You must be willing to work harder, sacrifice more, and be humble enough to learn from anyone.

Ian Y. Blount   Senior VP/COO

Ian Y. Blount is Co-Founder, Sr. Vice President & COO of Coalescence, LLC.  Together with his wife Angela N. Cauley, he started the business in 2005, with the goal of creating nutritious, functional blends to address health concerns plaguing the global community.
           
Blount, who has over 20 years of experience in the food industry, is responsible for all aspects of operations and sales of Coalescence.  He is also credited with the creation and implementation of an innovative inventory control system that maximized manufacturing efficiency.
          
Blount, who has had a long and established career in developing sales opportunities with Fortune 500 companies, has contributed significantly to Coalescence's growth. He is also on track to complete his Ph.D. in Public Policy Management at The Ohio State University, in September 2012, with special interest in Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, Social Networks, Non-profit Organizations and Government/Business Interface. Blount also has a Master of Science Degree in Human, Community and Resource Development, and a Bachelors of Science Degree in Agribusiness and Applied Economics from The Ohio State University.   In addition, Blount has completed and received certifications from the American Institute of Baking (AIB) - Dry Ingredient Blending Short Course and the Executive Education Program, Growing the Minority Business to Scale from Dartmouth College -Tuck School of Business. In 2007, Blount received his Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt.
               
Blount gained International Research and Trade Experience in Belize, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nigeria, and Panama in conjunction with the Foreign Agricultural Services (FAS), Mid-Ohio Agri-Trade Council (MIATCO), Proctor & Gamble, and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
           
Blount has participated in colloquiums, been a panelist and given talks on the following subjects:

• "How Do We Get There From Here," 2009, August.  Invited speaker, sponsored by The Ohio  State University's Ohio Science & Engineering Alliance (OSEA).            

• "2009 Strategies for Growth: Sustaining A Competitive Edge Conference," 2009, July.  Invited speaker, sponsored by the Ohio Department of Development, Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation and the Columbus Minority Contractors Business Assistance Program.               
• "Supplier Diversity: A Stimulus for Economic Growth: Access to Capital...Will you be ready?," 2009, June, Panelist for the South Central Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council.         

• "Funding a Second Stage Agribusiness in an Adverse Credit Market," 2008, October. Colloquium Speaker Series, Department of Agricultural Economics, The Ohio State University.

        
Blount began his career as a Sales Representative at Archer Daniel Midland, then went on to become an Operations Analysis at ConAgra, Director of Foodservice Sales at Glory Foods and prior to launching Coalescence, was a National Account Manager at Kahiki Foods.  While at Kahiki Foods he was awarded the Salesman of the Year for 2003 and 2004.

Blount's philosophy on establishing a successful entrepreneurship is simple, he believes that you must be willing to work harder, sacrifice more, and be humble enough to learn from anyone in order to be successful.

Angela and Ian were featured in the March 2010 edition of the Black Enterprise Magazine.   The article entitled, "Recipe for Success," highlighted the couples' business strategy and commitment.