HORSESHOE BAY, Texas -- William "Bill" Bedortha, founder and former president of CMN Inc. (Convenience Marketing Network), died on April 11 at 76 in Horseshoe Bay, Texas.
Bedortha was an entrepreneur who at various times in his career was a bar owner, funeral home employee and salesman for several national companies. He also founded and led several successful companies.
He founded CMN Inc., which specialized in sales and marketing to convenience stores nationwide, in Austin, Texas, in 1989. It grew to produce more than $500 million in gross sales. Bedortha sold CMN to Advantage Sales & Marketing, now Advantage Solutions, Irvine, Calif., in 2004, and retired. The company operates in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry with outsourced sales, marketing and retail merchandising services in the convenience-store, grocery and foodservice industries, as well as other classes of trade.
Bedortha had more than 40 years of experience in the retail convenience-store and food industry. He served on the board of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), and he previously was president of the New York Food Brokers Association, president of Pezrow Northeast, vice president of sales for Ferrero USA and vice president of sales for Syracuse Food Brokerage.
He also was president of OSHA Pacifica USA, a marketing and licensing company, and served as a member of the advisory board of Dynatek Media Corp.
Bedortha is survived by his wife of almost 54 years, Mary Kay, and his five children and their spouses, Bill Bedortha (Kate), Jay Bedortha (Ann), Molly Copa (Tom), Katie Robertson (James) and Christian Bedortha (Wendy), 19 grandchildren, as well as his sister, nieces, nephews and many others.
CSP sends condolences to his family, his friends and his colleagues.
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