Lance Stier, is owner and CEO NE Custom, of Custom of Nassau Candy Distributors Inc., a leading, diversified family-owned specialty confectionery, gourmet and natural food manufacturer and distributor, and leader in the custom, private label confectionery, hard goods, health and beauty and apparel categories.
As CEO of NC Custom, Nassau Candy’s customization business, Lance has led organic and M&A growth throughout the U.S. and Canada, including the acquisitions of 10 customized products businesses, forming a vertically integrated top-40 ASI supplier, the largest food supplier in the promotional products industry, and growth platform in travel + resort and retail multi-category merchandise (ACE/AmuseMints).
At Nassau Candy, Lance is head of business development and leads M&A, strategy, and financing, including acquisitions and financings across company-owned real estate and operating businesses.
He was previously a private equity investor with Paine + Partners and Wellspring Capital, and completed investments in the consumer and food sectors investing over $1 billion of equity capital, including Vistar and Performance Food Group, forming the 3rd largest broad line foodservice distributor (NASD: PFGC).
Prior to entering private equity, he was an investment banker at Lehman Brothers, where he completed over $20 billion of M&A/LBO transactions in food, retail & consumer.
Lance is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (where he met his wife, Rachel). He is an active member of YPO and a member of the SAS Ambassador Council of the University of Pennsylvania.
He is a multiple-time winner of Acquisition International’s Consumer / Food M&A Award and the DealMaker Award. He was named 40-under-40 by LIBN, Griffin Supermarket Report and YJP. He received Finance Monthly’s Game Changer Award and is a member of ASI’s Power 50.
He is a father of three, Elizabeth (9), Ethan (6) and Lucy (4). Lance enjoys tennis, soccer, golf, running, skiing, business-themed podcasts, and spending time with family. Lance and his family reside in Roslyn.
What has enabled you to be successful?
I have been fortunate to have tremendous support from family, friends and our work team.
As the son of an entrepreneur, I learned firsthand the laser-focused commitment that successful entrepreneurship requires.
As the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, I understood that “monetary” success can be taken away, as it was to our family in Germany, but your family and your education persist— this has made me a lifelong learner and family man.
I met my wife, Rachel, at Penn. She has always encouraged me to strive for excellence. We have had highs and lows in business during our 15 years of marriage — she has encouraged me to keep my head down and to persevere. Fortunately, we have.
Waking up and seeing my smiling kids every day, gives me extra motivation. I want them to be proud of me – much as I am of my father. My daughter, Lizzie, and I, for example, started a charitable business together last year.
Much as Rachel and I love encouraging our children to follow their passions, we similarly hope to instill in each of them the value of hard work and grit.
Our work team is a very special group of people. We are a hard-driving, passionate family culture. The strength of this team has enabled us to navigate business challenges from Hurricane Sandy to COVID, and we have emerged a stronger, more cohesive group. I am honored to work with this talented group of professionals every day.
Amongst these talented professionals includes my three brothers, my father and uncle. We are a family team – Garrett runs our manufacturing business, Travis, our distribution business, and Spencer, our gourmet foods business.
My father (Les) and uncle (Barry) are the first-generation entrepreneurs who inspire, coach, mentor and lead us everyday. It is a powerful shared trust and love that is at the center of all we do.
