Then and now: Fortner finds success with New York startups

New York is a global center for business and commerce and a melting pot of cultures and food from around the world. For Steve Fortner, the move from Arkansas was a turning point for him, both personally and professionally.

Fortner grew up in Arkansas, where he earned a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas. After graduation, he worked on Walmart teams for PepsiCo and Unilever. There, at age 28, he was named to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s 2009 Forty Under 40 class. He then worked at Dannon and then four years at retail broker Harvest Group, where the clients included a startup.

In one memorable success, Fortner helped save a startup that was struggling at Walmart and then helped grow the company from 10 SKUs to 200 SKUs at Walmart, becoming so successful that the company was bought out. He loved the job, so when the opportunity arose to move to New York and work as a senior sales executive at Walmart at Harry’s, a personal care startup, he jumped at it.

“I grew up in Arkansas and never left, so it was a great opportunity to expand my horizons,” Fortner said. “I can’t imagine anything more extreme than northwestern Arkansas to New York. It was an opportunity to grow and develop as a person and start a new adventure.

Fortner said the networking and startup communities in Northwest Arkansas and New York are similar.

“Here (New York), the situation is much more diverse and includes different types of industries,” he said. “But the thing is, a lot of startups come here because there is a lot of capital here, which gives you a lot of opportunities to network and grow through marketing and advertising because a lot of these companies are based here.”

The unique opportunity to connect with a diverse group of people from around the world has helped him grow as a person and in his career, he said.

“There are not many areas in the United States where someone from China, Australia, London, India, Ohio and Texas lives in their own building,” he said. “Your entire community, just in your own building, comes from all over the world.”

In June 2023, Fortner became director of retail sales at another startup, Kencko. The company sells freeze-dried, instant organic smoothie mixes to provide customers with five servings of fruit and vegetables every day. Fortner says ninety percent of people in this country don’t eat enough fruit and vegetables a day.

“When I went to Harry, I was starting out working for startups and I really, really loved working for startups,” he said. “But I knew my passion was food. I’m a total foodie, so I really wanted to end up there.”

Founded and headquartered in Portugal, Kencko launched in 2018 as an online direct-to-consumer company with 360,000 members.

Fortner, now 43, is helping them expand into retail and is managing the company’s launch at Walmart, which is rolling out 20 SKUs across the retailer’s 1,487 stores this month. This month will also see the end of the company’s first television advertising campaign on major TV stations.

After three years of operation, the company is growing by an average of over 500% per year, and in 2023 it delivered over 13 million servings of fruit and vegetables worldwide. Kencko is B Corp certified, meaning the company has met high standards of social and environmental practices. Fortner plans to help build the company and retail brand into a major brand in the United States.

“I would love to see Kencko become a billion-dollar retail brand,” he said. “I think since I’ve been living in New York, I’ve seen so many opportunities open up here; and it is a hub for new brands.”

In his free time, Fortner enjoys running in urban groups and has “really taken up running.”

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