Skip to Page Content

Branding And Human Resources: Driving Your Brand Throughout the Entire Organization, And Beyond

    March 21, 2023


    Branding and Human Resources: Driving Your Brand Throughout the Entire Organization, and Beyond

    Presented by:


    Andrew Wheeler
    hamiltongroupmarketing@gmail.com
    815-954-0245

    Andy Wheeler has a strong brand: He a marketing disruptor and takes action. An entrepreneurial and innovative leader with a strategic mindset in Product and Brand Development, team building, strategy, execution and marketing in B2B and B2C sectors, Andy is a leader who generates revenue by driving ROI throughout the entire organization.

    Currently, Andy serves the citizens of Kankakee County as the Kankakee County Board Chairman, the chief elected officer of Kankakee County. Utilizing some of the same skills and tactics as the private sector, Andy has led the historic turnaround in Kankakee County Government finances, labor relations, employee acquisition and retention, PR and communications to external and internal audiences, and leads all Emergency Management and Communications for County Government. Andy also consults with organizations across the U.S, Canada, Asia and the EU in a variety of marketing and communications capacities, including crisis communications, advertising, recruitment, product development/brand positioning, blogging, trade events and marketing analytics. Andy is the former Vice President of Marketing for Van Drunen Farms and FutureCeuticals, and was a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Andy built a team of 12 high-performing marketing professionals from the ground up, creating the first true marketing department for the company. Andy led all global marketing, strategy development, market-driven innovation, customer visit experiences, claims and brand development/management, budgets, PR, corporate communications, marketing training programs, market-driven data analytics, trade events, and social media for this leading global food and supplement ingredient manufacturer.

    Prior to that, Andy was the Director of eCommerce for CIBC of Illinois, a benefits consulting firm in Kankakee, IL. Andy led all initiatives and client-based technology solutions, custom benefits video for clients and employees, SEO and sales operations, created and published client-facing newsletters, and cultivated external relationships with clients, government, academia and media. Andy also managed media relationships and worked as a technical resource and benefits consultant for public and private sector clients in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Before joining CIBC, Andy was and Editor/Associate Publisher for the Small Newspaper Group/B2B Magazine. He founded two respected and profitable business-to-business publications and Spanish-language monthly newspaper. Oversaw all aspects of publishing, including content production/contracting, design, marketing, advertising consulting, content development, and strategic planning. In his first “career”, Andy was a Branch Manager for Applied Industrial Technologies, an engineered power transmission distributorship serving industry of all kinds. Andy managed clients and branches of industrial engineered sales and distributorships in Rockford, Crestwood, Burr Ridge, and Bradley, Illinois. Andy directed all sales, mechanical/electric/fluid power transmission engineering, inventory, HR, ISO, training, integrated supply initiatives, and all other aspects of managing a high volume power transmission distributorship.

    Andy has been honored as one of Kankakee Community College’s Fabulous Fifty Graduates, holds Undergraduate and MA Degrees in Media Communications and Training from Governors State University, is the current Secretary of the Economic Alliance of Kankakee County, former Board Chair of the Helen Wheeler Center for Community Mental Health, former Chair of Buy Local Hire Local Kankakee County, and Board Member of Kankakee Community College Foundation. He represents Illinois as a Board Member of the Kankakee and Yellow River Development Commission in Indiana, Board Member of the Kankakee County Economic Development Association, former member of the Daily Journal Editorial Board, Chairman of the Kankakee County Metropolitan Planning Organization and Board Member of the Area Jobs Development Association.

    Andy is also a former performing and touring musician, is husband to Laura Wheeler, father to three adult children and one teenage son, and lives in northern Bourbonnais.