News and Events

SMS Assist names longtime leader Marc Shiffman as chief executive officer

April 29, 2019

CHICAGO, April 29, 2019 — SMS Assist, a leading facilities management technology company, announced today that Marc Shiffman has been named chief executive officer, effective immediately. With nearly a decade of experience leading SMS Assist, most recently as president and chief financial officer, Shiffman has been a driving force behind SMS Assist’s rapid revenue and profitability growth, and has overseen the development of market‐leading solutions for customers and Affiliates. He succeeds outgoing CEO Taylor Rhodes, who is departing the company to pursue a new opportunity.

“SMS Assist has gotten to where we are today by staying true to our founders’ vision, hustling harder than anyone else in the industry, and continuously reimagining how to best serve our customers and Affiliates,” Shiffman said. “It is my honor to step into this role as SMS Assist’s CEO. By working together with our entire SMS team to fully realize the potential of what we’ve started, there’s no limit to what we can achieve.”

SMS Assist founder and chairman of the board Mike Rothman started the company with a vision for disrupting facilities management—an often complicated, costly part of doing business that he knew could be vastly improved through the application of technology.

SMS Assist has gotten to where we are today by staying true to our founders’ vision, hustling harder than anyone else in the industry, and continuously reimagining how to best serve our customers and Affiliates.Marc Shiffman, CEO of SMS Assist

“Marc is an impressive, proven executive who has been instrumental in our success to date,” Rothman said. “I am proud of his accomplishments, as well as those of the entire SMS Assist team, whose commitment to excellence has gotten us where we are—a leader in our industry. I look forward to working with Marc on our next chapter of growth.”

With more than 900 employees today, SMS Assist powers facilities management services for a diverse roster of Fortune 500 clients through a growing network of 20,000 affiliate subcontractors. The company’s technology platform offers customers and affiliates real‐time quality assurance, transparency and cost‐containment across more than 186,000 service locations coast to coast.

“SMS Assist has a winning team and with Marc at the helm—with his deep understanding of the business and his strong ability as a leader—we will only grow stronger,” said Ryan Hinkle, SMS Assist Board member and Managing Director for Insight Venture Partners. “Marc has an exceptional understanding of our business, culture and the needs of our employees, customers and affiliates. We look forward to his leadership as we continue to disrupt and reinvent this industry.”

SMS Assist enhances how customers experience some of the nation’s biggest brands, streamlining all aspects of facilities management for retail and restaurant chains, banks, residential communities, and more. One of Chicago’s fastest‐growing companies, SMS Assist has earned numerous industry recognitions from the likes of Forbes, Deloitte, and the Illinois Technology Association.

Before joining SMS Assist, Shiffman worked as a senior executive at MacAndrews & Forbes‐owned‐and operated companies including Revlon, Coleman, and Sunbeam. He has a Bachelor of Science in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from The Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.

About SMS Assist SMS Assist is a facilities management provider that exists to deliver unprecedented choice, control, and speed of service to 186,000 properties like retail stores, banks, restaurants, parking garages, gas stations, and more. Customers benefit from instant, cloud-based access to more than 20,000 verified Affiliates and a customer service team available every second of every day. It’s a new approach for an industry in need of a better solution. SMS Assist investors include Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Huizenga Capital Management, Insight Venture Partners, and Goldman Sachs Investment Partners.Contact:Elisabeth Klisser312-265-2047eklisser@smsassist.com

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