LEADERSHIP
Founder & President
RYAN QUERRY
With over 20-years of experience in sales-execution and management, Ryan Querry is a forward-thinking, results oriented professional responsible for career sales and transactions exceeding $300 million.
Ryan combines a Midwestern work ethic with "big city" experience, enabling him to adapt and work with a vast range of clients. His proven ability to motivate and lead by example through effectively generating high-dollar, sustainable revenue streams, has consistently resulted in exceeding goals on projects that span North America.
Recognized as an expert in corporate partnerships; namely, the development and execution of Sponsorships and Naming Rights, Ryan founded GPS with a perpetual belief of building long-term, authentic partnerships in mind; both with client's of GPS, and the newfound sponsors we secure for our clients.
Ryan's diverse experience ranges from working as a consultant on projects in the NFL & NHL, to generating unprecedented Naming Rights & Sponsorships for award-winning event centers/music venues, internationally-renown and attended events/rallies, nonprofits, state-of-the-art sports & entertainment venues, wellness centers, outdoor sports complexes, indoor aquatic facilities, and many other projects. Currently, Ryan also serves as Vice President of Development at the Omaha Children's Museum.
Ryan attended York College (NE) on an athletic and academic scholarship and is a graduate of Bellevue University (NE). He's sat on the board of the Susan G. Komen and other foundations, volunteers with the organizations such as the YMCA, belongs to various Chambers of Commerce throughout the Midwest, the C-Suite Network/Hero Club, and is an active supporter of charitable organizations dedicated to fighting cancer.
Following time spent in the Bay Area, Dallas, Sioux Falls, and Louisville, KY, Ryan resides in Omaha, NE with his wife, Jen, a special-education teacher, along with their two beautiful children: Harper & Nash.
"We are a family-owned business based in the Midwest, however, we are as sophisticated and capable in what we do as anyone in the country. GPS doesn't steer away from 'small', 'tough' or 'rural' projects. Small to midsized projects are the lifeblood of our company, and why we're in business. Whether it's a municipality, non-profit, major/minor league sports team, new/renovated facility, or other sort of organization/venue in need of supplemental revenue... if we determine it's a partner willing to work as hard as we are to achieve their goals, chances are we'll lock arms, immerse ourselves into their world, and work tenaciously to make their project a success".
ERIN KLOKE
Vice President, Development & Hospitality
Joining GPS in 2023, Erin Kloke is Vice President of Sports Accounts with HPN Global where she specializes in booking sports tournaments, individual team travel, and sports association meetings that require 10 or more hotel rooms per night at any hotel worldwide.
With over 25 years of group travel industry experience, she’s highly sought after for assistance with finding the most appropriate hotel options, negotiating the best rates & concession packages, and negotiating contracts that thoroughly protect her clients' interests.
Erin started her career in the hospitality industry in 1995 and worked her way up to Global Account Director with the Hyatt Hotels corporate office in 2001. There she began to work with the professional sports teams in the NFL, NHL, NBA & MLS, in addition to many NCAA & youth sports teams. Promoted again in 2006, Erin continued to work as Hyatt’s Global Director of Sports, as well as being Associate Director over the 22-person Account Development Team & responsible for a $100 million annual quota.
In 2017 Erin left her management position at Hyatt to join HPN Global as an independent contractor where she has more flexibility to work with clients of all specialties and the ability partner with every hotel brand. As a mom of two teens who hve participate in travel sports for 15 years, she is thrilled to combine her passion for family, travel, athletics & people. She pulls from her experience as a former board member with the Bennington Soccer club and the Tournament Director for both the Omaha Hockey Club and Fremont Flyers Hockey Clubs to continue to add value to youth sports.
Erin has previously worked to bring the OneHockey World tournaments to Omaha, NE in 2022 and partnered with the Minnesota Wild in 2023 to run their first ever Girls youth tournament and fan fest. These signature, high level events brought in over $4,000,000 in economic impact to the Omaha & Minneapolis metro areas, and Erin is eager to work with other youth sports entities in the future.
By being involved in all aspects of youth sports, from hotels to marketing, running tournaments to securing partnerships, Erin is thrilled to be leading this new endeavor!
RYAN PATRICK
Vice President
Ryan is a versatile leader with an extensive recruiting and marketing background. He comes to Sioux Falls from Northern California where he co-founded the non-profit organization, Humboldt B52’s. Patrick attended the University of Sioux Falls on an athletic scholarship to play baseball and majored in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Human Resources. He is an active member with the El Riad Shrine group here in Sioux Falls and assists with fundraising for the Shrine Hospitals around the nation. Ryan also plays professional baseball and hopes to bring some of those contacts with him to GPS.
“I believe that GPS will lead me into the direction of connecting with some of the most forward-thinking business minds this industry has to offer. I am fortunate to join the team at GPS and serve as a catalyst on the success of future projects they're known for.”
Blake Schmida
Director of Strategic Partnerships
Hailing from Omaha, Nebraska and residing in Overland Park, Kansas, Blake brings a diverse skillset and range of experience in marketing to GPS. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, graduating with a bachelor's in journalism, with emphasis in Advertising and Public Relations.
Schmida has served as an Advisor with the Bob Feller Act of Valor Foundation, where he's honed his event management and content production skills across the country. While working in lockstep the nation’s most prestigious baseball clubs and service members, Blake has proven time and time again his ability to secure both meaningful and sustainable partnerships. Since joining GPS in 2023, Blake’s undying passion for every kind of sport, commitment to nonprofits, and love for strategic partnerships, have proven to be a catalyst to every project he's worked.
ABOUT GPS
Founded on unparalleled experience and results, Great Plains Sponsorships is a multidimensional service provider that was originated to help forward thinking Midwestern companies create sustainable sponsorship platforms.
With an evolved commercial landscape and accelerating shortage of sources for funding, sponsorships and naming rights provide tangible revenue streams for businesses of all size. The mixture of GPS’s Midwestern work ethic and perpetual belief in building authentic relationships, has resulted in a recipe for significant returns and long-term rapport.
The key sponsorship and naming rights services we provide include market research, asset identification, asset creation, platform development, prospecting and solicitation, development of marketing program/materials, presentations and sales-execution, fulfillment delegation, contract negotiation, renewal management, and a streamlined hand-off of the
tailored program when the time comes.
Furthermore, GPS thrives on over-delivering for our clients and will accommodate most any request, ranging from VIP event coordination to premium seating execution, and from talent acquisition to premium seating execution for entertainment venues. Just ask and chances are we’ll find a first-class way to deliver.
Before we even think about going to market for you, we make it our business to make your business our business. This allows us to guarantee each made-to-measure strategy aligns itself with our client’s objectives.