Large recteq Investor Adds Operating Advisor

Investment firm Norwest Equity Partners (NEP), who made a large investment in grill company recteq last year, has hired Billy Hageman as an operating advisor. From the press release, Hegeman will lead digital transformation, with an emphasis on developing omni-channel and ecommerce initiatives, for NEP portfolio companies to scale their operations, grow sales, and create additional value in their businesses.

Recteq has a direct to consumer business for their grills and they have a broad line-up from the small Bullseye to the large recteq RT-1250 and the premium recteq RT-1070. Hegeman will likely be tasked with scaling and growing sales of the recteq business amongst other brands in NEP’s portfolio.

Customer Experience is the new currency of business. In order to get this right, businesses must master digital, particularly omni-channel and ecommerce strategies, to reach customers where and how they want to interact with and purchase from the business. Our portfolio companies now have access to a proven leader who recognizes the potential of digital transformations. We’re confident Billy’s expertise will identify new ways for our portfolio companies to grow.

Tony Armand, NEP Partner

Hegeman experience according to the press release includes senior vice president and general manager of digital and ecommerce at Philips Pet Food & Supplies, the nation’s largest pet supplies distributor, where he led the digital transformation of the company. He has also been senior vice president, consumer experience, at Georgia-Pacific, where he led a disruptive digital vision that resulted in transformative year-over-year profitability and topline results. His career also includes diverse high-impact roles at Amazon, including COO of fabric.com, launching Prime Pantry, along with functional leadership roles in Home & Kitchen and Sports & Outdoors. He earned his MBA at University of Colorado, and his BS in Business Administration from Colorado State University.

The pandemic certainly accelerated the adoption of digital experiences for customers in virtually every industry. It’s more important than ever that companies understand how to integrate digital best practices, tools and technology into every corner of their business. I look forward to working side-by-side with NEP’s companies and team of expert resources, which has differentiated NEP in the investment industry for more than 60 years. Continuing to expand digital and ecommerce expertise is another example of how the NEP advisory group continues to evolve to meet the needs of it companies.

Billy Hegeman, Operating Advisor

Hegeman joins recteq at a time of increased growth and competition in the outdoor cooking industry. We’ve seen success from newcomers to the space, such as Blackstone griddle maker Blackstone Products and Solo Stove parent Solo Brands, as well as innovation from companies like Traeger and Weber.