Tom
Dickson |
Managing
Partner, PSC |
Tom
started his professional career
with Leo Burnett Advertising,
the largest advertising agency
in the United States. In his 17
years with Burnett, Tom managed
several national and multi-national
businesses including Kellogg,
Procter & Gamble, Nintendo,
Hallmark, and Keebler, gaining
an extensive knowledge of all
marketing disciplines including
advertising, sales promotion,
database marketing and sports
marketing. Tom was an Executive
Vice President when he left Leo
Burnett in 1996 to pursue a full
time baseball career.
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Sherrie
Myers |
Managing
Partner, PSC |
Sherrie
began her career with the
Chicago Tribune in advertising
sales. Over the course of
the next 20 years, Sherrie
progressed through the world
of sales management and
publishing, working at several
national magazines including
Smithsonian, Sunset, and
Southern Living. In the
late 80’s and early
90’s, Sherrie was
part of start-up teams that
launched several national
magazines that were later
sold to Time-Warner and
ABC Cap Cities. In 1999
Sherrie was profiled in Women Entrepreneurs
Only, a book featuring
12 prominent female entrepreneurs
in the United States.
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In 1996, Tom and Sherrie launched their first
minor league baseball team, the Lansing Lugnuts.
Playing in Oldsmobile Park, a new stadium
they developed and constructed in Lansing,
Michigan, the Lugnuts have been one of the
most successful professional sports franchises
in minor league history. The Lugnuts set the
Class-A baseball attendance record in 1996
drawing over 535,000 fans. The team’s
success is unwavering, as the Lugnuts have
averaged more than 400,000 fans per year over
the team’s first 11 seasons. Playing
a key role in the revitalization of downtown
Lansing, the Lugnuts have become an integral
part of the mid-Michigan community.
In
large part due to the success of the Lugnuts,
Tom and Sherrie were named “Entrepreneurs
of the Year in the State of Michigan”
in 1997.
In
2001, Tom and Sherrie purchased the Charleston
Alley Cats in the South Atlantic League
and began working with government officials
to put together financing for a new ballpark.
In October 2002, funding for the new $23.0MM
facility was approved. Like its sister team
in Lansing, the Charleston club plays in
a new state-of-the-art facility designed
by Kansas City based architects HNTB that
opened in April of 2005.
In
2002, as part of a nationwide competition,
Tom and Sherrie were selected by the City
of Montgomery, Alabama to bring affiliated
baseball to town. Montgomery, as part of
its riverfront redevelopment efforts, built
a new $26.0MM ballpark that opened in April
2004. Tom & Sherrie announced the team
name, “Montgomery Biscuits”
a year prior, and received an overwhelming
response nationwide. Internet retail sales
have brought Biscuits merchandise into 50
states and 7 countries. Attendance in the
first three seasons has averaged over 320,000,
placing the Biscuits (a AA
Tampa Bay Devil Rays affiliate), as
the #2 team in attendance in the Southern
League despite playing in one of the League’s
smallest markets.
In
addition to Lansing, Charleston and Montgomery,
Tom and Sherrie have been responsible for
the development of over $150MM worth of
new minor league ballparks over the past
eight years in markets such as Dayton, Ohio;
Joliet, Illinois; Gary, Indiana; and Eastlake,
Ohio.
Tom
and Sherrie have been very fortunate to
have not only received a variety of awards
for their entrepreneurial efforts, but have
been covered in a long list of national
media stories including The Wall Street
Journal, ESPN, USA Today, Southern Living
Magazine, Smart Money Magazine, Baseball
America and most recently featured on CNN.
In
addition to Tom and Sherrie’s sports
franchises, they own two other companies,
Professional Sports Marketing, a sports
consulting company, and Professional Sports
Catering, a food catering company. These
two companies were founded to provide wide-ranging
consulting and food services for professional
sports franchises around the country.
Tom
and Sherrie live in Wilmette, Illinois with
their son, Andrew, and Airedale Terrier,
Bonz.
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Food
Service Management Team
Greg
Rauch |
Partner,
PSC |
 Greg
Rauch, the Montgomery Biscuits
General Manager, is responsible
for a broad scope of the Biscuits’
organization, including the start-up,
layout, design, finance and daily
operations of the food service
business. He was recently named
Southern League GM of the year
for 2006. Prior to his 2004 debut
with the Biscuits, he spent eight
years with the record setting
Lansing Lugnuts. Greg began his
tenure with the Lugnuts as a key
member of the start-up team, where
he eventually progressed from
Box Office Manager to General
Manager (in 2000). Greg managed
the initial transition from Volume
Services to the Lugnuts’
internal food operation in 2001.
From there, he developed his knowledge
and understanding of catering
and concessions’ operations
and was able to implement that
in the start-up of the food operation
in Montgomery, Alabama. |
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Jonathan
Harris |
Partner,
PSC |
 Jonathan
attended the University of Tulane
in New Orleans on an academic
scholarship, and graduated with
a degree in Science & Management/Accounting
in 1999.
After
graduation, Jonathan moved to
Chicago and began his career
in finance. Jonathan spent his
first two years in Chicago at
KGN, a major accounting firm
in Chicago. Following that,
Jonathan moved to Jeff McClusky
& Associates, an entertainment
company in Chicago, where he
oversaw the entire finance operation
of the mid-sized, entreprenuerial
company.
In
2002, Jonathan began his career
with Professional Sports Marketing.
At PSM, Jonathan is reponsible
for all corporate finance and
human resource functions. During
his tenure at PSM, Jonathan
has developed an expertise
in all matters relating to the
finance of minor league baseball
franchise including on-going
operations, taxation, insurance,
lease negotiation and investor
relations. Additionally, Jonathan
has been integrally involved
with several new business start-ups,
as well as team acquisiton,
refinancing and divestiture.
Following the formation of Professional
Sports Catering,
LLC in 2005, Jonathan took over
as Director of Finance for PSC
as well.
Jonathan
and his wife Cara live in Chicago. |
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Nick
Kavalauskas |
GM
of PSC's Midland Operation |
 Nick
will oversees the food service
operation for the new Single-A
minor league baseball team, the
Great Lakes Loons in Midland,
Michigan. A native of Troy, Ohio
and graduate of Eastern Michigan
University, he brings more than12
years of experience in the food
service industry, including the
last three seasons as Director
of Food Service for the Montgomery
Biscuits. |
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Jason
Wilson |
Director
of Food Service, Montgomery
Biscuits |
 Jason
oversees all food service venues
and needs at Riverwalk Stadium.
He brings more than 15 years of
food service experience to the
Biscuits. Jason has been a chef
and food service director with
several sports teams across the
country including the Birmingham
Barons, Lansing Lugnuts, Salt
Lake Stingers, Charleston Alley
Cats, Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas
City Royals. Jason resides in
the Cloverdale district of Montgomery. |
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Dave
Parker |
Director
of Food Service, Lansing Lugnuts |
 Dave
joined the Lugnuts’ food
service team in 2001, and became
Director of Food Service in 2003.
He joined the staff as the team’s
Warehouse Manager, responsible
for ordering and receiving food
and beverage products. In 2002,
Dave was promoted to Concessions
Manager, overseeing the sales
of over $1MM in
concessions (food and beverage),
while managing a staff of more
than 150 part-time employees and
several non-profit groups. In
2003, he took over as Director
of Food Service, and is now responsible
for the additional duties of managing
catering to the Lugnuts’
25 luxury suites and three premier
picnic venues. |
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