Ed Collupy is Vice President of Retail IT & POS Systems for The Pantry, Inc. convenience store chain based in Cary, NC, directs and manages all of their systems and technology efforts company-wide.  He has more than 30 years of retail technology experience in the grocery and convenience store industry, the past 14 years focused on bringing system solutions and leading The Pantry’s technology plans through their rapid growth from 400 stores to over 1600 stores today in eleven states under select banners, including Kangaroo Express(r) becoming the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern United States and one of the largest independently operated convenience store chains in the country. In 2007 he was named by Convenience Store News as their Top IT Exec of the year. He also serves in advisory roles on NACS Technology Council and on various PCATS efforts.  Ed and his team are actively involved in implementing several large project initiatives following a major POS systems and Wide Area Network deployment over the past few years. On a personal note, Ed has helped form a non-profit organization (www.Share-The-Blessings.org) that has built fifteen wells and assisted hundreds of children through various educational initiatives in Uganda and has recently become associated with the Retail Orphan Initiative (www.retailroi.org)  that . He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Suffolk University in Boston and attended Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program - Delivering Information Services.