Counterintuitive Ways to Reduce Admin Costs: Self Insurance/Outsourcing HR

Tom Ling is a visionary entrepreneur and the founding President and CEO of Advantage LLC, one of the largest private commercial printing, mailing, and multi-channel marketing organizations in the country. Guided by his cultural heritage and core values of hard work, humility, and perseverance, Tom has built a business empire that thrives on innovation and a people-first approach. Over 30 years ago, Tom took a leap of faith, leaving behind a career in the aerospace industry after graduating from Long Beach State University. Starting with a small storefront mailbox operation, he transformed Advantage Mailing LLC into Advantage ColorGraphics—a marketing powerhouse employing over 800 people across state-of-the-art facilities in California, Las Vegas, and Utah. Tom's success stems from his unique ability to see opportunities where others see obstacles. A true innovator at heart, he thrives on solving challenges, believing that moments of adversity often lead to the greatest breakthroughs. His passion for creativity and technology has driven groundbreaking approaches to marketing communications and leadership. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Tom is deeply committed to giving back. He actively supports numerous charities, including the Boy Scouts of America and the American Cancer Society. When he’s not reshaping the landscape of modern advertising, you might find him running marathons, exploring new ideas, or spending quality time with his family. Tom Ling’s journey is a testament to the power of vision, resilience, and the belief that success is best shared with those around you.

Pete Studer is the CEO and also a partner at Impact, a Minneapolis based company helping clients achieve their business objectives by serving as an extension of their marketing teams. Pete helps the employees at Impact remain focused on direct response marketing execution, complex segmentation/personalization, variable high-speed color printing, lettershop and total package management. He also helps manage key customer relationships and over his 20 years has helped move Impact into multiple locations. He has been involved in several acquisitions over the last 15 years and was responsible for combining each set of new offerings into the Impact operation. He was heavily involved in the selection and transition of Impact from digital toner to inkjet in 2015. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Finance and Marketing. Outside of Impact, Pete serves on multiple Minnesota non-profit boards. He resides in Minnesota with his wife and three daughters.