BGSU Alumnus and His Company “Make Noise” on NASDAQ Stock Market

By Donna Greenwald

“BGSU College of Business alumni are continuing to make things happen!” Those are the words of Brad Seaman, a 1982 alumnus who is now chairman of the board of directors at CPI Card Group (“CPI”). Seaman and  the CPI’s management team celebrated the company’s initial public offering (IPO) on October 9th by ringing the Opening Bell on the Nasdaq in Times Square. 

CPI Card Group (NASDAQ: PMTS) is a leading provider of financial payment cards and related services.  The company’s market is growing rapidly as credit and debit cards are transitioning from magnetic stripe cards to EMV chip cards which are designed to reduce fraud. CPI has grown its enterprise value from $115 million in 2007 to approximately  $925 million currently. Seaman also serves as the  Managing Partner of  Tricor Pacific Capital, a private equity firm based in Chicago, which purchased CPI  in 2007.

The 1982 graduate states that launching the IPO was rewarding. “Growing CPI from a small entrepreneurial business to a significant public company took hard work over the last eight years by CPI’s management team and our team here at Tricor Pacific Capital.  I couldn’t be more proud of our team and excited about the future opportunities for the company.”

Prior to Tricor, Seaman spent 15 years with the General Electric Company in a series of increasingly responsible positions in GE’s Plastics business and GE Capital.  The BGSU alum was responsible for leading significant equity and debt investments and was instrumental in GE Capital’s formation investment and start-up of Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD) where Seaman serves as a member of its board of directors. 

While at BGSU, Seaman earned a business degree with a focus on selling and sales management.  “My four years at Bowling Green provided a running start to my career.  The College of Business provided a broad-based education, access to valuable internships and a great platform on which to build a career.”