Martin Lira
Regional Sales Director
Martin has 30 years in the C-store industry with a focus on food and beverage. He is a true team player; all about lasting relationships, both personally and professionally. He is married (28 years, woot!) with two boys. He likes getting his hands dirty, too, including building mechanical things and problem-solving. He loves life and balances work with ocean fishing, golf, and cars.
Scott Merrill
Regional Sales Director
Scott is a veteran in the convenience store industry—between owning his own stores and as Regional VP of Sales at SAS, Inc. He has a degree from Wayne State University, is a husband of 46 years, and is a true outdoorsman enjoying golf, fishing, and hunting.
Alicen Bell
Executive Assistant
Alicen has been with Align Sales Group for almost 2 years as their Executive Assistant, previously working in finance. She has 3 sport-loving kids keeping her busy traveling across the country. Alicen enjoys reading a good book with her 2 French Bulldogs by her side.
Jim Dreste
Regional Sales Director
Jim has more than 22 years of experience as a sales leader and relationship builder within the convenience store industry. He has worked for Ronnoco Beverage Solutions & The Graphics Factory focused on numerous states in the Midwest. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two adult children. He also enjoys golfing, biking, hiking, listening to live music, and watching sports—especially football (pro and college), St. Louis Blues hockey, and St. Louis Cardinals baseball.
Joe Agosta
Regional Sales Director
With dedicated heartland ethics, Joe values relationships and customer service. His passion for helping customers is just as strong as it was over 30 years ago when he started in the industry, serving in a variety of Foodservice/Convenience & Retail Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Logistics roles. Joe loves to be a part of the action getting to know his customers, finding solutions, and helping them grow. He has been married for almost 25 years and has three children—two baseball players in College and one daughter in elementary school. They love their small acreage living where they entertain friends and family.
Jim Gerth
Regional Sales Director
Having worked on the wholesale side of distribution with a focus on business development and sales management, he oversaw a top-producing regional sales team. He also has 20 years in direct and indirect consumer lending and as a wholesale mortgage executive. Jim studied Management at Ball State University with a minor in History. He and his wife Teresa are the parents of three and currently reside in the Indianapolis metro area.
Steve Miller
Regional Sales Director
Steve started in the c-store industry after graduating from high school as a clerk on the midnight shift at a convenience store, and early on in his business career, he owned a donut shop. He has held the following corporate positions throughout his career: sales rep, regional manager, national sales manager, and senior director which included covering the entire US. He has been involved in building, introducing, and establishing brands as household names. The industry has taken Steve to 49 states, with Alaska being on his bucket list. Steve has a bachelor's degree from Lourdes University. He has been married for 42 years and has four adult kids with six grandchildren. He enjoys spending time with his family, sailing, and camping.
Executive Leadership
Bryan Drangin
Chief Executive Officer
Bryan started his career at a family-owned company, Uncle Ray’s Potato Chips, opening new wholesalers across the US. From there he moved to Farley’s & Sathers Candy Co. selling Brach’s, Now & Laters, Juju Fruits, and many other nostalgic candies. He took a year away to work for his father-in-law’s defense contractor firm. There, he traveled the world to places like Jordan, Iraq, Israel, and Sierra Leon. Soon after, he joined CSM Sales as a Regional Sales Director, then VP of Sales. He took a leap of faith and bought the company in January 2017. He most recently made a strategic decision to rebrand in 2023, to better position the brand in the marketplace—and Align Sales Group was born. Outside of work, he likes to golf, ski, and coach his son’s football team. He enjoys shopping with his daughter and spending time with his wife & COO, Amanda.
Amanda Drangin
Chief Operating Officer
Amanda started working for CSM Sales in 2016 as a part-time admin. She helped with the general paperwork needed for CSM, but her responsibilities continued to grow as CSM Sales were taking off. Once Bryan and she made the decision to purchase CSM Sales, learning how to operate a healthy and thriving business became the most important part of her day. The evolution of CSM Sales to what Align Sales Group is today is nothing short of hard work, dedication, and the will to not give up. In her free time, Amanda loves spending time with her daughter, son, and husband Bryan. She also enjoys yoga and the great outdoors.
