Lazaros Kalemis

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Lazaros Kalemis
Lazaros Kalemis.jpg
Lazaros Kalemis posing in front of Alpha Card Services in April 2012
Born (1972-11-15) November 15, 1972 (age 51)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater La Salle University
Occupation(s)Founder and CEO, Simpay (United States)
Years active2000–

Lazaros Kalemis (born November 15, 1972) is a first-generation Greek-American businessman. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Simpay (United States), [1] a payment processing and merchant business solutions company headquartered in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, which was previously known as Alpha Card Services.

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Lazaros received the Philadelphia 40 under 40 award in May 2012, and was announced as a finalist for the SmartCEO Circle of Excellence award in the Distinguished Leadership category on July 11, 2012. [2] [3] In 2012, he was named a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.[ citation needed ]

A two-time cancer survivor, Kalemis was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in 1998 and with Chronic Myloed Leukemia in 2005. [4]

Early years

Kalemis was born in 1972 in the Frankford section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Greek immigrants who arrived in the United States in 1970. [4] At an early age, Kalemis worked for the family business, a Philadelphia pizzeria called Original Boston Style Pizza.[ citation needed ]

Kalemis started his first business, Kaleo Publications, at the age of 19 while pursuing a marketing degree from La Salle University. Kaleo Publications was a global business directory publisher, with Kalemis eventually employing 135 employees in 3 offices in Pennsylvania, Arizona, and California. Kalemis sold Kaleo Publications to a partner in 1998 when he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma at age 24. [5]

In 1997, Kalemis graduated from La Salle University with a degree in Marketing.

In 1999, Kalemis opened a second pizzeria location with his parents, called New Boston Style Pizza in the Rhawnhurst section of Philadelphia.[ citation needed ]

The idea of Alpha Card Services was reportedly inspired by a layover Kalemis had at Rome's Fiumicino airport in 2000. [5] [6] Kalemis read a Philadelphia Inquirer article about how the use of credit cards had grown by a yearly average of 15% since 1972, regardless of how the economy fared. Kalemis shared the article with his longtime friend, Dimitrios Tsikoudis. The two friends saw the yearly credit card processing growth as a new business opportunity, and in October 2000 Dimitrios Tsikoudis and Lazaros Kalemis Co-founded Alpha Card Services.

Alpha Card Services

Under Kalemis, Alpha Card Services has become the 60th largest merchant acquirer in the United States [7] and the 143rd largest acquirer in the world [8] as ranked by the Nilson Report. Alpha Card Services provides merchant services and ancillary services, such as Payroll, Point-of-Sale Systems, Gift and Reward Cards, ATM Services and Merchant cash advance to over 15,000 U.S. locations and processes in excess of $2 billion in credit card volume annually.

In addition to owning and operating Alpha Card Services, Kalemis controls Pinnacle Merchant Advance, Alpha POS Services [9] and Alpha Payroll Services, divisions of Alpha Card Services. Pinnacle Merchant Advance focuses on merchant cash advances, Alpha POS Services provides point-of-sale (POS) systems to merchants in the hospitality, retail, salon, and supermarket industries, and Alpha Payroll Services provides Payroll Services to small and medium size businesses. [10]

On October 17, 2013, CEO Lazaros Kalemis was named the winner of the SmartCEO Circle of Excellence award under the Professional Services category. [11]

Philanthropy

Kalemis has formed a charitable initiative called Alpha Card Cares. [12] According to the company, the purpose of the Alpha Card Cares is "to mobilize the collective financial and organizational efforts of Alpha Card employees, management, customers and vendors, to support a variety of causes and organizations."

Lazaros and Alpha Card Cares have been involved in a number charity and volunteer events, including the Kids & Hope Foundation, [13] Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure, [14] Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bucks County, [15] The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night Walk [16] and the Walk to Defeat ALS, Greater Philadelphia Chapter. [17]

See also

List of Greek Americans

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References

  1. ↑ "Home". Simpay.
  2. ↑ "Lazaros Kalemis - Philadelphia Business Journal". Bizjournals.com. 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  3. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-10-29. Retrieved 2012-08-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. 1 2 "Executive Leaders Radio Podcast" – via www.youtube.com.
  5. 1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2012-08-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ↑ "Lazaros Kalemis: Alpha Card Services". M.O. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-26. Retrieved 2012-08-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-28. Retrieved 2012-08-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ↑ "正规的ag亚游只为非凡_ag亚游国际官网_亚游集团". alphaposservices.com.
  10. ↑ "Alpha Card Services Review | Merchant Alternatives". merchantalternatives.com/. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  11. ↑ Philly, Cosmos (2013-10-24). "Alpha Card Services CEO, Lazaros Kalemis, named a 2013 SmartCEO Circle of Excellence winner ⋆ Cosmos Philly". Cosmos Philly. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  12. ↑ "Alpha Card Cares". Alpha Card Services. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  13. ↑ "Kids-N-Hope Foundation". Kidsnhope.org. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  14. ↑ "Susan G. Komen for the Cure". Ww5.komen.org. Archived from the original on 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  15. ↑ "Welcome to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bucks County - Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bucks County". Bbbsbc.org. Archived from the original on 2012-07-02. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  16. ↑ "Light The Night Walk: Taking Steps to Cure Cancer". Lightthenight.org. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  17. ↑ "Event Central 2011 - Home". Kintera.org. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
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