Tom Hall Named National Sales and Marketing Director for VR Laboratories

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Nov 30, 2011, 02:10 ET

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla., Nov. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- VR Laboratories LLC has hired nutritional brand marketing expert Tom Hall as the company's national sales and marketing director. Hall will apply his 30 years of executive marketing experience to positioning and promoting the VR Laboratories brand and to launch new company products in the international marketplace.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111130/FL14815 )

"Tom's extensive experience and success in product marketing and his relationships with mass market retailers are tremendous assets to VR Laboratories," says Jeff Kottkamp, CEO for VR Laboratories. "Under Tom's leadership, VR Laboratories will introduce revolutionary new products to national retailers to reach the mass market and grow our market position."

Hall specializes in nutritional brand marketing and has more than three decades of executive level experience. His credentials include the successful launch of several leading mass market brands. He is currently the president and owner of Evolution Brands Inc., a retail marketing company established in 2000 that specializes in the nutrition products industry. Under his leadership, the company has been instrumental in developing several well-known national retail brands and creating relationships with leading mass market chains such as Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Costco and Walmart.

Prior to establishing Evolution Brands, Hall served as vice president, sales and marketing for Pharmanex Inc., the developer of Cholestin and other products. Hall is credited with gaining distribution for the lead product Cholestin in 40,000 mass market retail stores. He created the Cholestin brand and five other products from formulation through finished products with national product marketing and launch plans behind each one. The brands were ultimately sold to NuSkin, and are now $1 billion brands for the company.

From 1981 to 1996, Hall served as vice president of sales for Pharmavite LLC. There, he grew the Nature Made brand from $40 million in 1981 to $400 million in 1996. He gained distribution for this brand in Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS, Costco, Kroger, Safeway, Albertsons, HEB, Publix and American Sales (Ahold). Nature Made became the largest branded vitamin line in the mass market during this time, and still holds that distinction.

Hall holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., and an MBA from Cal State Dominguez.

About VR Laboratories

VR Laboratories is positioned to be the leading global formulator and producer of FDA-approved botanical pharmaceuticals and medicines and proprietary ingredients for medicinal and functional foods and beverages. The company utilizes the proprietary HerbalScience technology platform, which has fully developed more than 600 medicinal and functional ingredients. Medicinal and functional foods and beverages are the fastest growing segments of the global food market. FDA-approved botanical pharmaceuticals, the newest segment of the global pharmaceutical industry, are estimated to achieve a Combined Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 600+ percent.

The Lee County Board of County Commissioners approved financial incentives of $5 million for VR Laboratories in February 2011 based on the recommendation of The Fort Myers Regional Partnership, Lee County's Economic Development Office, and the company's commitment to creating 208 new, full-time jobs in Lee County over the next five years with average salaries of $66,850 plus benefits. The $5 million in county incentives is awarded from Lee County's Financial Incentives for Recruiting Strategic Targets (FIRST) initiative, a county fund created with $25 million in reserves to build Lee County's economy through diversification. VR Laboratories' anticipated economic impact in Lee County is in excess of $40 million per year upon project completion.