People To My Site replaces CEO - Business First of Columbus:

People To My Site replaces CEO - Business First of Columbus:

Thursday, September 3, 2009, 11:38am EDT

Business First of Columbus - by Kevin Kemper

A disagreement about the future has led to a leadership transition at one of the region’s larger Web site development and interactive advertising agencies.

Gahanna-based People To My Site Inc. said agency founder and CEO Todd Swickard had resigned and was replaced Wednesday by Jennifer Ridenour, who had been chief operations officer. Swickard and the company’s board of directors did not agree about People To My Site’s strategic direction, according to a statement the agency sent clients.

“Due to these differences, Todd has decided to pursue other entrepreneurial opportunities,” the statement said.

Swickard told Columbus Business First that he did not, in fact, decide to seek other entrepreneurial opportunities. Rather, the action was the result of a conflict with the company’s board of directors that began last fall when the automotive industry reached “armegeddon” and executives from the nation’s big three manufacturers went to Congress to seek federal loan guarantees. Several of the People To My Site’s board members have histories rooted in the automotive industry, Swickard said, and wanted to continue the company’s focus on automotive sector clients.

“There was a difference of opinion on how far away to go from automotive,” Swickard said.

He said the four-member board, upon which he sits, gave him the choice to agree and stay or disagree and go. After several years diluting his ownership interest to raise capital for the company’s expansion, Swickard said he was left with less than a 30 percent ownership stake in the company.

“Sometimes that comes back to bite you,” he said.

Ridenour, 40, joined the agency in 2007. Swickard said she is the successor he would have picked, just under different circumstances.

Before joining People To My Site, Ridenour spent 13 years with Dayton-based Reynolds and Reynolds Co., a provider of software and services for auto dealers. She said she’s excited about leading People To My Site and plans to focus on working closely with existing clients.

“Our focus this year is around customer retention and deepening our relationships,” she told Business First.

The agency also is investing in internal operations to prepare for an economic recovery in 2010, she said.

Swickard founded People To My Site in 2001 as an Internet search engine optimization firm. In the years since, it has grown through acquisitions, many of which took place over the last year and a half. In the first half of 2008, Swickard arranged the purchases of Gahanna television and radio advertising production company Jim Hern Productions and Columbus ad agency Young Isaac Inc. Then in April of this year, People To My Site closed a deal to buy Columbus consulting and Web development provider Blue Chip Applications LLC.

Additionally, Ridenour said the agency is planning to expand its automotive products offering this month when it launches carjockey.com, a Web site to help auto dealers manage inventory.

Swickard said he and the board are negotiating next steps, and he is unsure if he will sell his ownership interest.

People To My Site reported more than $4.1 million in revenue in 2008, and Ridenour said results for 2009 will be flat. Clients include Toyota Motor Corp., Columbus-based Artromick International Inc. and the Arnold Sports Festival. The agency employs 45.