After graduating high school in 1959 Dick Berger attempted to find steady work as a draftsman before enrolling in the Electronic Computer Programming Institute (ECPI) in 1961. At this time the computer industry was in its’ infancy and programming consisted of physically manipulating actual wired boards. Dick took a job as a computer operator at Independent News where he was given a raise to $6,000 per year and the title of programmer trainee after designing a program that cut production time 80% by converting their masterfile from hard copy punch cards to magnetic tape.

 

The next major step in Dick’s career was a job as the Data Processing Manager at House Of Beauty, Inc. (HOBI). HOBI was one of the relatively few mail order companies that could justify the investment required to set up their own computer department to fulfill their data processing requirements in-house. Because there were not many service bureaus around that direct marketers could outsource their processing to, large mail order companies like HOBI who had established internal computer departments often became the equivalent of today’s service bureau.  Over the years, a number of catalog companies began paying HOBI to fulfill their computer work.  After a few acquisitions and mergers, Dick realized his position was going to be eliminated and he left to start his own company.  

 

 

Cross Country Computer was incorporated in 1975 by Dick Berger and Patricia Quigley. Servicing four of HOBI’s former clients and literally working out of the trunk of his car, Dick went from company to company renting computer time so that he could fulfill his clients processing requirements. Those first four clients were Sleepy Hollow, Postamatic, Joan Cook Co., and Taylor Gifts.   The traditional method used by most service bureaus was to maintain duplicate copies of all list rental output tapes, which were used as suppression files, when prior omissions were requested.  Because Dick didn’t have enough room in his trunk for that many tapes, he designed a system that enabled him to identify and omit prior orders by group numbers, which were assigned to the clients’ masterfiles. It was through this process that Dick went on to develop one of the first merge purge systems.  In 1987, Cross Country built its own state of the art facility in NY. In 1989 Dick acquired Pat’s interest in Cross Country making him the sole owner. 

 

 

Dick introduced his son, Tom Berger to the business when he was in high school. After fighting his way out of the Paper Shredding Department, Tom handled list rentals and spent a few summers as a computer operator through college. 

 

In 1990, Tom formed QED Marketing, an independent service bureau operating from Cross Country’s facilities. Shortly after graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with a Bachelor’s degree in Management & Marketing, Tom joined Cross Country Computer full-time. Beginning as Director of Nothing, Tom soon moved up to Director of Finance and then Director of Sales & Marketing in 1992. Tom Berger assumed management control as Dick continued to turn over additional responsibilities. In 1996, Tom acquired the company and took the mantel as President of Cross Country Computer, while Dick continued as a programmer.

 

Under Tom’s management, Cross Country expanded from fewer than 20 consumer catalog clients to more than a hundred clients across a wide range of verticals, including many Fortune 1000 companies.

 

 

Over the years, Cross Country has continued to develop solutions and evolve to meet the needs of the current market. While CCC is proficient in consumer, we are one of the few service bureaus today who raise their hand and say “We do B2B well – and we welcome it!”. Our proprietary Title Beautification service, which leverages a database of over 300,000 professional titles, was followed by the release of our Company Beautification system. Together, these offerings in conjunction with a best of breed B2B matchback system and proprietary business matching logic for contact and site identification cemented Cross Country as a premier provider of innovative strategic solutions for B2B marketers. 

 

 

The Executive Team today is it’s strongest with the addition of two key professionals who manage the day to day operations under the leadership of Tom Berger. Dave Love, a 20+ year industry veteran, is our EVP in charge of operations and technology.  Elisa Berger, Ph.D., with 15 years database marketing expertise is our SVP handling new business development, marketing and strategic account management. Together this team assesses, evaluates and strategizes to guide the future direction of the company based upon the evolving needs of its clients.