tsmith@gocheckers.com

Since being promoted to vice president of business development in August 2012, Smith has led the overall direction of the corporate sales department, created departmental sales strategies to encompass all of the products within the Checkers sales umbrella and developed partnership activation programs that maximize promotional value/ROI for Charlotte Checkers corporate partners.

Smith joined the organization in May 2008 as director of corporate partnerships and was promoted to vice president of corporate partnerships the following year. Prior to joining the Checkers, Smith spent close to three years with GMR Marketing in Charlotte, NC. While with GMR, Smith serviced multiple partnership accounts in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA, NHL and NASCAR. Prior to his days at GMR, Smith served as a marketing assistant in the Western Kentucky University (WKU) Athletics Department in Bowling Green, KY. Before joining WKU, Smith served as a marketing assistant for the Cleveland Browns during the 2004-2005 NFL season.

Smith's background includes marketing internships in Minor League Baseball with the Lexington Legends Baseball Club (Houston Astros Affiliate) and in Arena Football with the Lexington Horsemen Football Team - both based out of Lexington, Kentucky. Smith also served as sales analyst intern with Lexmark International in Lexington, Kentucky.

As the son of an US ARMY Colonel, Thomas spent seven years overseas and grew up in multiple states across the nation.

Profile

Hometown	ARMY Brat – Germany, Kentucky, Texas, Kansas, Ohio - Parents from Cleveland, Ohio
College and major	University of Kentucky BA of Marketing; BA of Management
As a kid, you dreamed of becoming:	Spiderman
Name one thing on your bucket list	Become Spiderman and do Spidey Stuff
If you were an animal, what would you be?	Spiderman or a Dragon
First CD/tape	1st CD Weezer: The Blue Album / 1st Tape Ice Cube "Today Was A Good Day" Single
Favorite food	Sloppy Joes
Favorite movie	Labyrinth
Favorite pro/college sports team	Cleveland Teams - Browns, Indians, Cavaliers. Charlotte Checkers (duh)
Favorite type of music	Anything sung by Kermit the Frog
Favorite band	Weezer
Favorite book	Monster At The End Of This Book by Grover
Fun fact	I am deathly terrified of heights… My hands start to sweat when I watch King Kong climb on the buildings in the movie for crying out loud.