Previously, Hess was a partner with Deloitte & Touche's Management Services and Solutions practice, and is known for his role in Deloitte's Fantus Location Strategies service line. As principal, he completed more than 300 corporate location strategy and real estate "optimizations" since 1993—"determining a company's most cost-effective location strategies, and managing its supply chain across a continent, or across several continents," he tells GlobeSt.com.

Hess, a 20-year industry veteran, is an expert on supply chain networks and location strategies, incentive negotiations and site selection. In addition, he specializes in "reverse site selection," which involves companies coping with market conditions through consolidation initiatives, rationalization strategies or other cost-reduction measures.

"Companies are more global than ever and you have to be able to respond to that," Hess says. "My focus is going to be on key strategic national and international accounts." His client list already features such companies as Gap Inc., Best Buy, Kmart, Nestle, Southern Cos. and Thyssen Krupp. Hess holds completed his undergraduate work at the University of Minnesota, has an MBA from DePaul University in Chicago, and currently is completing Northwestern University's executive program in Manufacturing Management.