Greater China

Ben Zhang

Ben is CEO and founder of Greater China.  Ben holds an EMBA from Cornell University and Queen’s University. He is also a University of Washington and Harvard University Alumni.  

Ben provides the strategic vision for Greater China. Under his direction, the company has experienced significant growth. He is continually training and coaching the Greater China team to build the best organization for the future. Ben works tirelessly to bring the latest "success ingredients" back from his continuing education, experiences within the business community, and life lessons learned to build efficient company processes geared toward ultimate customer satisfaction. He is passionate about continual learning, commitment to the community, personal as well as professional improvement, and striving for success.  

Ben was awarded the University of Washington Foster School of Business “Asian Business Leadership” Award in 2008 and City University's prestigious 2009 Global Innovator Award for his multi-cultural business success. He was a semi finalist for Ernst & Young’s 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year and has been recognized as an Asian Business Leader by Washington State Governor, Christine Gregoire. Ben is also the honorary dean of his elementary school in China.

Ben is also proud that Greater China has been honored with several awards:

• Consistently One of Puget Sound Business Journal's "Largest Minority Owned" Washington State businesses since 2008.
• 2009 Minority Business of the Year for King County by the University of Washington
• Counselor Magazine’s“ Best Places to Work” in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
• Promo Marketing Magazine’s Top 50 Supplier list for 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Chris Ritchie

Chris is Vice President of Sales for Greater China. He has been with Greater China since 2006 and has an extensive sales background. Chris has held several roles throughout his career, including VP of Operations, VP of Product Development and Account Executive for several major companies. He has both sales and supply chain management expertise and has led Greater China to successive years of revenue growth despite the recent tough economy. Chris strongly believes in the importance of promoting long-term client relationships to build trust and confidence in what Greater China can bring to your business and growth potential. 

Mel Cutter

Mel is Greater China’s Human Resource Manager. He has been with Greater China since 1996 and was its first employee. Mel has filled many management positions within Greater China during the company's history. He has extensive experience on both the import and production side of operations to compliment his sales and marketing background. Mel is a graduate of the University of Washington TMP Management Program, where he also received his BA in Human Resource Management. He recently was awarded Top Performer recognition for the Dale Carnegie leadership program. 

A. C. Schwark

A. C. is Greater China’s Chief Financial Officer. A.C. brings a combination of academic and management experience having served as the Western Washington Chair for Undergraduate Business and Management at the University of Phoenix, and before that as Senior Vice President and CFO of Bank One, Cincinnati. A.C. holds a BA in Math and Economics from Valparaiso University, an MBA from Washington University, St. Louis, and is a graduate of Stonier Graduate School of Banking. He has been honored as the annual businessman of the year by the Clermont (Ohio) Chamber of Commerce and as a distinguished instructor by University of Phoenix and the American Institute of Banking. He was also honored as an outstanding member of the community by the Cincinnati Community Chest and he was inducted as a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the national economics honorary fraternity.

Mark St. Peter

Mark is Marketing Manager for Greater China and has been with the company since 1998 and filled a number of sales and management positions. Mark is working to enhance brand recognition for Greater China. His goal is to continually build awareness of Greater China in the marketplace and communicate the Greater China value proposition in all aspects of the company's marketing, advertising, promotions, product flyers, and communications. He strongly belives that keeping a fresh and creative look to everything we do and to the service we provide our clients helps them to be more successful. Mark has an MBA from Seattle University and BS degree in Marketing from the University of Washington.  

Paul McNabb

Paul is Greater China’s Logistics Manager and possesses over 22 years of international logistics and customs brokerage experience. Paul has worked as a customs runner, entry writer and senior import manager for a customs brokerage firm, and has managed Greater China’s logistics since 2001. Paul is in the process of obtaining his customs broker license and is presently supervising the implementation of Greater China’s in-house customs brokerage.    

Lynn Wagner

Lynn is Greater China’s Product Safety and Compliance Officer where she brings over 20 years of cross functional team experience in textile sourcing and patent worthy textile development, technical design, product integrity, physical testing, test methods and labeling, across a diverse range of consumer product categories. Lynn’s experience in upstream development, factory exposure and social compliance will support Greater China’s premier quality and customer service while adhering to product regulations globally. She is competent in AATCC, FTC, CPSIA, ASTM, CA Prop 65, F963, and California Transparency in Supply Chain Act. Lynn holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Consumer Studies from Buffalo State College and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Textile Technology from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City.

Brian Thorngate

Brian is Vice President, Import Operations and brings to Greater China both academic and industry expertise in a broad range of Supply Chain, Logistics and International Operations.  Professionally, Brian has over 25 years of experience working for both large corporations and small organizations.  He has managed Supply Chain / Supplier Development teams in all phases of consumer goods product life cycles from concept development to after market support.  Utilizing strategic partnering principles with both clients and suppliers, Brian has led programs in mobile power electronics, cut and sew textiles, and fashion accessories markets.  He most recently led the international Supply Chain Management team for Coinstar / Redbox.  Brian holds an undergraduate degree from San Diego State University in Operations Management, an MBA from Santa Clara University and CPSM certification.  He is a member of the Advisory Board for the International Institute for Advanced Purchasing and Supply (IIAPS).  An experienced supply chain professional Brian takes pride in his experience effectively developing supply channels for everything from gumballs to kiosks.  

Christine Fei

Christine is Greater China’s Production Manager and has been with the company since 2000. Christine manages the production staff in our Bellevue, WA headquarters as well as oversees operations in our China offices. Christine's strengths are that she is an experienced purchaser, negotiater and problem solver. She has worked to greatly enhance our factory selection and evalution process as well as implement a Quality Assurance progran and improve Quality Control processess and procedures. She is a graduate of the University of Washington.