With their 2015 annual convention just a few weeks away, IRTA announced on Friday that Bob Bagga, Co-Founder of BizX, will be this year’s inductee into IRTA’s Barter of Fame. Here’s is the official release from IRTA:
The Hall of Fame Committee is pleased to announce that Bob Bagga, Co-Founder, President and CEO of BizX with offices in Seattle, Oakland, and Dubai, has been selected to receive the 2015 Hall of Fame Award. This is the highest honor conferred by IRTA.
The award will be presented at IRTA’s 36th Annual International Convention being held September 17th through 19th at the Solmar Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Bob’s accomplishments in the private currency and barter industry have garnered him international recognition. Over the last 20 years, he has built a number of successful trade exchanges. His first company, Barter Business Exchange, which he co-founded at the age of 22, went on to go public as Ubarter.com. He co-founded BizX in 2002 which has grown to be the leading trade exchange on the West Coast. BizX has been recognized by INC magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in the US for 6 yrs and winner of many regional and national awards.
In 1992, he co-founded Barter Business Exchange (BBE), which expanded across Canada with offices in Toronto, Hamilton, Windsor, and Vancouver. Rogers Communication, Revlon and Kodak, along with 4,000 other companies were all members of BBE, trading in excess of $60 million a year. BBE went on to become one of Canada’s fastest growing companies, and was rated at #46 in 1998 and #51 in 1999 by Profit Magazine. It even went on to be featured by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Venture program. In 1999, BBE merged with International Barter Corp to create Ubarter.com, and later that year was acquired by Seattle-based shopnow.com and listed on NASDAQ.
Bob has been extensively involved with IRTA serving on the Board and holding numerous positions, including Chair of the Certified Broker Training (CTB) committee, Convention Committee, Vice President, Treasurer, and a member of the UC Committee. He was also a part of the IRTA Board that worked to create the Universal Currency (UC) system, a clearinghouse for trade exchanges that allows exchange members to buy and sell between one another, vastly broadening their reach. In 2005 IRTA recognized Bob’s many contributions and accomplishments by giving him the Outstanding Achievement Award and the Legends of Barter Award.
Bob is actively involved in the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and a recipient of the Puget Sound Business Journal 40 under 40 award. He lives in Seattle with his wife Anita and 3 children Nikhil, Dylan & Mia.
IRTA congratulates Bob on his well deserved 2015 Hall of Fame Award!
IRTA invites all retail barter exchanges, corporate trade companies, complementary currency organizations and counter-trade companies to attend the most important convention in the industry!
To register for the 2015 IRTA Convention, Click HERE.
To review the program schedule for the 2015 IRTA Convention, click HERE.
If you have questions regarding the IRTA Convention, contact IRTA’s Executive Director, Ron Whitney at ron@irta.com or 757-393-2292, or IRTA’s Project Manager, Patty Weston at patty@irta.com or 407-951-6797.
