Bob Stegner believes his best career move was joining the Synnex Corp. – now TD Synnex – in 2007.
He was hired as the technology distribution company’s first senior vice president of marketing for North America. For the past 17 years, Stegner has helped shape TD Synnex’s marketing efforts and programs to better serve its customers and vendors. He spent significant time working in Greenville, a major hub for TD Synnex in the U.S.
Stegner brought years of marketing experience to his role with the Synnex Corp. He previously served as vice president of worldwide market development for Ingram Micro, one of TD Synnex’s biggest competitors. He worked for the company for nearly 11 years in various roles.
Peter Larocque, former president of North America for TD Synnex, hired Stegner to oversee the company’s marketing efforts in the United States and Canada. Larocque explained that Stegner always stressed the importance of building and maintaining relationships with vendors, customers and the community.
“Bob is a charismatic person and a people person. We, at the time, were grinders in our business,” Larocque said. “I would say that we’re still the same and better grinding company that we were 20 years ago even after we put these massive companies together, but we’re by far the top relationship company this industry has ever seen.”
Stegner eventually took over all North America marketing when the Synnex Corp. merged with Tech Data in 2021. Reyna Thompson, president of North America for TD Synnex, said Stegner has been an asset for making connections within the community that helps drive business.
“I think in his particular role, it’s made him very endearing to a lot of our partners, to a lot of our manufacturers and it makes it easier for us to be able to negotiate and build those partnerships because of Bob,” Thompson said.
One of Stegner’s many accomplishments while at TD Synnex was founding Varnex, the company’s small-to-medium business community, in 2007. Stegner said he has always had a passion for small businesses due to his father who worked as an SMB reseller.
“One of the main things I wanted to do was get that community started,” Stegner said. “I thought they were really, really important and Peter was extremely supportive of it, of seeing what the value was to it.”
Today, the platform – now called CommunitySolv – consists of around 800 resellers of all sizes. Members of CommunitySolv have access to networking opportunities, education and other resources to help them grow their businesses.
Stegner also helped create TD Synnex Share the Magic in 2011. The annual fundraising initiative raises money for charities that support children and youth in need. Over the years, Share the Magic has raised more than $30 million. Larocque said Stegner’s contributions to Share the Magic have been immeasurable.
TD Synnex announced in early November that Stegner will retire in March 2025. After retirement, Stegner plans to spend more time with his family but will continue to serve as an adviser for TD Synnex. He will specifically help the company with a number of community projects including Share the Magic.
Stegner began stepping away from his day-to-day operations on Dec. 1. Jessica McDowell, TD Synnex’s senior vice president of business development and security strategy, will become the company’s new senior vice president of marketing for North America.
“They’re in good hands,” Stegner said.
Then vs. now
Bob Stegner joined the Synnex Corp. in 2007 as the company’s first senior vice president of marketing for North America. He started with a 20-person marketing team that has grown into a 400-person team today.
Fast facts about Bob Stegner
Grew up in Ohio and attended the Ohio State University.
Was inducted into the CompTIA IT Hall of Fame in 2020.
Serves as board president of South Carolina Charities Inc., the nonprofit that operates the BMW Charity Pro-AM presented by TD Synnex.
Costumes
Bob Stegner always tried to make company events more entertaining for those in attendance. To accomplish this goal, he was known to dress up as a character for different corporate events.
Here’s a list of some of the characters Stegner dressed up as over the years:
- “Bob” Revere
- Elvis
- The Fab Four
- Anchorman
- Glam Rock
- Willy Wonka
- Bat “Bob”
- Hipster
- Mr. Rogers
- “Bob” Skywalker
