Company Background

Stephen Cook founded GLCA in 1993. Our consulting activities are well grounded in beverage wholesaler operations and sales. We expanded our activities from beverage distribution management to include beverage supply-chain management because of some fundamentals - beverage distributor's and supplier's goals are virtually the same - "give the customer what they want, when they want it."

"Raising the bar" is a more complicated process for today's wholesaler and supplier. Our client's success continues to rely on how capable they are at transforming their companies to meet the ever-changing market needs. We have achieved our successes by working with our distributors and suppliers in helping them gain competitive advantages, develop growth capacity and improve profitability by focusing on customer service.

• Our experience in the beverage industry covers over 43 separate clients/engagements and over 15 years of consulting experience.
• Our associates include some of the best beverage sales, beverage marketing and information systems professionals in the country.
• Our customers are among the industry leaders and continually provide a great resource for collaboration and business development activities.

Mission/Philosophy

We work within your organization to invent, develop and deliver improvements in customer service by linking "Where do you want to go?" with "How will you get there?"

Our goal is to improve the performance of your company for the long-term by assisting you and your management team in implementing meaningful changes to how you do business. Our consulting services are based on the three main premises - collaboration, performance and trust.

We consider ourselves an integral part of your management team. We can provide value by:

• Communicating the company vision.
• Securing commitment to change from owners, managers and staff.
• Listening to workers' ideas.
• Keeping activities focused and moving ahead with confidence.
• Providing independent, fact-based recommendations.
• Identifying opportunities for justified investments.

We ensure the implementation of all programs is achieved to your satisfaction.

About the Principal

Our founder, Stephen Cook, has over 17 years of beverage industry expertise - 15 years as a consultant and two years as the general manager for a larger metropolitan Miller brand distributor. Stephen, our owner and principal, is one of the top experts in the beverage distribution field.

Stephen's general business qualifications are comprised of 30 years of experience in various management assignments including department management, venture startups, project management, corporate business development and general manager.

Stephen is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants and is recognized by the Institute's designation of CMC (Certified Management Consultant). His other association memberships include the National Beer Wholesalers Association, the International Rotary and the Futurists Society.

Stephens' formal education includes: MBA - Finance and Accounting from Regis University, Denver, Colo.; and BS - Industrial Engineering Tech, University of Dayton, Ohio.

Partial List of Clients

Our beverage wholesaler clients include:

• Andrews Distributing Company
• Arizona Beverages LLC
• Columbia Distributing Company
• Crown Distributing Company
• Fame Beverage Company
• Gidden Distributing, Inc.
• I.H. Caffey Distributing Company
• Intrastate Distributors, Inc.
• Knall Beverage Inc,
• Metro Distributors
• Miller of Dallas
• Premier Distributing, Inc.
• Schenck Company
• Thomas & Sons Distributors

Our supply-chain clients include:

• Arizona Ice Tea (Ferolito, Vultaggio & Sons)
• Emerald Coast Bottling Company
• Great Lakes Brewing Company
• Miller Brewing Company
• Quaker Oats - North America
• SOBE (South Beach Beverage Company)

Testimonials:

October 24, 2002

Stephen J. Cook, CMC
Principal
Great Lakes Consulting Associates
17058 Willow Wood Dr.
Strongsville, OH 44136-7534

Re: Fame Beverage Company
Taylor Acquisition

Dear Steve,

Please accept my belated congratulations and thanks to you for a job well done. When the closing occurred, you were not at the table, as a matter of fact, I knew you were still in the trenches working out the actual details of this acquisition and transition.

It was a pleasure working with you. You are an excellent resource for knowledge, technique, and documentation of this type of transfer.

I visited Fame Beverage's new location today for the first time. It looks great. I think you can be justly proud of putting the whole package together. Look forward to seeing you soon.

Very truly yours,

BUCKINGHAM, DOOLITTLE & BURROUGHS, LLP

John P. Van Abel

Fame Beverage honored as business of year by Chamber
Friday, April 25, 2003

TOP HONOR. David Lockshin, president of Fame Beverage Co., receives a flower during the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Business Excellence Awards Banquet on Thursday. The Chamber named Fame Beverage as its Business of the Year. The banquet was held at the Kent State University Stark Campus Professional Education & Conference Center.

JACKSON TWP. — Fame Beverage Co. was honored Thursday as the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year.

Recognized as Outstanding Business Award winners were Abbot Electric, Liquid Control Corp., Midlake Products & Manufacturing Corp., Minerva Cheese Factory, Polymer Packaging and United Glass & Panel Systems during the Chamber’s Annual Business Excellence Awards Banquet at the Kent State University Stark Campus Professional Education & Conference Center.

Fame President David Lockshin planned to double his space at 1911 Quimby Ave. SW in Canton with a new, 60,000-square-foot building at Warmington Road and Commerce Drive SW in Massillon. Then, with the imminent closure of Taylor Beverage, Lockshin took on Taylor’s brands and most of its employees, and drew up plans for a $2.5 million, 72,000-square-foot facility, holding about 30 percent of the area market for beer by the case. Fame, founded in 1932, serves Canton and Stark County, along with Akron and Summit County and Medina, Portage, Tuscarawas, Wayne, Carroll and Holmes counties. Fame carries Samuel Adams, Molson, Great Lakes, Beck’s, Guinness, Bass, Smirnoff Ice, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, St. Pauli Girl, Rolling Rock, Foster’s, Pabst, Blatz, Sierra Nevada, Colt 45 and Captain Morgan’s Gold, and from Taylor, Fame picked up Coors, Corona, Genesee, Strohs, Schlitz, Old Milwaukee, Keystone, Killian’s, Zima, Spaten and Woody’s.

The company was the first distributor to implement computerized invoicing, to pre-sell beer, to distribute a wide line of imported beers, to distribute a micro beer and to distribute wine, new-age products and malt alternatives in Stark County. In 2002, the company added 31 employees and implemented a bulk-delivery system.

Lockshin started the area’s first Hispanic radio show, and Fame donates to a wide variety of school functions, after-prom parties, poker runs, charitable auctions, festivals and fund-raisers.