YTB Press Release - YTB Intl. Elects John Simmons to Board of Directors
WOOD RIVER, IL - January 10, 2007 - YTB International, Inc. (PINKSHEETS:
YTBL) announced that John Simmons, Esq. has been elected to its Board of Directors, effective December 27, 2006.
Born and raised in Southern Illinois, Mr. Simmons served in the United States Army. He graduated college and law school where he spent his first two years as a lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia. He returned to Illinois to establish his own firm, The Simmons Firm, PC. A year later he was invited to join a local firm where he was soon appointed head of asbestos litigation. He again started his own firm with only one other attorney and six staff members. Now known as SimmonsCooper LLC, the firm boasts over 50 attorneys and 350 staff members, with offices locally, as well as in Chicago, New York, and Texas. John is a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association, Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, and the state bar associations of Illinois, Georgia, and Florida.
In 2005, he organized a company that would unite his various interests under one umbrella, Hedgewood International, LLC. Within this company he employs a team of managers who assist in the operation of all the Hedgewood companies. Those companies include Alton Steel; the Savannah Sand Gnats, a Class A minor league baseball team now affiliated with the New York Mets; an independent recording label, Montage Music Group; a trucking parts supply business, Trans Supply, Inc.; a distributor of basketball training devices, Perfect Jumper; a sports and entertainment representation agency, Axcess Sports and Entertainment; two car dealerships and a leasing company, Subaru of Dallas, Subaru of Plano and Park Lease, Inc.; and other smaller interests.
In addition to business, John has been heavily involved in community and charitable organizations, generously supporting the YMCA, many local church groups, and individuals with special needs. He also supports the SIUE wrestling and baseball teams, and has funded a private school in Haiti and a local private school that was in danger of closing for lack of funds.
More recently, both SimmonsCooper LLC and John, individually, gave a joint gift of $10.2 million to establish the SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute at Southern Illinois University (SIU) in Springfield, Illinois. The Cancer Institute is a community-based patient care, research, education and outreach program created to improve cancer care for the citizens of Central and Southern Illinois.
John and his wife, Jayne, have four children. He is active in his church, serves on the St. Louis Zoo Foundation Board of Trustees and the SIU Board of Trustees, and is a past Executive Board member of the United Way Partnership.
ABOUT YTBI: YTB International, Inc. provides Internet-based travel booking services for travel agencies and home-based independent representatives in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. It operates through three subsidiaries: YourTravelBiz.com, Inc., YTB Travel Network, Inc., and REZconnect Technologies, Inc. YourTravelBiz.com division focuses on marketing on-line travel agencies through a nationwide network of over 60,000 independent business people, known as Independent Marketing Representatives, or "IMRs." YTB Travel Network division establishes and maintains travel vendor relationships, books travel transactions of on-line travel agents (RTAs,) collects travel payments and licensing fees, and processes travel commissions. The RTA sells travel through a personalized Internet-based travel Website. The REZconnect Technologies division builds online reservation systems for suppliers within the travel industry.
From: YTB International
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As a Referring Travel Agent with YTB, we welcome John Simmons to the team especially with his experience in the automobile industry with his two car dealerships and a leasing company, Subaru of Dallas, Subaru of Plano and Park Lease. Wow - what a great addition to the YTB Team as at the Coach's Birthday Bash celebration in Orlando just last weekend major announcements were made - a new YTB Car Program.
YTB has formed an alliance with Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and even more to come that will allow YTB Referring Travel Agents to also become YTB Car Sales Referrers. YTB Reps will have a web site where visitors will be able to purchase new cars from Chrysler Corporation and others to be added. As things progress who knows, it may even be possible to have a auto buy and sell type program where even used cars are available for sell - just a thought, but YTB has always been at the forefront of some hot industry trends.
I am looking forward to hearing more about this. But think about how exciting this can be. How many people do you know that have recently bought a new car - well now they can buy it straight from your website at deal. Or even how many people ytpe into google "buy new car" or "new car deals", hopefully they will find you.
People will be able to get a deal and buy their new car from your YTB website, they will be able to finance it through YTB Finance and the YTB Rep earn commissions just like they sold a referring travel agency. Wow this is hot, do you know people that sell cars. Perhaps they would like to work with what will become the country's largest car dealer.
Robert Attieh
Become A YTB Travel Rep and now a YTB Car Dealer
Book Travel with YTB - YTB Travel WebsiteBook a Golf Trip With YTBor call Robert Attieh
416-414-4421
