GRIFFINS ANNOUNCE FRONT OFFICE UPDATES

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Monday announced the hiring of Andrea Steenwyk as a group sales account executive and the promotions of Allie Benner to digital marketing assistant, Jessica Boyer to season ticket sales development manager, and Peter Van Dame to season ticket business development manager.

Steenwyk spent the last two years as a ticket sales consultant with the West Michigan Whitecaps. During her time with the Detroit Tigers’ Class-A affiliate, she achieved 139% of her sales goal during her first full season in 2017 and built relationships with area non profits in an effort to help them grow their involvement with the community.

A native of Hudsonville, Mich., Steenwyk is rejoining the Griffins on a full-time basis after serving as a corporate sales intern during the 2015-16 season. She graduated from Ferris State University in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and public relations.

Benner, who returns to the Griffins after spending last season as a social media intern, will be responsible for helping to manage the Griffins’ social media accounts and developing creative social campaigns. The Griffins’ award-winning digital media department leads the AHL in both Snapchat and Facebook followers while ranking No. 2 in Instagram and No. 4 in Twitter. In her previous role as an intern, Benner assisted in creating unique content for Snapchat on game nights and during community events, among other duties.

A native of Grand Rapids, Benner will graduate from Aquinas College in 2019.

Boyer, entering her third season with the Griffins, will oversee the recruiting, goal setting, coaching and performance monitoring of the Griffins’ season ticket inside sales program as part of her expanded role. She will also assist in the creation and development of all season ticket-based marketing campaigns.

At the AHL Team Business Meetings in Iowa last month, Boyer finished second in the Western Conference in new FSE sales for the 2017-18 campaign.

In his increased role, Van Dame will manage the Griffins Business Edge program, which is designed to assist West Michigan businesses strengthen client relationships, generate new business and recognize employee contributions through the use of Griffins season tickets and experiences. Van Dame will additionally assist in the ongoing training of the ticket sales staff as it relates to business-to-business sales prospecting, email outreach and outbound appointments.

Van Dame has been recognized by the AHL for ranking first in the Western Conference in new FSE sales during each of his previous three seasons with the Griffins.