NACS State of the Industry Summit

Anirban Basu is Chairman & CEO of Sage Policy Group, Inc., an economic and policy consulting firm headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland with offices in Pennsylvania and Cambodia. The firm provides strategic analytical services to energy suppliers, law firms, medical systems, government agencies, and real estate developers among others.

In 2014, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan appointed him Chair of the Maryland Economic Development Commission. He also serves as chairman of the Baltimore County Economic Advisory Committee. He is also the Chief Economist to Associated Builders and Contractors and Chief Economic Advisor to the Construction Financial Management Association. He serves similar functions for Visit Baltimore, the Maryland Association of Realtors, and Marcum, LLC.

He lectures at Johns Hopkins University in Global Strategy and has also taught international economics, urban economics, micro- and macroeconomics at Hopkins. His radio show can be heard weekdays on 88.1FM, WYPR, Baltimore.

In both 2007 and 2016, the Daily Record newspaper selected Mr. Basu as one of Maryland’s 50 most influential people. The Baltimore Business Journal named him one of the region’s 20 most powerful business leaders in 2010.

Mr. Basu has been on many boards over time, including First Mariner Bank, the Baltimore City Public School System, Port Discovery, the Baltimore School for the Arts, and Union Memorial Hospital. He is currently on the boards of St. Mary’s College, the University System of Maryland Foundation, the Center for Emerging Media, the Lyric Opera House and the Archdiocese of Baltimore School System.

Mr. Basu earned his B.S. in Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1990. He earned his Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and his Master’s in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park. His Juris Doctor was earned at the University Of Maryland School of Law.

Kloza was among the founders of OPIS nearly 30 years ago. He is regularly cited for his no-nonsense, non-partisan comments on oil and gasoline by most of the major U.S. newspapers and has commented specifically on oil prices to major network news. He is also a frequent guest lecturer on fuel price economics at colleges and universities as well as for key petroleum associations. Kloza serves on the Turner Mason & Co. Advisory Board and the Fuels Institute Board of Advisors. He earned a degree in English and has worked with the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.

Charlie McIlvaine is the Chairman & CEO of Coen Oil Company, LLC, a diversified holding company. Together with his brother Andy, they manage Coen Markets (a convenience retail chain in the Tri-State region of Pittsburgh, PA) and Coen Tire (a retail tire platform). Charlie is also Managing Partner of Thomaston Capital, LLC, a private investment firm that invests in growth or later stage companies primarily in the consumer/retail sector.

Charlie was previously a member of Avista Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in New York with $4 billion under management, where he focused on investments in the consumer sector. Prior to working in private equity, Charlie was Co-Global Group Head and Managing Director of the Global Consumer Group for Deutsche Bank. In this capacity, he had responsibility for managing a group of 50+ professionals across three global investment banking offices which generated revenues over $300 million. DB’s Global Consumer Group advised on mergers & acquisitions and raised debt and equity capital for clients in the food/beverage, household products/personal care, retail/restaurant and business services sectors. Previous to DB, Charlie was a senior member and Managing Director of J.P. Morgan’s Global Consumer Group in investment banking. While at J.P. Morgan, he executed financings and mergers and acquisitions for a wide range of consumer companies. He began his career as an investment banking analyst for Merrill Lynch based in New York and London.

Charlie holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, attended New College of Oxford University, and earned a BA in economics from Duke University.

In June 1997, Billy joined RaceTrac as a Real Estate Analyst, focusing primarily on expanding the company’s presence within the Florida and Georgia markets. Over the next several years, he had the opportunity to assist in developing new RaceTrac and RaceWay locations in all of the company’s primary markets. In March 2002, he was promoted to Vice President of Real Estate, and in the years that followed, he was granted additional responsibilities that included Engineering, Design, Maintenance and Construction. In 2009, Billy was promoted to Senior Vice President of Store Development, as well as increased leadership responsibility of the company’s RaceWay Division.

On December 31, 2012, Billy was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, and granted responsibility of both of the company’s retail divisions – RaceTrac and RaceWay. Specific areas of responsibility are: Technology, Human Resources, Marketing, Merchandising, Operations, Store Development Supply Chain and Store Support. On January 1, 2015, assumed the role of President.

Billy has served on the International Council of Shopping Centers since 1997, is the former President of the Atlanta Clemson Club, a member of Young President’s Organization (YPO) and a Board member of Clemson University/IPTAY. He is active in supporting the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research as well as Camp Twin Lakes. He and his wife, Pam, have three children, Will, Macie and Madison and live in Peachtree Corners. In his spare time, he enjoys playing golf and tennis.

Todd Hale, former Senior Vice President, Consumer & Shopper Insights with Nielsen, is a frequently sought-after industry and client speaker. Todd shares his insights on consumer shopping, buying and media consumption behaviors and attitudes to provide manufacturers and retailers with strategic visions to facilitate brand, category and retail sales growth.

Todd has more than 40 years of experience in the consumer research industry, including 30 years with Nielsen, where he held various marketing and sales management positions within advertising/product testing, advanced analytics and consumer panel practice areas.

Todd earned an MBA and a BS in Business from Wright State University.