales, Enterprise Planning, Enterprise Strategy, Operations, Global Supply Chain and Technology.

Ben moved on from there to more entrepreneurial professional pursuits, envisioning and launching a Wholesale Division for the Specialty Retail organization, Wilson’s Leather, as the General Manager of that Division. Ben later became part of an executive turnaround team that rebuilt Fingerhut Direct Marketing into the $2 billion Bluestem Brands organization, a multi-brand, direct to consumer, general merchandise ecommerce retailer. In this role, Ben was responsible for Merchandising Operations, Global Supply Chain and Retail Technology. After the sale of Bluestem Brands, Ben worked with a Minneapolis based Angel investor, scouting, investing in and grooming, early-stage entrepreneurial start ups and launching an innovative ecommerce retail site, at the height of the Maker Movement, that brought purposeful maker brands together with conscientious consumers, with a portion of proceeds donated to various charitable causes.

Ben was then able to bring his years of retail and consumer goods operational, supply chain and technology experience, to SAS Institute, to influence the development of what became an industry leading Retail, Consumer Goods and Supply Chain, SaaS, AI driven Enterprise Analytics and Planning Platform, which was rated number one in the industry by a leading technology analyst firm. In his role as Advisory Business Development and Global Partner Management Lead, Ben created numerous innovative industry partnerships that further enriched the innovative value of this industry leading technology platform.

Over the years Ben has remained involved with his graduate alma mater, UNC’s Kenan-Flagler, and the annual Carolina Challenge Business Plan Competition (where he and a business partner took second place out of 150 entries in 2005) as a speaker and graduate student mentor. Ben has also been involved in mentoring graduate and undergraduate students in the St. Thomas University Business Plan Competition in the Minneapolis area.

Ben is currently working with the NC State Supply Chain Resource Cooperative as an Executive Advisor, and he serves on the Board of Advisors for an industry leading consumer products company. Ben also does independent consulting globally for Retail, Consumer Goods, Supply Chain and Technology companies. Ben serves the communities of Apex and Raleigh, North Carolina in various volunteer capacities and is involved in numerous professional and faith-based networking organizations. He is also an active Father in the lives of his five children, and a happily married husband to his wife of twenty-eight years.