CUSTOMSNOW IS A TEAM OF EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS

Karin E. Smith, Chief Executive Officer

Karin sees an exciting and empowered future for importers and Customs brokers. She was one of the first to recognize the possibilities of technology, and she continues to make it her mission to help customers realize their opportunities to save time and money on their Customs filings.

Experience working on both the 3PL side and the import side as well as exposure to wide range of leading companies and start-ups gives her an unmatched knowledge base and insight to all sides of trade compliance. A licensed Customs broker since 1993, she knows the value that modernizing and automating import and export filings can bring clients. With Nic Adams, Karin helped lead Target take their import filings inhouse, saving them millions annually.

That experience and others drives her in her role as CEO of CustomsNow. Hands-on and instinctively connected to global trade compliance, Karin splits her leadership efforts consulting large multinational companies, orchestrating high value reconciliations and fine-tuning the CustomsNow system to provide users with ever-greater advantages.

In her dream job in the only industry she’s ever known, she is equally charged by the opportunities she brings customers and the fascinating challenges she helps them overcome navigating global trade. First and foremost, Karin loves the business of Customs filing and trade compliance.

Her passion has driven her to leadership roles that include serving on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) reconciliation working group of the Trade Support Network (TSN) where she helped rewrite the Customs reconciliation guide. She is also a valued voice of direction in industry organizations that include the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI) and the National Customs Broker and Freight Forwarder Association (NCBFAA).

After over 30 years in the business, she remains impatient for automation and technology that helps customers do things even better. By remaining on the leading edge, she’s helped CustomsNow clients get ahead and stay ahead of the constant changes in global trade compliance.

Jeff Smith, Chairman and Chief Operating Officer

Before co-founding CustomsNow, Jeff garnered over 25 years of diverse business experience at multinational large corporations and start-ups, specifically large scale retailers, OEM computer companies, eCommerce retailers and SaaS companies.

The experience continuously inspires Jeff that there is no time in history like now with countless traditional business models being disrupted and both companies and consumers being empowered by new technology.

Imbued with the entrepreneurial spirit, Jeff has been instrumental in creating and growing digital business units for ShopNBC, Best Buy, Gateway Computers, and Advanced Auto Parts. His ken for spotting opportunities for disrupting obsolete business models and passion for setting up companies led him to join forces with Karin in launching CustomsNow. Together they saw the opportunity for a brand new business model leveraging technology and the team’s extensive experience in Customs filing and trade compliance.

The move put CustomsNow on the forefront of companies providing U.S. Customs import and export SaaS solutions. In his capacity as Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, Jeff guides the strategic direction of the CustomsNow platform and development of products and services that anticipate the needs of their Customers.

Forever the disrupter, Jeff remains committed to leveraging technology to break down obsolete processes in the name of enhanced efficiency, better visibility and cost savings. He sees his role as playing the hero to the back office. One of his greatest satisfactions is that CustomsNow has almost zero churn among customers—proof that when you provide a great product and even better service, customers stay with you.

Nic F. Adams, Vice President, Client Services

Importers and Customs brokers are in the best of hands whether they are using CustomsNow tools or relying on CustomsNow for consulting. Nic is a major reason for that. Early in his career, he helped lead Target’s massive move to self-filing. At the time, Target was the second largest importer in the U.S. and the processes and personnel he helped put in place saved the company millions annually.

A licensed Customs broker since 1987, Nic channels over 30 years of experience working for brokers and running compliance departments at large retail importers into his role at CustomsNow. As Vice President, Client Services, Nic is deeply involved in ensuring customers’ success in leveraging CustomsNow software to save time and money. In his consulting role, he’s there to help them overcome complex compliance challenges and is often called upon to help solve tricky classifications and other challenges clients face.

A known industry leader, Nic helped guide the initial direction of Custom’s  Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system through his role as a member of the ACE Trade Support Network. Nic was also instrumental on the Regulated Industries Committee sponsored by the American Association of Exporters & Importers (AAEI). His AAEI work helped lead the FDA to shift to risk-based management that dramatically streamlined processes.

Nic has made a career of simplifying the business of Customs compliance. He cites his role in empowering customers of all sizes as his greatest satisfaction and motivator in continuously improving CustomsNow’s software and services.