Youngevity Expands Into Small Business Lending and Merchant Services
3/17/2016
David Rutz Appointed Vice President of Global Services
SAN DIEGO, CA--(Mar 15, 2016) - Youngevity International, Inc., a global direct marketer of nutritional and lifestyle products and also a vertically-integrated producer of gourmet coffees for the commercial, retail and direct sales channels, announced today that David Rutz has been appointed as Vice-President of Global Services.
David Rutz brings more than 25 years of direct sales, network marketing and executive operations experience to Youngevity. An inspirational leader with extensive experience in both direct sales and operations, David has led and trained a national sales organization; and as a corporate officer, David launched his own direct sales company, Escape International. During his 10 year tenure as President and CEO, of Escape, the company was recognized by Inc., Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in North America.
Mr. Rutz was also the Founder and President of a long-distance telephone and internet company (The Free Network) where he lead the growth and operations from startup to over 300,000 customers in under 3 years -- using direct selling as the sole method of distribution. He is known for keeping service offerings simple to understand and promote allowing rapid growth and replication amongst distributors. Mr. Rutz's early business career included working as a Business Consultant with Andersen Consulting (Accenture) and as Financial Analyst with General Motors. A graduate of The University of Michigan Ross School Of Business, he received his degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Marketing.
Dave Briskie, President and CFO of Youngevity said, "We are very pleased that David Rutz has joined the management team at Youngevity. The Company is committed to diversifying its products offerings to include consumer and business services. We will certainly benefit from David's experience and knowledge and he has come to us with many years' experience in the service sector. The management team at Youngevity is committed to developing and implementing a series of significant offerings for small businesses and consumers. We have intentions of launching offerings to include: small business lending, tele-care virtual doctor appointments, cloud storage and encryption services, identity theft protection, online cash back shopping apps, and credit card processing services. David Rutz has been charged with leading Youngevity's advancement into these highly profitable sectors."
David Rutz stated, "The expansion into small business lending demonstrates Youngevity's ongoing commitment to providing the finest in both consumer products and services to its large network of distributors. I am very pleased to be joining the Youngevity executive team and I anticipate several service offerings that will assimilate very well into the existing network culture. I envision a whole new audience that Youngevity will attract because of these services, and I look forward to the challenges and rewards that Youngevity promises."