Speaker Bios

Who are the faculty for the Jumpstart Your Pharmacy Business Seminar?
The speakers all have extensive business backgrounds and include a marketing specialist, merchandising specialist, an accountant, an expert in pharmacy finances, and community pharmacy niche experts.

Richard Jackson
Dr. Jackson is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. He received his B.S. in Pharmacy from Mercer University Southern School of Pharmacy in 1969. He attended graduate school at the University of Mississippi where he received his M.S. in Health Care Administration in 1971 and a Ph.D. in Pharmacy Administration in 1972. In 1972 he joined the faculty of Mercer University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences where he currently serves as Professor and Director of Mercer’s Center for Community Pharmacy Practice and Research.

He has 65 publications in scholarly and professional journals, is the author of 12 chapters in 5 books and is the editor of the National Community Pharmacists Association’s Effective Pharmacy Management. He has made 258 presentations at academic and professional meetings, both national and international. The major emphasis of his presentations and publications is related to areas of community pharmacy operation and management.

He was the 1990 recipient of the NARD Reed Peterson Award for Excellence in Teaching Pharmacy Administration, the Rho Chi Society’s Distinguished Service Award in 1997 and the 1999 National Community Pharmacists Association Award for Excellence in Teaching Pharmacy Administration. He was awarded Mercer’s Distinguished Educator Award in 2004.

Dr. Jackson completed a six month sabbatical at the NCPA Management Institute in Alexandria, Virginia and the Center for Drugs and Public Policy at the University of Maryland. At the invitation of the State Pharmaceutical Administration of China, he presented seminars on community pharmacy and pharmaceutical education at the China Pharmaceutical University in Nanjing, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University and the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Beijing Medical University.

He is a member of Rho Chi, Kappa Psi, Phi Lambda Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi, the Georgia Pharmaceutical Association, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and is a Fellow of the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education. He was elected National President of the Rho Chi Society and Chair of the Section of Teachers of Pharmacy Administration of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. He has served on the Board of Directors of SSS/Pfeiffer Pharmaceuticals for over 15 years and is a consultant to Self-Med Rx Pharmacies. He is a consultant to the Professional Compounding Centers of America (PCCA) serving as an entry and exit strategy specialist.

Dr. Jackson established and operated three community pharmacies in the metropolitan Atlanta area for over 10 years and is a registered pharmacist in the state of Georgia.

Gabe Trahan
Gabe Trahan has attained a combination of retail and wholesale experience that now spans over 30 years. Twenty-three of those years were with City Drug Stores (a very successful 14 store independently owned chain of pharmacies). While with City Drug, Gabe held every position but pharmacist, including human resources manager for 150 employees, a buyer, director of advertising and operations manager. His expertise in store layout and product mix has played an important role in the success of a number of independent stores ranging from 800 to 15000 sq. ft.

Gabe is the originator of the “Store Report Card” (Retail Fairy Test). This report method of strategically focusing on improvements and opportunities starts from the outside and only ends at the furthest interior point of a retail store. The results have brought to surface many opportunities that have dramatically increases planned, companion and impulse sales.

While holding the position as the Director of Store Design and Merchandising for Promotions Unlimited he found himself traveling from coast to coast conducting seminars on the keys to successful front-end merchandising. Currently Gabe is the Director of Retail Services for Burlington Drug Company, and is also working as a successful independent consultant. Gabe has had hands on experience with rejuvenating the front-ends of drug stores as far west as the Napa Valley, California and as far east as Orno Maine. His experiences and observations from working both in the retail and wholesale ends of the Drug Store and Varity industry has given him invaluable insight and understanding of what is needed to create a successful independent. Most recently Gabe has consulted in the design of a large 150,000 sq ft independently owned variety store and helped with improving the design of independent premium chocolate retail outlets.

Gabe has traveled to many major cities to give seminars along with the islands of Aruba, Bahamas and Puerto Rico. So far in 2009 Gabe has worked with stores in Bermuda, Indiana, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Gabe was a featured speaker at NCPA 2008 Multiple Locations Pharmacy Conference, held in Cancun, Mexico.

Gabe is an Advisory Board Member and Writer for Retail Pharmacy Magazine and just recently completed his term as 2nd Vice Chairmen of the Board of Directors for Chain Drug Marketing Association (CDMA).

Any additional questions, please contact Sue Hagler at 703-683-8200.