Profile
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Sector
Lifestyle & Learning

Location
Pleasant Hill, CA

Employees
90

2002 Revenue
$20MM

Web Site
www.gettravel.com

25 July 2002
Mike Russell Joins GET Travel as COO & CFO

San Francisco–based GET Travel Group, LLC, the nation's leading student leisure tour operator, recently announced the hiring of Mike Russell as its Chief Operating & Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Russell has 18 years of experience in public accounting and key leadership roles in operating companies, having served as CFO and COO on several previous occasions, including his most recent role as CFO of Dallas-based Hutton Communications.

Throughout Mike's career, he has contributed to dramatic improvements in cost reduction, margin improvement, revenue increases, return on investment, and liquidity events for shareholders, often in companies with annual revenues in excess of $100 million. Mike has a BBA in Accounting from the University of Iowa and is a Certified Public Accountant.

GET Travel CEO, Rip Hunter, says, "We are thrilled to have Mike aboard our team. His operating and financial skills and experience will have an immediate and dramatic impact on the way we run our business. This is a significant event in our company's evolution and makes us more excited than ever about our future."

Mr. Russell begins with the company in mid-August and will assume responsibility for all company cost centers, gross and operating profit, and corporate operations and accounting.

Upon accepting the position, Mike Russell commented, "I believe in this company, and I have great confidence in its people. I look forward to making a contribution immediately and over the long term, and I know that with my background and experience I can help the team."

Rob Holmes, GET Travel Board Member and Founding Partner of Black Knight Partners, LP, added, "Mike Russell is not only a terrific manager, he is also a very strong leader. He's charismatic, intelligent, honest, and committed. To have his level of talent with our company is truly exciting for what we can now do in developing this business."

Founded in 1985, GET Travel Group, LLC will register over 73,000 participants for its student group tours in 2002. The company operates trips across Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and has developed nationally recognized brand names, Invasion Tours®, Adventures America®, LA Ski & Sun Tours®, and Music America®, which it uses to market its trips to student groups nationwide. CEO Rip Hunter and his brothers, Dave and Rich, founded the company and have built a track record of high standards and seventeen years of growth ever since.

Today, the company is owned by its founders, its management, and Dallas-based private equity firm Black Knight Partners, LP.

POC: Rob Holmes, 214 695 4243