Flis Heads National Trade Banc

Roy Flis, 63, has been in the barter business since 1980 when he founded Empire Barter in New York. Along the way, he has become co-founder and CEO of National Trade Banc (NTB) headquartered in Houston. The Texas-based firm is a wholly owned subsidiary of privately-held National Inc.

Over the last year NTB has acquired BarterOne, Butcher Trade Exchange, Cinnabar Media Services, North Texas Barter, Houston Barter Exchange and Barter Bay. One of NTB�s innovations is implementing all trading through brokers at the headquarters trade floor.

Their software is provided by Barter Center International and trades through the BCI network, which reportedly has 50,000 participants and $100 million in goods and services available daily.