Dan J. Sanders
Dan J. Sanders is Chief Executive Officer of United Supermarkets, as well as a New York Times - bestselling author and aviator. United is a privately held supermarket chain with stores in 26 cities. Founded in 1916, the 91-year old company is known for its corporate citizenry and service-oriented culture. In 2001, United joined previous winners Sony Corporation and IBM as recipient of the prestigious Better Business Bureau’s National Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics. In 2003, the company was named the inaugural winner of the Supermarket News Community Service Award for its innovative concept of UCrew community volunteer teams. United has been listed in Texas Monthly’s Best Places to Work in Texas every year since the program began.
Prior to joining United, Sanders was a principal partner at adplex, a marketing company specializing in content creation and management, advertising production, and business consultative services for high-profile corporate, retail, and entertainment organizations. Sanders and his leadership team purchased four companies, including MCI Digital, as adplex grew to more than $100 million in annual sales. Sanders was instrumental in preparing the company for sale to Windward Capital, a New York-based private investment firm, in 2002. With completion of the deal, adplex became a $200 million company with more than 1,000 employees and 11 locations across the country. Sanders also co-founded AdContent, a company specializing in content management, online ad building, promotions management and digital photography. Clients as diverse as American Airlines, NASCAR Images, HP, and YMCA used the company’s innovative Web-based rich media software to manage their intellectual property worldwide.
A graduate of Lubbock Christian University, Sanders received an all-university gold medal as the recipient of the Trustees’ Award upon graduation. The award recognizes the graduating senior who best embodies the ideals of the university. He also received LCU’s Outstanding Recent Graduate Award, given annually to one graduate who has made extraordinary achievements within 10 years of receiving his degree. Additionally, he has completed professional education courses offered by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Harvard Business School.
