Barry Spector has over 30 years of experience in the food industry. His diverse background, which includes both operating and advisory roles, has given him a unique insight into the industry helping him better understand the macro trends in the sector while maintaining his ability to identify, understand and resolve company-specific issues.

Mr. Spector began his career at Acme Foods, a family-owned meat snack manufacturing company in Baltimore, Maryland. Growing it into a solid middle market company, he assisted the family in selling the business in 1991 to GoodMark Foods, maker of “Slim Jims.” Mr. Spector was the CEO at such time, and post-closing continued in the management of the business where he most notably put together and managed a $200 million co-pack meat snack agreement with Frito-Lay.

Subsequently, Spector held CEO positions within several industries, including snack foods, but also in information technology, and venture capital. However, his true passion was in the food and snack industry and in 1997 he joined an investment banking firm to lead their efforts in that sector. In 1999, he was recruited to Ferris Baker Watts, Inc. to start a consumer investment banking advisory group. He continued to carry out merger and acquisition transactions, provide corporate advisory to major public corporations, and assist in capital raising for Ferris Baker Watts until Ferris was acquired by Royal Bank of Canada in June 2008.

Mr. Spector was educated at both Ohio University and Johns Hopkins University, and completed the Harvard Business School’s Owner-President Management Program.

He has served on the boards of Rymer Foods (NASDAQ:RYMR), La Parisienne Bakery, and the University of Maryland’s William Smith Graduate School of Business and Management-Dingman Center. Mr. Spector was also an officer and board member of the Baltimore-Washington YPO chapter. Currently he serves on the Boards of Saval Foods, EMD Sales Company, and Codign, Inc. In 2006, Mr. Spector moved from Baltimore, Maryland to Santa Barbara and joined the board of the Santa Barbara County Food Bank. He is also the Chapter Chairman of WPO (World President’s Org) in Santa Barbara.

Securities products and services are offered through FocalPoint Securities, LLC.