Corporate America June

The Lure of the German Market+ Best Denver Job to Get Your Hands Dirty

Corporate America JUNE 2015 • WWW.CORPORATEAMERICA-NEWS.COM

Escaping the Expertise Trap

Expert managers can do many things to improve your odds of success by adding new skills to your repertoire, says Dr. Wanda Wallace

US Firms Can Benefit from the Entrepreneurial Enthusiasm of UK Graduates

We hear from Professor George Feiger, Executive Dean of Aston Business School in the United Kingdom, about the fact that the United States has long been seen as the natural home of entrepreneurial talent PLUS: THE WORLD’S MARKET FOR WORKING CAPITAL

We learn about Sandy Kemper’s journey towards success.

WHY THE US IS STILL LEADING THE CHARGE IN DIGITAL SALES

America led the charge for big global consumer companies.

Yet several decades on, they are still outstripping the rest of the west.

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Contents 16 Feature

THE WORLD’S MARKET FOR WORKING CAPITAL

We learn about Sandy Kemper’s journey towards success

12 18

Feature

WHY THE US IS STILL LEADING THE CHARGE IN DIGITAL SALES Grace Garland for ExpertMarket. com, comments on why the US is still leading the charge in digital sales

Feature

RAPID- RESPONSE MARKETING AUTOMATION AND THE DANGERS OF THE IT VACUUM We challenged Richard McCann to explain what it means for the customer experience

4

4

Feature

News

BANKS CAN TAKE RAPID ACTION IN COMPETITIVE MARKETS AS RATES RISE

24 Feature

US FIRMS CAN BENEFIT FROM THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ENTHUSIASM OF UK GRADUATES We hear from Professor George Feiger about the fact that the United States has long been seen as the natural home of entrepreneurial talent

Nomis Solutions have announced the release of Nomis 4.6, the latest version of their feature-rich price optimization suite, which enables banks to utilize actionable insight to react more quickly in today’s dynamic financial services market

26 Deals

32 5 City Focus

Appointments

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES OWE IT TO AMERICA TO EXPLAIN THEIR STANCE ON FATCA Presidential candidates must come clean on America’s highly controversial global tax law and more must be done to repeal it

38 Calendar/ Planner

On the Cover

Feature: Escaping the Expertise Trap 22

Expert managers can do many things to improve your odds of success by adding new skills to your repertoire, says Dr. Wanda Wallace June 2015 • CorporateAmerica • 3

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News

Banks Can Take Rapid Action in Competitive Markets as Rates Rise Nomis Solutions have announced the release of Nomis 4.6, the latest version of their feature rich price optimization suite, which enables banks to utilize actionable insight to react more quickly in today’s dynamic financial services market.

The 4.6 release follows a period of significant investment into performance and scalability that enables customers to respond swiftly to business opportunities and challenges. Insight gained from the recent Nomis Forum emphasized the increasing pressure banks are under to win and protect market share, grow responsibly, and react quickly. Nomis 4.6 further enables this by equipping banks with the ability to optimize the drivers of profitability and volume across their portfolios at speed and with increased granularity, therefore pricing more effectively, all vital capabilities banks need to master.

For Nomis, the focus is solely on understanding and addressing banking profitability challenges in industry-specific price optimization software. This release adds significant customer value in highly competitive or rising rate environments where speed is essential.

Additional features in Nomis 4.6 include: • A new capability called Active Recalibration™ that dynamically adjusts models, enabling up-to-date and market-informed decisions.

• A new reporting suite that quickly surfaces actionable insights.

• Enhanced optimization and Efficient Frontier mechanics that reveal key trade-offs to help make strategic decisions quickly.

Nomis also made significant strides in further enhancing their Lending solutions in this release. Below are some of the highlights: • The incorporation of Home Equity loans to round out their widely deployed Home Equity solution.

• The integration of third party data from their solution partner, Icon, into their auto finance solution to understand real-time market movement.

• Enhanced optimization mechanics for Auto Finance, including user-specific optimization constraints personalizing a user’s solution experience.

Nomis Solutions CEO, Frank Rohde, says of the release, “With rising rates in the U.S., Eastern Europe, and parts of Asia Pacific, the leading economies of the global economic recovery, the question still looms: How do banks tackle the challenge of protecting market share from challengers and benefitting from raising interest rates while satisfying more customer segments? Those who are ready for this challenge will be the winners.

Our solution allows banks to use data science to decide what action to take in a wide range of market scenarios, only one of which is a rising market. In an often-convoluted landscape of approaches to solving price optimization, the Nomis 4.6 Price Optimization Suite offers a simple and integrated software-based approach for incorporating segment, economic, and regulatory variables into pricing decisions based on cutting-edge science and deep understanding of banking economics. Our philosophy has always been to educate the market and provide solutions that make robust price optimization a quickly deployable solution for any bank investing in competitive advantage. Nomis 4.6 makes these capabilities even more accessible for banks seeking to achieve rapid and entirely quantifiable bottom line results.”

4 • CorporateAmerica • June 2015

The Lure of the German Market Why US Companies Should be Doing Business in Germany

According to a recent survey by YouGov and KMPG, 36% of small and medium sized firms surveyed say that they have decided against exploring overseas markets due to red tape, legal concerns and the time and expense it takes to build networks abroad. This reluctance is impeding their future growth prospects, as the route to doing business in Germany can be easier to navigate than many business owners may think.

Germany is arguably the home of the SME. While it is known for its industrial giants including BMW and Siemens, approximately 99% of all German companies are SMEs. This means that more than 3.6 million companies provide more than 60% of all jobs in Germany. On this basis, foreign businesses of all sizes should definitely consider doing business in Germany, as the German market is particularly supportive of SMEs. Another compelling reason why it makes sense to enter this market is the fact that Germany has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than EUR 2.7 trillion, making it the largest economy in Europe and the fourth strongest economy in the world. This consistently strong economic performance offers substantial long-term growth potential for businesses from countries such as the UK and the US. German law is also on the side of the SME. By making no distinction between Germans and foreigners in the establishment of companies and with no restrictions on the repatriation of profits, nothing stands in the way of ambitious entrepreneurs with adequate capital to make a success of doing business in Germany and taking a share of this lucrative market.

Thim Werner, managing director of Business Development Germany: “Businesses that export are statistically proven to be more successful and have enhanced options for future growth. We have helped many foreign businesses to establish a commercial presence in Germany and by proving that they have what to it takes to do business in Germany, many of them are able to use this success as a springboard to further expansion abroad, in markets such as Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Turkey.

“Clearly, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to entering the German market. For instance, direct export may be the most appropriate strategy in one market, whilst in another, a joint venture may be more appropriate. The choice of strategy relies on many factors and needs to be evaluated carefully, which is where the advice of an expert partner can be invaluable.”

Thim Werner, Managing Director of Business Development Germany

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News

Presidential Candidates Owe It to America to Explain Their Stance on Controversial FATCA Presidential candidates must come clean on America’s highly controversial global tax law - and more must urgently be done to repeal it, not least because it is “a blue print for worse to come”, warns the boss of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organizations.

Nigel Green, founder and chief executive of deVere Group, is urging candidates to prioritise the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) on America’s political agenda for the 2016 election.

Mr Green comments: “FATCA adversely affects millions of hardworking, middle class Americans around the world, plus U.S. companies that operate internationally – and, therefore, it impacts U.S. jobs and the American economy.

“Presidential candidates who support this tax act now need to justify to America why they support it; whilst those who want it repealed now need to articulate to voters why they believe it is fundamentally flawed and why they will move to repeal it.

Nigel Green, Founder and Chief Executive of deVere Group

“It is an issue that must play a major part in the national conversation ahead of the election.”

For the deVere Group, which operates in more than 100 countries and has more than $10bn under advice, what are the principal flaws of FATCA? Mr Green continues: “It’s claimed that FATCA was designed to catch tax evaders. This is, of course, a noble and worthwhile aim. Yet FATCA’s dragnet, untargeted approach means it cannot possibly achieve this.

“However, what it does achieve is giving us all a masterclass in the law of unintended consequences.

“For instance, FATCA brands the 7.6 million Americans overseas, Green Card holders and so-called ‘accidental Americans’ as financial pariahs. They are now routinely rejected from foreign financial institutions, such as banks in their country of residence, because FATCA’s costly and burdensome regulations mean they are now typically deemed more trouble than they are worth.

“No wonder that a deVere Group survey undertaken earlier this year revealed that a massive 73 per cent of Americans living overseas are tempted to give up their U.S. passports.

“In addition, U.S. firms which operate in international markets as well as in the U.S. are now often branded with a leprosy-like status. Of course, this can only be detrimental to America’s global competitiveness, and could, as such, seriously and negatively affect American jobs and the long-term growth of the economy.”

He adds: “Questions should be asked about the imperialist characteristics of FATCA. Governments and foreign financial institutions have been coerced into complying with its expensive, onerous, privacy-infringing, sovereignty-violating regulations by the U.S. – or face heavy penalties and the prospect of being effectively frozen out of U.S. markets.

“With its host of serious, unintended, adverse consequences, presidential candidates need to set out their stance on FATCA.” The deVere CEO insists: “I would also urge Americans who care about prosperity and freedom to take up the call to seek to have FATCA repealed.

Not only because it is, arguably, one of the most toxic and potentially damaging laws passed in recent times, but because I suspect it is a blue print for worse to come.”

Mr Green explains: “FATCA is paving the way for GATCA, the Global Account Tax Compliance Act. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is based in France and is the defacto world tax authority, is proposing that accounts opened by foreign nationals be routinely reported to that individual’s homeland tax authorities. It is thought approximately 65 countries could ultimately be involved.

“GATCA – which for Americans would arguably violate the Fourth Amendment – is FATCA on steroids.

“It would take authorised government snooping into innocent people’s financial affairs to a whole new level, it would lead to increased government and statism, it would lead to higher tax burdens for all, it would pose a risk to human rights and a serious threat to data protection, and it would trample all over time-honoured sovereignty, amongst other serious issues” He concludes: “The best way of halting the dangerous overreach of GATCA in its tracks is to repeal FATCA. As such, presidential candidates owe it to American voters to firmly set out their intentions on this crucial issue.”

June 2015 • CorporateAmerica • 5

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News

Hold the Phone: U.S. Consumers Wouldn’t Last One Day Without Access to Their Smartphone Nearly Half of Americans Turn to Digital Devices as Their Primary Method of Banking according to the Bank of America Survey Almost one in two (47%) U.S. consumers admit they wouldn’t last a day without their smartphone, and many consider their devices more important than daily staples such as coffee and television, according to a new report released by Bank of America. Of those who use their phones for banking, almost one-third (31%) say they log on at least once a day, and four out of five (82%) access their accounts at least once a week or more.

These findings are part of the inaugural Bank of America Trends in Consumer Mobility Report, a study that explores broad mobile trends and banking behaviours among adult consumers across the country who own a smartphone and have an existing banking relationship. The survey found that mobile connectivity is so critical, the smartphone falls below only the Internet and personal hygiene when ranked by importance to people’s daily lives. 91% say their mobile phone is very important, just as important as their car (91%) and deodorant

(91%); and significantly more important than television (76%) and coffee (60%). The report also found that the youngest millennials ages 18-24 are most likely to view their mobile phones as very important (96%) more so than deodorant (90%) and even their toothbrush (93%).

“Mobile phones have changed the way we live our daily lives, and that extends to our finances,” said Marc Warshawsky, senior vice president and mobile solutions executive at Bank of America. “Bank of America now has more than 15 million active mobile banking users who access their accounts on a mobile device over 165 million times per month. We’ve seen this number continue to grow and recently the number of monthly mobile banking logins surpassed online banking logins for the first time.”

Mobile banking is going main stream, yet visits to bank branches remain steady The report revealed that almost two thirds (62%) of consumers have at least tried mobile banking. When accessing a mobile banking app, the most common activities included monitoring account balances and statements,

transferring funds and paying bills, as well as depositing checks via mobile check deposit.

But while mobile and online banking services are becoming more widely used, and in many cases are consumers primary method of banking, visits to bank branches also remain high. 84% of respondents have visited a bank branch within the past six months. This is true among all the age groups polled, with nearly the same percentage of millennials ages 18-34 (83%) saying they have visited a bank branch in the past six months as those ages 35 and older (85%).

However, just 23% of respondents say they complete the majority of their banking transactions at a branch.

Nearly half (47%) turn to mobile or online as their preferred method.

Mobile check deposit on the rise Increasingly, consumers are using their mobile banking apps to perform more sophisticated transactions, such as mobile check deposit. According to the report, nearly six in 10 (58%) of those surveyed have used mobile check deposit, and nearly four in 10 (38%) use it frequently.

Consumers who say they do not use mobile check deposit cite lack of awareness as the chief reason: more than one third (35%) are either not as familiar as they would like to be or unsure how to use the feature. More than one in five surveyed (21%) prefer physically handing checks to a teller, and 27% report they just do not have any checks to deposit.

“Mobile check deposit has been one of the fastest growing digital services we offer,” said Warshawsky.

“Customers appreciate the convenience of being able to complete their deposit anytime, anywhere and are depositing an average of 170 thousand checks via mobile device every day.”

Bank of America’s focus on digital banking Since 2007, Bank of America’s Mobile Banking platform has been a key source of increased customer engagement and satisfaction with more than 15 million active users, and this number is growing by more than 200,000 customers per month.

Customers are using their mobile devices to log into their accounts over 165 million times per month, depositing more than 170,000 checks via Mobile Check Deposit every day and making more than 4 million transfers per week between their accounts and to other people’s accounts as well as to pay their bills.

In addition, Bank of America has more than 30 million Online Banking customers who log into and manage their accounts in one place, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Bank of America customers pay more than 45 million bills a month through online bill pay.

6 • CorporateAmerica • June 2015

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News

Revolutionary HedgeCoVest Platform Goes Live, Democratizing Alternative Investments The industry’s first real time hedge fund replication platform enables investors to securely invest in hedge fund strategies via their own brokerage account.

HedgeCoVest LLC, the first real time hedge fund replication platform, has announced its formal public launch after four years of R&D and beta testing. With over 1,500 beta users, HedgeCoVest offers advisors and all retail investors real time replication of hedge fund strategies directly into their brokerage accounts. HedgeCoVest combines the unique liquidity, security and transparency advantages of a separately managed account with the long/short investment strategies of hedge funds to satisfy investors’ demands for a better way to invest in alternatives.

“The traditional limited partnership investing model is being disrupted,” comments Evan Rapoport, CEO of HedgeCoVest. “Until now, only ultra-high net worth investors and institutions had access to high quality alternative investments.

We believe all investors should be able to benefit from hedge fund strategies with the transparency, liquidity, security and lower fees they seek. This is why we created HedgeCoVest.”

With real time performance reporting, flat fees and the ability to allocate or liquidate at any time, HedgeCoVest is changing the way investors allocate to hedge funds. Through the HedgeCoVest separately managed account structure, investors realize the benefits of hedge fund investing without the risks associated with commingling assets.

HedgeCoVest has generated over $80mm in committed capital for the platform and signed 45 investment management companies, including the multi-billion dollar firms Fred Alger, The Boston Company, Cornerstone, Kovitz and Sandell.

The platform also offers 14 custom HedgeCoVest investment products including the industry’s first real-time, investable hedge fund index. Investors can also create their own custom portfolio of hedge fund strategies based on their risk/return profile and investment objectives.

HedgeCoVest is fully operational with Interactive Brokers and is in the process of completing integration with Pershing Advisor Solutions and TD Ameritrade. For the first time, financial advisors will be able to easily offer their clients access to leading hedge fund strategies with a higher degree of control, transparency, due diligence and liquidity, with much lower fees.

“Every portfolio can benefit from having alternatives in it. HedgeCoVest is a game changer for all portfolios by allowing easy access, complete transparency, a simplified fee structure and no K-1. I am aggressively migrating a large portion of my practice into HedgeCoVest investments,” commented Ed Butowsky, Managing Partner, Chapwood Capital Investment Management.

About Hedgecovest: HedgeCoVest LLC is a registered investment advisor and real-time replication platform that is leading the way in the democratization of alternatives. HedgeCoVest’s proprietary technology delivers institutional investment strategies to investors of almost any size. HedgeCoVest meets the multiple investor mandates of liquidity, transparency, security and lower fees, while providing hedge fund firms access to a new, diversified investor base.

June 2015 • CorporateAmerica • 7

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News

IDC MaturityScape Urges Digital Transformation Leaders to Create Digitally Fueled Business Visions New report provides framework for transforming leadership practices and attitudes Business leaders today need to transform and lead digitally powered organizations that are not only adaptive to change, but able to predict and drive it. International Data Corporation have unveiled the IDC MaturityScape: Leadership Digital Transformation, designed to help business and IT leaders understand the actions needed to realize those opportunities. Leadership Digital Transformation is the set of disciplines that enables businesses to develop the vision for digital transformation of products and services that are optimized to deliver value to partners, customers, and employees. This study identifies the stages, dimensions, outcomes, and actions required for leaders to undertake successful DX initiatives.

IDC’s Leadership Digital Transformation MaturityScape consists of five stages (ad hoc, opportunistic, repeatable, managed, and optimized) that represent a progression of increasing maturity of leadership’s capabilities and actions. They are a measure of a leader’s ability to recognize the opportunities in developing DX capabilities that are consistent with business goals and that of a leader’s inherent ability to lead the organization in meeting or exceeding business goals. Specifically, this new study was developed to help business and technology executives identify areas in need of improvement in support of digital transformation in five key areas or disciplines of leadership: • • • • •

Ecosystem Awareness and Insight Business Model Innovation Organizational and Cultural Disruption Agile Planning and Governance Financial and Economic Leverage

IDC believes that most business leaders are at the opportunistic and repeatable stages of maturity. Most leaders will not and probably cannot have all of the competencies required at the managed and optimized stage, and striving to achieve them is likely an exercise in failure.

Instead, leaders should focus on building teams that bring together the necessary competencies across the five dimensions and then focus on creating a collaborative and cohesive environment for driving DX throughout the enterprise and its ecosystems.

“Leadership of digital transformation requires a nuanced set of skills and abilities, some of which may not come naturally to many executives,” said Fred Magee and Marc Strohlein, adjunct research advisors within IDC’s Research Network. “Leading DX is inherently multifaceted and multidirectional DX leaders must have the ability to create digitally fueled business visions; to attract ‘coconspirators’ including customers, partners, and competitors to help realize the vision; and finally to orchestrate the myriad components needed to actually execute on the vision.”

8 • CorporateAmerica • June 2015

Accelerating Innovation nCino, the leader in secure, cloud-based operating solutions to the financial services industry have announced that Deloitte Digital, a digital con­sulting agency within Deloitte Consulting LLP, is launching an nCino Delivery Center of Excellence to bring increased value to its banking clients.

“We believe nCino’s groundbreaking Bank Oper­ating System platform coupled with our insight, experience and global delivery power represents a tremendous opportunity to drive results. Since nCino’s founding, the company has experienced strong demand for its Bank Operating System and we’ve seen the positive impact its technology can make on bank operations,” said Dounia Lievan, director, Deloitte Consulting LLP and banking lead for Deloitte Digital. “As the company continues to move upmarket into regional, super regional and global banks, Deloitte is positioned to be a part of that growth through investment in our new nCino Delivery Center of Excellence and our selection as a preferred systems integrator.”

The Delivery Center of Excellence will enhance Deloitte Digital’s broader Global Salesforce. com Alliance and complement Deloitte Digital’s existing suite of services while providing a focused team, tools, processes, models and accelerators for Deloitte practitioners to deploy nCino across multiple client implementations.

The Delivery Center of Excellence will focus on: Combining nCino’s powerful cloud-based platform and Deloitte Digital’s industry experience to advance innovation and accelerate business trans­formation for financial institutions; and using Salesforce-based applications to drive increased profitability, productivity gains, regula­tory compliance and operating transparency for banking clients.

“We are thrilled to align with Deloitte Digital’s banking practice,” said Pierre Naudé, CEO, nCino. “Deloitte is one of the world’s strongest Salesforce. com implementation partners and is deliver­ing some of the most innovative projects in the industry today.

We are delighted they see the value of our Bank Operating System and have chosen to bring this solution to financial institutions across the globe.” nCino’s Bank Operating System combines essential loan origination functions with customer relation­ship management, business process workflows and reporting dashboards all in one place to automate and simplify the entire lending process. Its unique model also opens up each loan to all stakeholders, creating an awareness and accountability unrivaled in today’s market.

“In the current interest rate and regulatory envi­ronment, our banking clients need to find a way to profitably grow, collaborate and dramatically increase efficiency,” said Larry Calabro, principal and Banking and Securities leader, Deloitte Con­sulting LLP. “We believe nCino’s ground-breaking Bank Operating System platform coupled with our insight, experience and global delivery power rep­resents a tremendous opportunity to drive results.”

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News

Strong Trade to Stimulate U.S. Economy Trade expansion is expected to boost the American economy, according to the latest HSBC Global Connections Trade Forecast. Trade growth contributions to overall GDP are projected to be driven by increased trade liberalisation and growing demand to and from emerging and advanced Asian markets.

Trade agreements including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement will open markets and have the potential to eliminate barriers to trade. For businesses this could mean opportunities for new product development and new trade partners.

“The dismantling of trade tariffs and removal of other restrictive barriers to free commerce creates an express lane for businesses to reach faster-growing markets, underpinning the return to a more moderate-to-high level growth environment for the U.S. economy,” said Derrick Ragland, Executive Vice President and Head of U.S. Middle Market Corporate Banking, HSBC Bank USA, N.A. Expansion into high growth markets, including China, could mark an economic boom for American trade. For example, the expansion of the existing Information Technology Agreement (which includes 75 countries) is projected to increase the value of U.S. exports by $2.8 billion. It is also expected to boost revenues of U.S. information and communications technology firms by $10 billion and support the creation of 60,000 new American jobs.

Asian Markets Expected to Dominate U.S Export Demand In the past three years, exports as a share of U.S. GDP reached 13.5%, the highest share since at least 1947. Even as trade exports grow and liberalization continues, the report finds that Canada is still expected to remain the top export trade market for U.S. goods in the medium and long term, due in large part to its proximity and size. The report projects that by 2030 China will surpass Mexico as the second largest American export trading partner, with Mexico dropping into third place. During the same period Korea is expected to become the fourth largest market for U.S. exports, followed

by Brazil, pushing Japan out of the top five. In addition, the fastest growing export markets for American goods are expected to include China, India, Malaysia and Vietnam, with growth around nine percent annually.

“Strong economic growth in faster growing Asian economies represents a major business opportunity for U.S. exporters,” said Ragland. “It’s up to American businesses to capitalize on this trend… and every indication is that they will. For example, 7 in 10 U.S. businesses have told HSBC they expect to buy or sell more goods with China alone in the near-term.”

The report also finds that industrial machinery and transport equipment are expected to remain the major American exports in the foreseeable future and are expected to contribute about 40% of the projected growth in total exports through 2030. Other important drivers of exports will include high-value items such as scientific

apparatus, chemicals, and information and communications technology (ICT) goods, as well as petroleum products and plastics.

Canada and Mexico Remain the Top Two U.S. Trade Import Partners While imports into the U.S. closely mirror that of exports (industrial machinery and transport equipment), these two categories together with ICT will collectively account for almost half of total import growth for the U.S. in the decade leading up to 2030. Clothing and apparel and petroleum products are expected to account for around 15%of total import growth in this period.

Overall, the strength in these sectors will mainly reflect solid growth in domestic activity, maintaining the pull for imports.

The top four largest trade corridors for American imports are expected to remain unchanged, led

by China, Canada, Mexico and Japan, respectively. Interestingly, the report projects that India will overtake Germany for the fifth position by 2030. The fastest-growing countries for U.S. imports over the long term are projected to be China and Vietna, with growth at about 9% annually for both countries, and India (up 8%) and Mexico (up 7%).

Concluded Ragland, “America’s economic outlook remains firm as solid job growth, low inflation and strong disposable income growth all support American household spending. With our highly-educated labor force, solid institutions, innovative technology and efficient production processes, the U.S. is well-positioned to benefit from rising world trade.”

June 2015 • CorporateAmerica • 9

What:

We partner with high technology companies to assist in developing intellectual property assets, formulating and executing strategic plans for achieving maximal value for our clients. Our clients have achieved over $1.6 Billion (USD) in market value, either through financing rounds, merger and acquisition, licensing or litigation awards. To achieve this success, we combine professional and technical skills with level-headed business principles and experience. Or practice is devoted to supporting our client’s intellectual property asset development, commercialization and, when necessary, enforcement.

Planning:

The focal point of an intellectual property plan is to secure maximum value for intellectual property assets. This is achieved by first defining the business objectives to be achieved.

Strategy:

Once the IP plan has been identified, a management team, including business, technology and legal expertise, reviews the business objectives, considers the congruence between the plan and the objectives, then pressure tests the plan against identified opportunities to challenge that the intellectual property assets will achieve those objectives. Being dynamic, the plan will be consistently and constantly assessed, revised, and reassessed as new objectives are identified, new opportunities are presented or new challenges arise.

A coherent IP strategy will include IP landscaping to identify and analyze existing IP rights and players in the relevant technology space. The white space opportunities will be identified and an evaluation of the coherence between the IP plan and the white space analysis will be completed. In addition, IP forecasting may be undertaken to predict, based upon a third party’s prior IP behavior, what are the likely IP protection pathways a third party will be pursuing with their IP portfolio. Additionally, licensing and collaborative research and development opportunities may be undertaken, “blue sky” evaluation for next generation products and/or superseding technology and opportunities for developing IP in those areas, freedom-to-operate issues relevant to the pre-commercial products under development to minimize the risk of material liability in litigation should be undertaken and processes for dynamic and real time IP tracking within the technology space, may be implemented.

Who:

Members of the firm have scientific training and regularly work across a spectrum of technologies including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, therapeutics, diagnostics, nanotechnology, organic and inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, materials science, agricultural chemicals, plant breeding, environmental protection systems, semiconductor processing, industrial and medical lasers, computer hardware and software, digital and analog electrical systems, water purification systems, evaporative cooling systems, skin care products, clothing, motor vehicle assemblies and systems, and general mechanical and electrical technologies.

“

We combine professional and technical skills with level-headed business principles and experience.

”

Address: 1480 Techny Road Northbrook, Illinois 60062 Tel: 847-770-6000 Fax: 847-770-6006

info@RosenbaumIP.com www.rosenbaumip.com

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News

Heating and Cooling Mechanics Jobs Growing Nationally and Across Colorado Job security, career growth and work satisfaction are three of the biggest factors for students choosing to get training to become a heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration or HVAC mechanic.

“The businesses we work with say the demand for skilled tradespeople continues to grow across the Front Range,” Wilson said. “Businesses have a critical need for trained HVAC technicians to fill the growing number of jobs.”

With the booming housing and commercial construction market, there is a growing need for skilled HVAC experts. HVAC techs install and work on heating, ventilation, cooling, and refrigeration systems that control the temperature and air quality in commercial and industrial buildings as well as homes.

Redstone College HVAC graduates earn an average of $16 to $18 an hour out of the program, and the BLS estimates that the median pay is about $21 an hour or $43,640 per year.1 2 Redstone offers a 10-month diploma program and a 17-month associate’s degree program.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the HVAC field across the US will experience growth of 21 percent compared to other fields between now and 2022. This significant percentage of job growth means an increase of approximately 56,000 HVAC jobs above today’s 267,600 jobs in just 10 years.

This job growth is made evident along Colorado’s Front Range and in Denver by the demand seen for graduates of HVAC programs from technical colleges like Redstone College in Broomfield, Colo. Redstone offers both a diploma and an associate’s in degree HVAC. Last year, 100 percent of its 60 HVAC graduates secured jobs in their field, said to Glenn Wilson, Redstone College president.

“The local pool is so empty of talented craftsman and we have a growing number of positions to fill,” said Mack Morgan, of Brothers Plumbing, Heating & Electric. “If you have the right attitude and learn the right skills, you can get a job and start working in the field as soon as you graduate.”

As with any skilled trade, Redstone’s program focuses on hand-on skills. The students use the same equipment that they will use in the field, said Morgan, whose company works with Redstone to create a skills-based HVAC program.

“Coming into the program, it was like a foreign language to me, but the Redstone teachers gave me the skills and building blocks to succeed,” says Peterson. “For one task, we had to wire a compressor, and I remember needing some help.

My instructor came in on his day off to help me so I would be comfortable and safe. All the instructors were like that.”

Peterson now works as a commercial refrigeration technician at Denver-based Performance Air Cooling. It was one of the three job offers she received two weeks after finishing the associate’s degree program.

“I love my job. My job is amazing,” says Peterson, who was able to get her Redstone degree while working full-time and raising a family. “I get to work independently and it is gratifying to be able to fix something. My customers are always happy to see me.”

Jennifer Peterson, a 2013 Redstone College graduate, said she uses the skills she learned in the HVAC program every day.

Cyber Poll Finds Risk Managers Not Confident about Resources Dedicated to Combat Hacking Almost 70% of businesses experienced at least one hacking incident in the last year, according to a study of business risk managers released today by The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company (HSB), part of Munich Re. Yet, more than half (55%) don’t believe their company is dedicating enough money or trained and experienced personnel to combat the latest hacking techniques.

“Hackers have evolved and so have their methods of attack,” said Eric Cernak, Cyber Practice Leader for Munich Re. “Businesses are on high alert, but they can do a lot better. Simply reacting to new threats is not enough. Businesses of all sizes need to anticipate hacking trends and deploy the resources necessary to protect their private or sensitive information.”

Of the risk managers polled by HSB, 63% represented large enterprises, followed by 30% at mid-sized organizations and seven percent at small businesses.

The survey revealed a notable exposure and concern with the use of cloud technology. Loss of confidentiality of information is viewed as the biggest risk (76%), followed by service interruption (16%) and government intrusion (5%).

Concerns about the type of information being breached ranged from personally identifiable information (53%) to sensitive corporate information (33%) to financial information (14%).

When asked about the type of risk management services they would be most interested in deploying to combat cyber risk, risk managers point to intrusion detection/penetration testing (32%), employee education programs (25%) and encryption (25%).

For additional protection, 46% say their business has either purchased cyber insurance for the first time or increased its level of coverage in the last year. 36% of businesses do not have any level of cyber insurance coverage.

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Why the US is Still Leading the Charge in Digital Sales Grace Garland from ExpertMarket.com comments on why the US is still leading the charge in digital sales.

The US is world renowned for inventing the face of modern sales. The first to pioneer the friendly sales persona in your local store, first to invent the idea of call centres, and first to coin slogans for stores such as ‘we’re loving it’, and we were. As a result, America led the charge for big global consumer companies. Yet several decades on, they are still outstripping the rest of the west, adapting and inventing to stay ahead of the curve in a market which is predominantly dictated by digital strategy. When the rest of the world has similar tools, why is the US so much better at digital selling?

Firstly, they are early adopters. While most of us were still fumbling with social media accounts and working out how to do online banking, America quickly brought sales to the digital market in a serious way, and while we were still dabbling with optimising sites for mobile, the US had a thriving audience on mobile tech who was beginning to rival all other sales put together. Realising that there could be a new wave of varied consumers from different backgrounds and different corners of the world, all just a click away, US companies put real money and research into working out how to tap into these ready consumers. Email marketing, Search Engine Optimisation and tailored ads were used in tandem by American brands to work out the behaviour patterns of their customers and therefore work out how to target them in a more personalised way.

Not content with just placing a banner ad on a few websites, big US companies took their mission to multiple platforms, tapping into online media, social media, video and ads in a combined effort to create waves in a vast sea of information. In areas which are just getting going in other markets, many American companies were experimenting, testing the water and throwing money in all directions – a gamble which for many undoubtedly paid off.

All of this clever marketing only goes so far, however, if you have a sceptical and traditional audience. The reason, perhaps, why America has done so well in online sales, is that they have developed a customer base which is savvy but not afraid to opt for a new brand if they feel they are getting a better deal. The way to cultivate this sort of audience relied on American businesses changing the way they spoke to consumers; moving away from the sales pitch and towards ‘customer education’. By adopting a tone which suggested the companies wanted to understand your personal requirements, and make your world better, brands were able to make their customers feel empowered and informed whilst also learning more about their habits, and critically, using this knowledge to inform their next customer negotiation.

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So what can UK companies to do improve their digital sales strategies? The most obvious answer is to learn from the US model and focus on personalising the sales experience as much as possible. But most importantly, they need to work to stay ahead of the curve, and take more risks when it comes to adopting new technology and new media platforms. With more and more tech sites being developed all over the globe, there is no excuse for not having a presence on the latest sites or handsets from the outset. The focus for all competing markets should be to make digital a priority, or risk continuing to languish in the US’s wake.

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Feature Grace Garland, ExpertMarket.com

Expert Market is the UK’s fastest growing tech company and has just opened a new office in Austin, Texas as part of an expansion. Expert Market works in customer acquisition and provides companies with qualified sales leads and willing customers through a mixture of digital marketing, data driven analytics and tech. Senior VP of Sales in the US Kester Hodgson has seen first-hand the difference in markets in the US compared to the rest of the world: “America is a completely different digital landscape for sales than, for example, the UK. Not only have US companies really run with their digital strategies in a way that few European companies have, but their consumers are so much further down the sales process by the time they get contacted directly by a company. Whereas UK sales leads might need a couple of conversations to clinch the sale, most often, US customers have done their research, understand their options and are ready to make a decision. This means we get a much higher volume of potential customers and a higher rate of completed sales and the process is more streamlined for the customer too.”

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How Safe is Your Identity?

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has confirmed that 2.7 million U.S. taxpayers had their identities stolen last year. Speaking before the Senate Finance Committee, Mr Koskinen had been responding to questions concerning the theft of over 104,000 tax forms by fraudsters who had managed to hack into the IRS website.

Large-scale data breaches of this kind are becoming increasingly common, and the trend is by no means confined to the United States alone. Research published in the United Kingdom last week reported a 31% rise in cases of identity theft between the first quarter of 2014 and the same period this year. The problem is global and, as criminals continue to develop more and more sophisticated methods of mining our personal data, it is one that is in growing need of a viable, long-term solution.

One company providing a solution for this is the online-identity firm miiCard, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. According to the company’s CEO, James Varga, “As we continue to do more and more online, as the value of what we do continues to increase, the need to be able to create trust, now more than ever, is paramount. This is especially the case in Fintech, whether retail banking or consumer finance where there is not only a need for trust from a risk and understanding point of view but also regulatory pressures around AML, KYC and ID&V.” Founded in 2011 with the goal of creating a digital identity that offered a level of trust equivalent to a passport or driver’s license, miiCard (My Internet Identity) leverages the assurance of bankverified data to allow users to purchase high-value products and services online without the need for document scans. In essence, miiCard takes the trust associated with a bank-verified identity and uses that trust as the basis for a multi-purpose electronic ID. Crucially, the user also has control over the precise data that is shared with third parties: not an option with a passport, even in those instances when all you need to prove is your legal majority. For Varga, the idea behind miiCard was simply to develop a product that reduced friction for businesses and consumers, “creating an experience that takes seconds to replace what normally takes hours.” He stresses that “letting us control, manage, secure and share our data, from certified bank statements through to our personal details, makes doing more online faster, easier and stronger.”

More recently, the company launched DirectID: a B2B service that operates in much the same way as miiCard, allowing finance applications such as lending and payments quickly and accurately verify a customer’s identity through their existing bank-login credentials. It also provides access to real-time transaction data, removing the dependence on paper-based bank statements and credit reports, significantly limiting the opportunity for fraud to occur and increasing the accuracy of affordability decisions.

As we share our personal information with a growing number of third parties, from social-media websites to online retailers, the value of that information as a means of verifying our identity is inevitably diluted. By contrast, DirectID uses information known to only the customer: their banklogin credentials.

To the extent that it offers an alternative to KBA (knowledge-based assessment) for electronic verification, DirectID has the potential to eliminate cases of fraud relating to identity theft. In spite of this, Varga says, the financial services industry has been relatively slow to embrace the new technology: “While we have always relied on banks for trust in transferring value, keeping and even managing our money, using this trust for other things online is relatively new. As the pains around trust, fraud, security and identity continue to build year on year, it is now that we are seeing a fundamental shift beyond technical solutions such as authentication and biometrics. In an industry that is traditionally risk averse and slow to do anything different than what they do today, it is taking a movement towards consumer-finance companies disrupting traditional financial services to create a catalyst for change. We empower this change.”

To find out more about miiCard and DirectID visit www.miicard.com and www.directid.co

In an environment where each innovation designed to prevent identity theft is matched by one that is designed to facilitate it, miiCard and DirectID can change if not the game, then the rules by which the game is governed. Still in their infancy, the full potential of these products cannot yet be gauged, but they have the power to completely revolutionize the way businesses and consumers transact online.

The company is one to watch for the future.

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The World’s Market for Working Capital Sandy Kemper began his career at a multi-billion dollar financial institution, eventually rising to the position of Chairman and CEO of that company, UMB Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: UMBF). But entrepreneurship was in his DNA. So at age 35, in 2000, he left the large corporate world to begin his career as an entrepreneur. As a former banker turned entrepreneurial CEO and founder of C2FO, a fintech firm revolutionising the optimization of working capital, Sandy saw a need to develop a solution aimed at solving global cash flow issues.

Kemper’s experience as CEO of UMB Financial revealed the degree to which working capital was a systemic industry issue — a limitation that hit home when Kemper left to create and run eScout.com in 2000, a startup that spun out of his work at UMB. At eScout, there were times that Kemper needed to ask for early payments to smooth out cash flow. Those experiences planted the seeds for what would become his digital solution in 2008, and his latest act,C2FO. C2FO is the first working capital market in the world. Their ability to create a seamless match between A/R and A/P has enabled efficiency in the riskless provisioning of working capital between suppliers and buyers. Suppliers can take control of their cash flow while buyers can increase EBITDA and gross margin and earn a better return on short-term cash while improving the financial health of their supply chains.

Buyers including Amazon.com, Costco Wholesale and Walgreens define the amount of cash available for early payments and the desired rate of return.

Suppliers can request early payment at a rate that is less than their alternative cost of borrowing. The utility-based pricing market lets cash flow freely between companies at the unique rate that works for both.

Since the first C2FO transaction in May 2010, the market has grown at a compound quarterly growth rate of 35% and has enabled collaborative wins between buyers and suppliers, delivering more than $15 billion in working capital and over 100 million days of accelerated payment across the globe.

Under the leadership of Kemper, C2FO has earned the attention and backing of venture firm Union Square Ventures, which is well known for investments in other fast-growing companies like Twitter and Zynga. C2FO is also backed by other venture capital firms including Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital Management, Tiger Global and Summerhill Venture Partners.

Kemper believes C2FO’s network and the underlying technology are solving a global problem in finance. As more companies struggle to access third-party funding, as they find it difficult to access reasonably priced options or they just become tired of the broken system and processes, C2FO is making a difference.

And yet, they don’t expect to do it alone. Today, they are leading the charge but welcome others who create working capital markets to ensure a strengthened financial system that will impact global gross domestic product through the comprehensive liberation of working capital.

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Sandy is the founder of C2FO and serves as Chairman of the Board and CEO. In addition, he is Chairman of the Board of The Collectors Fund, a private equity fund focused on alternative asset classes. Prior to founding The Collectors Fund and C2FO, Sandy founded Perfect Commerce (fka eScout.com) and served as the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 2000-2006. Prior to founding Perfect Commerce, he served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of UMB Bank and CEO of UMB Financial, a NASDAQ traded financial services company with assets of more than 12 billion dollars. Sandy began his career with UMB upon graduating in 1987 from Northwestern University where he majored in American History.

Sandy is an active angel and venture investor and currently serves on the corporate boards of UMB Financial (NASDAQ: UMBF), UMB Bank, NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV), AXA Art USA (NYSE: AXA) and BATS Exchange, one of the largest stock exchanges in the world. Sandy and his family are active in academic, civic and philanthropic endeavors and he serves on the board of the Agriculture Future of America (AFA), a non-profit scholarship and leadership development organisation which he co-founded. Sandy and his family live on a farm in Kansas City, Missouri, where they raise and care for their horses, sheep and any and all wild animals (not including their 4 children).

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Feature Sandy Kemper, CEO & Founder of C2FO

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Rapid-Response Marketing Automation and the Dangers of the IT Vacuum.

The need for rapid-responses to customers digital demands is making ‘Bimodal’ a buzz word for digital marketers right now. We challenged Richard McCann to explain what it means for the customer experience…

Business operations must be both rock-solid and fluid if they want to succeed in digital business – that’s according to tech researchers Gartner, Inc. The approach to achieve this is something Gartner has termed “bimodal” IT, where ‘Mode 1’ is about rock solid performance, predictability and safety, and ‘Mode 2’ is more agile and fluid, like a start-up - valuing speed, innovation and adaptability.

But why might your business need to start behaving like a start-up for some of your automated marketing projects?

According to Forrester’s recent Business Technographics® survey, 60 per cent of business leaders say their most important business improvement priority is either revenue growth or improving customer experience. And IT projects focussed on these priorities are likely to benefit from Mode 2 - where agility and speed will be critical success factors for the business change - rather than rock solid performance and scalability.

Here’s why: • If revenue growth is a priority – chances are the business wants it now, not 12 months down the line.

• If ‘customer experience’ is a problem due to deficient customer-facing processes - you’ll want to improve those processes fast, to stop unhappy customers defecting to your competitors, often with vocal complaints spread by social media.

• If you’re seeking to develop innovative ways of engaging with digitally enabled customers, Mode 1 is not for you. You need an agile “Test and Learn” approach, which enables you to validate such improvement hypotheses as you go along.

Around half of businesses already seem to be adopting Mode 2. A recent Gartner survey revealed that 45 per cent of CIOs say they currently have a ‘fast mode’ of operation - which presumably means agile IT. However, the same report says 82 per cent of CIOs complain that they cannot hire enough agile skilled developers, which suggests that the vast majority of organisations are hampered and may fail to address urgent and agile projects in the way that they would wish.

“CIOs can’t transform their old IT organisation into a digital start up,” admits Peter Sondergaard, global head of research at Gartner, “but they can turn it into a bi-modal IT organisation.

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Feature “Digital start-ups sit inside your organisation, in your marketing department, in HR, in logistics and in sales,” says Mr. Sondergaard. “As IT leaders, you must design, resource and deploy for a world that’s digital first. In this new model, every business unit is a technology start-up. Now is your opportunity to create that team. Partner with the digital start-ups inside your organization and prove that you can move fast too. Embrace the outside change.”

Explosive digital demand has created a gap between what traditional IT can provide to marketers and what the marketers within an enterprise want right now. CIOs understand this. The tough bit is designing an organisation’s IT approach to the challenge with solutions that are comprehensive and coherent - but different.

While he was CIO at Starbucks, Stephen Gillett took his first step outside the traditional boundaries of IT and became an early-adopter of the bimodal approach by launching a digital ventures unit: “In addition to leveraging ongoing digital efforts, this group nurtured and executed new ideas that historically fell outside the charters of more traditional departments.”

Does Innovation = Risk?

“In digital business, you must change your relationship with risk,” says Tina Nummo, a Gartner VP. “Treat your ability to manage specific risks as a competency and capability. Accepting risk is okay; ignoring risk is tragic.”

But the so-called ‘safe’ reliance on only traditional ‘Mode 1’ is now itself a risk, points out industry analyst and author of ‘The Agile Architecture Revolution’, Jason Bloomberg: “If the business world wasn’t in a constant state of change, then perhaps leaving slow, traditional IT to its own devices would be the low-risk option,” says Mr Bloomberg. “The business world is in a perennial state of flux, and the ever-increasing sophistication of technology is only accelerating the velocity and diversity of such change. Transformation is all around us – even in the dusty old data centres filled with ancient legacy monoliths.”

Independent shadow IT – a ‘huge unmanageable mess?’

Martin Scovell, of international low-code experts MatsSoft, says that any risks associated with Mode 2 are tiny compared to what can happen without it: “Line of business managers are increasingly tech savvy and they have access to a wide range of cloud pay-as-you-go platforms. If IT can’t provide solutions in the timeframe they require, clearly the CIO is going to have a governance problem, as different departments fill the vacuum in all sorts of different ways.”

Infrastructure specialist David J Cappuccio - a man with 43 years’ IT industry experience – agrees: “Internal pressures will force the hand of the IT organisation,” he says. “Necessity will trigger risky ‘shadow IT’ solutions that cause chaos for central IT, where individuals who are were not formally IT, or even responsible for IT support, become the de facto stand-in for a formal IT process.

“The growth in shadow IT is a manifestation of users’ desire to control their technological destiny, of their growing confidence in their ability to do so and of their dissatisfaction with the IT organisation’s current methods,” explains Mr Cappuccio. “Shadow IT is the long-standing phenomenon that is currently growing at a rapid rate, whereby unofficial investment in IT occurs around the enterprise often ‘under the radar’.”

It’s not just that activities are happening outside the direct control of a formal IT organisation, adds Peter Sondergaard, “it’s that in acting independently, shadow IT often makes a huge unmanageable mess leading to integration, security and technical debt problems down the road that could impact the enterprise’s competitiveness in the near future.”

Contrast that chilling scenario with a CIO-inspired and controlled ‘Mode 2’ approach says Martin Scovell: “The goal for many of our customers is to adopt a consistent low-code platform such as MATS, and empower line of business developers to work consistently, with no need for programming, and less reliance on centralized IT resources. The CIO needs to put in place just enough governance so that line of business developers work safely and 20 • CorporateAmerica • June 2015

consistently in ways that don’t undermine the overall IT architecture. The trick is to achieve that level of governance without stifling the creativity that agile business improvement demands.

“A ‘Test & Learn’ approach de-risks development projects and using a SaaS license model with consumption-based licensing means that it’s possible to instantiate a low-cost pilot project involving just a few developers and UAT users. You can test a process improvement hypothesis, validate that you are on the right track, and only then scale up the deployment to many users and enterprise strength hosting.”

Using this approach has enabled digital CX marketers at Nationwide to automate status updates to customers, eliminating expensive ‘chaser’ phone calls. Nationwide COO Tony Prestedge’s Mode 2 IT team say they have achieved a combination of happier customers, improved productivity, faster turnaround - and a £6m saving!

Bimodal in Practice How does Mode 2 integration work in practice? Someone with more experience than most is MatsSoft CTO Andy Hendry: “Cloud or private cloud deployment allows scaling from pilot to enterprise deployment in just a few minutes.”

The other significant factor that reduces development risk is the ease with which solutions can be adapted without having to review and audit code. If you need a change to a process, just modify it visually. Need changes to rules and automation? Just configure them. “Our MATS Low-Code Development platform is built on the LAMP open source technology stack. The same stack that powers the majority of the world’s websites,” explains Mr. Hendry, “This minimizes software license costs as you’re not captive to technology partners like Microsoft, Oracle or SAP. The commercial flexibility this gives us is a real boon for Mode2, enabling high speed, low cost and low risk deployments for proof of concept that can be scaled as soon as needed, without breaking stride.”

The Future Any disruptive technology needs to get past the ‘doubter stage’, says Peter H. Diamandis, author of Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World: “When a company is creating something disruptive and new, many people won’t believe it until they can hold it. Businesses likely won’t be able to keep pace with exponentials, much less disrupt markets, if they stick to an incremental approach to innovation that is siloed in many departments.”

Strategist Simon Wardley advocates a refinement of bimodal; a bridging strategy linking mode 1 (which he calls town planners) and mode 2 (which he calls pioneers) with something he describes as ‘trimodal’: “The problem with bimodal is it lacks the middle component which performs an essential function in ensuring that work is taken from the ‘pioneers’ and turned into mature products before the ‘town planners’ can turn this into industrialised commodities or utility services. Without this middle component then, yes, you cover the two extremes (e.g. agile vs six sigma) but new things built never progress or evolve. You have nothing managing the ‘flow’ from one extreme to another.”

Summary Traditional IT seems set to remain at the beating heart of a business, controlled by the CIO. But the digital demands of customer experience and marketing automation have created an immediate need for an additional solution. Without a CIO’s control that ‘vacuum’ of need will be filled by dangerously uncontrolled shadow IT. But when a CIO introduces a Mode 2 response the result is a complimentary solution offering both agility and safety at low cost.

Indeed, progressive CIOs at organisations such as Barclaycard, Nationwide Building Society, RBS and Santander implemented a ‘two-team’ strategy embracing agile Low-code methods before the solution was called Bimodal!

Bimodal, therefore, doesn’t represent an entirely new concept but rather, it can be seen as an elegant umbrella to define a controlled relationship between traditional and agile Low-code IT and the manner in which innovative marketers –working with their CIOs - might use this holistic approach to meet all the apparently conflicting IT demands of the business.

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MatsSoft CTO, Andy Hendry June 2015 • CorporateAmerica • 21

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Ben has always been a high performer with fabulous ratings and who has a reputation for knowing his area extremely well. After a promotion based on knowledge and credibility, Ben is struggling. There aren’t enough hours in the day and he can’t quite learn fast enough to master his new area. He senses his team and his manager are frustrated.

Kelly has a reputation for getting things done, she executes well on the often half-baked ideas from her manager. She is reliable, highly rated and a key asset on her manager’s team. The problem is that yet again, as her manager moves to a new position, she is not seen as a contender for her manager’s former role.

Beth is a deeply analytical person – those skills have made her successful in her career. In every position, she works hard to dig into the details, understand the underlying problem and make a well-founded recommendation to senior managers. In the latest 360 feedback round, she is told that she is not strategic. Why, she wonders, has this occurred now? What does it mean? All of her analysis has been about strategically making the right decision for the company.

The expert trap These scenarios are far too real for expert, whose careers are often stalled because of over-reliance on expertise. In today’s knowledge economy, experts are more highly valued than ever. Reputations are built on expertise.

Credibility comes with deep expertise. But generalist leaders often have the edge when it comes to managing larger teams.

There are two perspectives on effective leadership. First, the expert can do all the work of the team, knows the details, knows what to do and how to do it. The expert leader’s role is to develop the team and help the team solve technical problems. Second, the generalist enables the team but who cannot do the work of the team because the team knows more of the details than the leader. Generalist leaders add value but in a different way from expert leaders.

A great leader needs to straddle both worlds – being part expert leader and part generalist leader.

To lead on a larger scale, to influence bigger decisions, and to develop more capability beneath you, you need to lead from a different place than from expertise. This requires a whole new way of thinking about leadership along with a new way of working. Not that you abandon your expertise driven leadership – rather that you add to your repertoire of how to lead.

Building leadership skills In the first half of your career, it is about developing expertise and the track record that goes with being an expert. In the second half of career, it is about learning to gradually let go of that (or some of that) expertise in favor of leading in a different way. You go from being a specialist manager to being a leader on a larger scale by incorporating the strengths of a generalist manager.

While this transformation from specialist to fabulous leader does not occur overnight, you can use the following tips of generalist managers to layer on top of your expertise: 1) A focus on relationships An expert manager wins arguments with facts. A generalist manager doesn’t win arguments; they win over people. Don’t tell your staff the answer - inspire them to find their own answer.

Pro tip: Spend a lot of time, face-to-face, getting to know people. Flying overseas just to have dinner with an important colleague is not a waste of time—it is a core generalist management tool because without the relationship you won’t know how to get the support you need to move projects forward. In the world of the generalist dinner may be more important than data.

2) Add value by making things happen, not by doing the work As the expert it was easy to see your contribution; you were making decisions based on your unique knowledge. Now you are stuck in an endless series of meetings and expected to contribute to areas you know little about—you feel expendable. What you need to understand is that in the generalist role you add value by making things happen rather than directly doing the work.

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Pro-tip: Making things happen depends on knowing what people or projects are in trouble and which are not. As an expert this was easy since you knew exactly what was happening; as a generalist you need to identify a few key indicators that will tell you, with reasonable reliability, if something is on track or not. If it a person or project appears on track you let it run, even though you don’t know all the details on how it’s going. In the generalist world you must learn where you can trust without verifying all the details.

3) Offer perspective not expertise Specialist managers tend to avoid offering opinions if they do not have deep knowledge of the subject. Generalist managers, however, have to be comfortable making decisions where the answers are unclear.

Pro tip: When faced with issues where you are not an expert, ask if there is anyone else around the table who is better positioned to venture an opinion than you? Often the answer is no. You may not have specific expertise but you do have the perspective to offer helpful ideas. You can gain confidence in presenting your ideas to a trusted peer for feedback in advance of the meeting.

4) Demonstrate executive presence Often the quality of our ideas is judged on intangibles such as presence and the confidence that generates in others.

Pro tip: Pay attention to presence. When leaders with presence walk into a room notice how they dress, how they speak, how they stand—these are not personality traits, they are skills. Look up videos of world leaders online. The specialist manager in you will want to pay attention to what they are saying, the generalist should want to see how they are creating executive presence.

Transformation process So how can you apply these generalist skills in specific cases?

In the case of Ben, that means not trying to master the new area. Ben needs to let his direct reports be the expert he relies on to make decisions. He needs to get comfortable with his authority as a decision maker based on the quality of his team, his interactions with the organization as a whole and his experience.

He has to learn to make decisions without having checked all the facts himself.

Kelly needs to let others execute sometimes so that she has time to talk about her view of the strategic situation with her managers and her peers. She needs to have an opinion about the direction that should be taken not just continue to wait for a “half-baked” idea that she can turn into reality. In effect, she needs to have some ideas herself. She can do this by finding a few minutes to prepare for meetings and to find at first small ways to insert her opinions into meetings. She can gain confidence by talking to a trusted peer about her opinions in advance of the meeting.

Beth needs to do more than be analytical. She needs to both see and talk about the bigger picture, the ultimate goal, what people are trying to accomplish.

She needs to weigh her analysis in light of the overall goal. Yes, the analysis might say the decision at hand is not a wise one, but how bad is it really? Is it worth the risk given the opportunity that is present? She needs to have those discussions with her peers and her managers.

The transition to generalist management is a tough leap for many successful expert managers. They have been through many promotions up the ladder and have never failed before. They can’t understand why this new job is so hard and so unfulfilling. The reason the shift is hard is because it requires unlearning previously successful ways of leading and acquiring new skills. The generalist style of management at times is diametrically opposed to the specialist style.

The good news is that there are specific tactics, some of which I’ve outlined here, that will take you across this divide.

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Escaping the Expertise Trap Experts sometimes find that being great at your job does not get you promoted into the highest positions. Expert managers can do many things to improve your odds of success by adding new skills to your repertoire, says Dr. Wanda Wallace

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Feature George Feiger, Executive Dean of Aston Business School in the United Kingdom

Professor George Feiger Before joining Aston Business School in June 2013, George was the Chief Executive of a $3.4 billion wealth management company in the United States. Private sector roles have included Head of Strategic Planning at the Bank of America’s world banking division, Senior Partner at McKinsey and Co, Global Head of Investment Banking for SBC Warburg, and Global Head of Onshore Private Banking at UBS. His academic credentials include appointments as Associate Professor of Finance at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and Lecturer in Economics at Harvard. He has served on the Advisory Board of the Berkeley Centre for Law, Business and Economics. As a student, he gained an undergraduate degree from Monash in Australia, a PhD from Harvard and a Fulbright Fellowship.

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US Firms Can Benefit from the Entrepreneurial Enthusiasm of UK Graduates We hear from Professor George Feiger, Executive Dean of Aston Business School in the United Kingdom about the fact that the United States has long been seen as the natural home of entrepreneurial talent. For many amongst the current crop of business graduates here in the United Kingdom, that view is no different.

In the UK, we’ve just come to the end of a General Election campaign that involved the nation’s politicians talking a lot about business, a lot about economic growth, and a lot about opportunity and equality.

Surveys and polls tried to see if these issues resonate with voters. But in my view, too little attention is paid to how they resonate with another group who may not be so interested in voting but who are too important to ignore: young would-be executives and entrepreneurs.

Aston University sits in the heart of the UK, in the Midlands region. It’s an area now striving vigorously to rebuild itself after decades of industrial decline.

Aston University acts as an engine of opportunity for our region. 70% of our undergraduates are the first in their families to obtain a university degree.

Some 40% come from families in the lowest socio-economic strata. Many are from a variety of ethnic minorities. Many work part-time to support themselves through their education. There is little apparent political interest on our campus and very little conflict of any sort. What our students primarily have in common is a very strong desire to succeed.

But what does success mean for them?

For the great majority it means a job, the higher-paying the better, and with prospects to be promoted to something that pays even more. They want to become highly-paid executives, growing businesses, creating jobs, and playing an active role in industry. They want to be the figures who have been the subject of the recent political debate.

Many of our students are entrepreneurial-minded, with some having already started businesses while still teenagers. One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is supporting and advising these would-be entrepreneurs.

Some of them seek to establish social enterprises. One of them, Anisha Hagdadi, achieved the extraordinary distinction of receiving the British Empire Medal from the Queen last year at the age of just 24, for creating such a social enterprise.

So, why might UK graduates look to the US for opportunities?

There is no systematic survey of the attitudes of our would-be top executives and company founders. But during my discussions on-campus, some have made their views known. They don’t see the current political conversation in the UK as indicative of a business-friendly environment. The students with the strongest aspiration and drive tell me that they think California would be a much better place to pursue their ambitions than the UK. There, they say, people admire success achieved through business activity.

With a less commercialised outlook than the US, and less funding support for start-ups, the UK does not always represent the best place for ambitious individuals to fulfil their aspirations. As a result, some of our talent, which might thrive in a different environment, risks being wasted.

Therein lies the opportunity for US businesses, who are well-placed to tap into the entrepreneurial enthusiasm of UK graduates like those at Aston Business School.

In a competitive global environment, high growth firms need aspirational, inspirational talent to help them prosper. The talent being produced at the UK’s business schools comes not only with these high aspirations, but with invaluable knowledge of different systems and marketplaces.

By looking beyond US borders and embracing the international in their recruitment policies, America’s firms could help maintain their country’s position as the destination of choice for aspirational individuals – and they could benefit from world-class talent at the same time.

At Aston, we wish this disparity between the US and the UK wasn’t so, and we are working hard to make the UK an equally attractive environment – one which can benefit fully from the talented individuals our business schools produce.

However, the great majority of our budding entrepreneurs want to start forprofit businesses, thereby making themselves wealthy and even famous. They are not bashful about this, nor should they be. That small fraction of new and small businesses that grow into successful companies are the principal drivers of employment growth in the UK, as they are in the rest of the world. Research conducted by my Aston Business School colleague Mark Hart shows that high growth businesses, representing 1% of the total business population in the UK, generated 900,000 jobs between 2010 and 2013 – 36% of the total. Just like in the US, the more economically successful our entrepreneurs are, the better off the UK is.

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Corporate America /Deals

Deals

26 • CorporateAmerica • June 2015

Here at Corporate America, we like to keep you up to date with what’s happening in your industry, giving you the lowdown on the need-to-know sales, mergers and acquisitions taking place across the US. Which is why we’d like to welcome you to our regular monthly roundup of the biggest, most newsworthy deals from the past month.

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Corporate America /Deals

Exact Sciences and MD Anderson Cancer Center Announce Partnership to Develop Screening and Diagnostic Tests for Lung Cancer Exact Sciences Corp. and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have announced an agreement to jointly develop and commercialize blood-based screening and diagnostic tests for the early detection of lung cancer.

This unique collaboration seeks to build upon MD Anderson’s extensive research into predictive biomarkers for lung cancer and Exact Sciences’ successful development and commercialization of Cologuard®, the only FDA-approved, non-invasive stool-based DNA colon cancer screening test. The two groups plan to develop a groundbreaking new blood test that targets biomarkers associated with lung cancer.

The collaboration specifically aims at developing a blood-based lung cancer screening test to determine the need for low-dose computed tomography (LDCT). This test would offer the opportunity to screen nearly 11 million Americans considered high-risk smokers and former smokers. The partnership is also aimed at developing a diagnostic test to deter-

mine the malignant status of nodules found through LDCT screening. This test would be valuable to nearly four million Americans diagnosed with lung nodules each year.

“Our common vision is to help win the war on cancer through early detection. Taking on lung cancer offers an opportunity to build on the success of Cologuard,” said Exact Sciences’ Chairman and CEO Kevin Conroy.

“A simple blood test to complement a LDCT scan could significantly improve early-stage lung cancer detection. Our experience working with regulators and insurers coupled with MD Anderson’s world-class research and development capabilities are an ideal match to make a meaningful difference in the war on cancer.”

The American Cancer Society estimates that lung cancer will be diagnosed in 221,200 Americans and cause 158,040 deaths in the United States this year. Currently, more than half of lung cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage, after symptoms appear, when the fiveyear survival rate is in the low single

digits. If detected at an early stage, lung cancer’s five-year survival rate can be as high as 80%.

Hanash’s research spans a variety of biomarker types – including DNA, proteins, metabolites and autoantibodies. “Our goal is to choose the best-performing biomarkers for our panel across multiple technologies,” Hanash said, as opposed to the more common practice of relying on a single type of biomarker.

The initiative is part of MD Anderson’s Moon Shots Program, a goal-oriented, multidisciplinary effort harnessing available knowledge and new disruptive technologies to dramatically reduce cancer mortality through prevention, early detection and curative treatments. The program’s innovative approach focuses initially on eight cancers: lung, breast, ovarian, prostate, melanoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia. Early detection was chosen as a flagship project of the Lung Cancer Moon Shot, funded initially by the Lyda Hill Foundation.

as 80 percent.

“Lung cancer is, and will continue to be, America’s leading cancer killer unless we identify new approaches to diagnose it early, at its most treatable stages,” said Sam Hanash, M.D., Ph.D., director of MD Anderson’s Red and Charline McCombs Institute for the Early Detection and Treatment of Cancer. “Our collaboration with Exact Sciences provides a great opportunity to create tests that could shift the lung cancer detection paradigm for the benefit of patients.”

Visa and FireEye Join Forces to Help Merchants, Financial Institutions Defend Against Targeted Attacks on Consumer Payment Data Visa Inc. and FireEye, Inc. have announced their intention to co-develop tools and services to help merchants and issuers protect against advanced cyber attacks targeting payment data. The first of its kind Visa and FireEye Community Threat Intelligence (CTI) offering will bring together threat information from both companies, allowing merchants and issuers to quickly detect and respond to attacks against their IT and payment infrastructure. Under the offering, FireEye will operate the easy-to-use web based service to enhance stakeholders’ knowledge of attacks targeting the ecosystem, providing a significant improvement over current industry practices of sharing threat intelligence via e-mail or static documents.

As strategic partners, FireEye and Visa initially plan to offer tools that will provide greater cyber intelligence and enhanced threat monitoring and will continue to work together, along with FireEye’s cyber forensics group Mandiant, to add more capabilities tailored to issuers and merchants of all sizes.

Many data compromises have similar attack patterns reinforcing the importance of collective knowledge sharing to help merchants prepare and monitor for known threats.

Enhanced monitoring of malicious attacks and suspicious payment activity will help in alerting merchants of potential compromises. Identifying these data compromises earlier means fewer stolen accounts and greater protection for their customers.

“The threat environment for merchants is more hostile than we’ve ever seen - attack groups focused exclusively on stealing consumer data are continuously expanding their operations and employing new techniques – it’s a daunting prospect for any merchant whose business could collapse if they lose customer trust,” said David DeWalt, CEO of FireEye. “This new collaboration brings together two industry leaders to help protect merchants and payment data and minimize the impact of attacks by sharing information.”

“By combining Visa’s unparalleled view into global payments and FireEye’s industry-leading cyber security expertise, we intend to bring faster, actionable intelligence directly to players across the payments system,” said Charlie Scharf, CEO of Visa Inc. “Although we are leading efforts to render stolen data useless through smart technologies, data security remains foundational for merchants. We’re pleased to be working closely with FireEye, which has been at the front lines identifying and investigating some of the most significant compromises around the world, to provide critical cyber intelligence to merchants and financial institutions.”

June 2015 • CorporateAmerica • 27

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Corporate America /Deals

Aon Affinity Partners with AXIS Insurance to Offer Architects & Engineers Professional Liability Program Nationwide Aon Affinity, the consumer, association and program business of Aon plc have announced that AXIS Insurance will be the new national program underwriter for A&E Advantage, Aon Affinity’s professional liability insurance program for architecture and engineering firms.

With AXIS Insurance, the A&E Advantage program will now be able to offer coverage for architecture and engineering firms with billings up to $7.5 million.

“Aon Affinity is very pleased to expand our relationship with AXIS Insurance to provide an outstanding professional liability solution to architecture and engineering firms nationwide,” said Bill Vit, president and chief executive officer for Aon Affinity. “Committed to empowering results for our clients, we look forward to growing our A&E Advantage program with enhanced coverage, additional limits capacity and broader underwriting eligibility.”

The A&E Advantage program, underwritten by the member companies of the AXIS group of insurance

companies, offers architecture and engineering firms the following benefits: • Design Professional Liability Insurance from a financially strong insurer. The AXIS insurance companies are rated ‘A+’ (Superior) XV by A.M. Best and ‘A+’ (Strong) by Standard & Poor’s.

• Customizable coverage for a diverse range of architects, engineers and design firms.

• No hammer clause in AXIS • Design Professional Liability • Insurance policy • Supplemental Claim Expenses provided outside the policy limit at no additional cost • Coverage for Disciplinary Proceedings Expenses and Subpoena Response Expenses • Enterprise Security Event and Privacy Regulation Coverage • Reputation Protection Coverage

“AXIS has an extremely strong design professionals underwriting team with an average of more than 25 years of industry experience,” said Peter Wilson, chief executive officer of AXIS Insurance. “As the new insurance carrier partner for the A&E Advantage program, we are collaborating with Aon Affinity to expand their client base and product offerings for small and midsize architecture and engineering firms.

Aon Affinity has excellent service capabilities, and this program represents an effective distribution channel for accounts with $7.5 million or less in billings.”

“AXIS has an extremely strong design professionals underwriting team with an average of more than 25 years of industry experience”

The program will also provide an array of risk management resources focused on helping architects and engineers understand and mitigate the exposures they face.

Chipotle Announces Partnership with (RED) Chipotle Mexican Grill have announced a new partnership with (RED) during the month of June to support the fight against AIDS. The partnership will include a donation to the Global Fund to fight AIDS from limited-edition Chipotle gift card sales, and a culinary content partnership with well-known chefs to support the month-long EAT (RED) DRINK (RED) SAVE LIVES campaign.

“The impact is huge—Chipotle’s contribution alone can provide more than a quarter million days of life-saving HIV/AIDS medication for those who need it most in sub-Saharan Africa.”

For the month of June, Chipotle will offer a limited edition (RED) gift card, available for purchase in restaurants and online. Chipotle will donate a portion of the sales value of every (RED) gift card purchase of $25 or more to the Global Fund, up to $100,000.

The company has also partnered with 11 celebrity chefs and televi28 • CorporateAmerica • June 2015

sion personalities to create special recipes to support the EAT (RED) DRINK (RED) SAVE LIVES campaign. The list of participating chefs includes Chipotle culinary manager Nate Appleman (“Next Iron Chef”), Richard Blais (“Top Chef”), Rocco DiSpirito (chef and author, Cook Your Butt Off), Graham Elliot (chef, Graham Elliot Bistro, “Masterchef”), Jennifer McGrother (author, The Nourished Kitchen), Andrew Zimmern (“Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern”), and the hosts of “The Chew,” Mario Batali, Carla Hall, Daphne Oz, Michael Symon and Clinton Kelly. Each unique recipe has been inspired by Chipotle’s ingredients and will be featured online at www.chipotle.com/RED and on Chipotle’s Pinterest board.

“We are so thrilled to have Chipotle coming to the table for EAT (RED) DRINK (RED) SAVE LIVES in 2015.

Not only is the brand loved and enjoyed by young people around the world, it’s fantastic to see Chipotle rallying its customers to join the AIDS fight as part of this campaign,” said Deborah Dugan, CEO at (RED).

“The impact is huge—Chipotle’s contribution alone can provide more than a quarter million days of life-saving HIV/AIDS medication for those who need it most in sub-Saharan Africa.”

(RED) partners with iconic brands and influencers to raise money and awareness, supporting the critical work of the Global Fund to fight AIDS. EAT (RED) DRINK (RED) SAVE LIVES began in 2014 and enlisted over 500 chefs, restaurants, bars and more from the culinary world to join the campaign by creating specialty items, menus and offers which would benefit (RED). This year food and drink fans will be able to support the campaign at more than 12,000 locations worldwide.

“We look to partner with organizations that are positively impacting peoples’ lives,” said Mark Crumpacker, chief creative and development officer at Chipotle. “Through the (RED) partnership, we are giving our customers a chance to purchase special edition (RED) gift cards to help play a role in ending AIDS around the world.”

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Corporate America /Deals

Five Guys Franchisee Rockham 5G Teams Up with Kaplan to Provide Menu of Educational Opportunities for Employees Kaplan and Rockham 5G have teamed up to provide a menu of educational opportunities, from earning a high school diploma to earning a college degree, for approximately 500 employees who work at Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurants owned by Rockham 5G. “Our employees are incredibly important to our growth. We’re making a smart investment in helping them grow both personally and professionally and we could not find a better partner in Kaplan,” said Janice Brendlinger, Personnel Director of Rockham 5G, which owns and operates 25 Five Guys restaurants in and around the Philadelphia metro area.

As part of the relationship, Kaplan will provide one-time grants for employees without a high school diploma as they prepare for earning their General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Kaplan will also offer employees open courses with free assessments for college credit on a number of different topics, including financial literacy, management,

expository and persuasive writing, professional presence and more.

Additionally, managers who are with Rockham 5G for six months or more will receive tuition grants to attend regionally accredited Kaplan University, which serves approximately 42,000 online and campusbased students.

“As an education company and employer of choice, we understand full well the powerful role education plays in making work rewarding and career progression possible.

We’re delighted to be working with entrepreneurs like Drew Smith (Rockham 5G’s CEO) and the entire Rockham 5G team,” said Craig Collins, Senior Vice President of Kaplan University Corporate Development and Services.

Skechers Performance Division Partners with Golf Legend Colin Montgomerie Skechers Performance Division have announced that European golf legend, Colin Montgomerie, joins Skechers Performance as brand ambassador for the Skechers GO GOLF line.

The multi-year partnership will feature the two-time Senior Major winner, winning Ryder Cup captain and eight-time European Order of Merit winner, Montgomerie, in Skechers GO GOLF marketing and advertising campaigns spanning print, digital, outdoor and in-store mediums.

“We are extremely excited to announce the addition of Colin Montgomerie to the Skechers Performance Division as we continue to expand the Skechers GO GOLF platform,” said Pete Youell, Managing Director, SKECHERS UK & IRELAND. “Partnering with Colin, a true champion and golf legend, is in line with our growth strategy for the Performance Division and he will play an integral role building our brand awareness amongst the golf community here in the UK, Ireland and across Europe.”

“I’m pleased to be joining Skechers GO GOLF at such an exciting time for the company,” said Colin Montgomerie. “I was not surprised when Skechers entered the golf market as they are known for making comfortable, top quality shoes. I spend a lot of time on my feet, both when I’m playing and when I’m practising, so shoes really matter to me and Skechers GO GOLF products really make a difference to my game.”

This announcement marks the fifth elite, high-profile professional athlete to join the Skechers Performance Division. Montgomerie will be joining the likes of PGA Tour Champion Matt Kuchar, LPGA Pro Belén Mozo, champion marathoner and Olympic medalist, Meb Keflezighi and elite distance runner, Kara Goucher.

Driven by messaging that builds on the success of the award-winning Skechers GOrun and GOwalk platforms, Skechers GO GOLF marketing initiatives will continue to emphasize a grassroots strategy with event sponsorships, product demon-

strations and tradeshows to target the professional and recreational golf community.

Skechers Performance Division is known for developing products that combine high performance technology and innovation with unparalleled comfort, and Skechers GO GOLF follows suit, bringing advanced footwear to the fairway that is built for functionality and comfort, on and off the green.

The success and expansion of the Skechers Performance Division comes at a time when SKECHERS USA, Inc. ranks as the second largest sports footwear brand in the U.S. (according to NPD Group), hitting historical revenues in the first quarter of 2015. SKECHERS USA, Inc. was also recently named “Vendor of the Year” by SGI Weekly Intelligence and “Company of the Year” by Footwear Plus.

“Colin brings a great deal of knowledge to our product development process,” added Rick Higgins, SVP, Merchandising/ Marketing, Skechers Performance Division.

“We’re pleased to partner with him on our Skechers GO GOLF line and Colin’s insight will be valuable as we continue growing our golf business globally.”

June 2015 • CorporateAmerica • 29

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Corporate America /Deals

Cadiz Inc. and Lucid Energy Inc. Enter Joint Venture to Provide Hydropower to Arizona & California Railroad

Cadiz Inc.,.a California land and water resources development company, and Lucid Energy Inc., a provider of in-pipe hydropower infrastructure, are pleased to announce that they have entered into a joint venture collaboration to create power for the Arizona & California Railroad Company as a component of the Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery & Storage Project (“Cadiz Water Project”). Through the installation of the LucidPipe Power System in the Cadiz Water Project’s planned 43-mile water conveyance pipeline, new green power will be generated for expanding existing trans loading operations and for other railroad purposes.

With the objective of minimizing and potentially avoiding adverse environmental impacts, in 2008, Cadiz leased a portion of the ARZC Railroad Right-of-way (ROW) to construct a 43-mile pipeline within this existing transportation corridor.

Cadiz’s proposal to utilize the ROW is currently under review by the United States Bureau of Land Management. An average of approxi-

mately 50,000 acre-feet of water per year will be conveyed through this pipeline via gravity flow downhill to the Colorado River Aqueduct, a main conduit for water distribution in southern California. As a condition of making available its ROW for the Cadiz Water Project, the ARZC required that Cadiz Inc. provide certain improvements in furtherance of railroad purposes for the benefit of the railroad, including making power available to ARZC. The ARZC operates a shortline railroad that originates in Cadiz, California and runs to Matthie, Arizona near Phoenix. Due to the remote nature of sections of the ARZC route, the railroad desires cost-effective and routine access to power for its operations, including potential transloading at a siding location in Rice, California. Access to electric power for lighting, refrigeration and heating would allow for an expanded transloading operation at this location. By installing in-line power turbines in the Cadiz Water Project pipeline as proposed, the pipeline can generate low-cost, renewable

energy and meet ARZC’s local business objectives.

“The Cadiz Project will provide critical benefits to our operation and provide us with a valuable and unique opportunity to enhance our rail line,” said Brad Ovitt, President of Arizona & California Railroad Company. “This innovative hydropower technology will provide a great benefit that we could not access but for the existence of the Cadiz pipeline.”

LucidPipe is a patented, in-pipe turbine generator that efficiently captures the energy of moving water inside large pipelines and converts it to a continuous source of low-cost electricity. Water passes through spherical, lift-based turbines and causes them to spin, generating electricity from the water flow and pressure head inside the pipe.

Because the system operates inside of pipelines, it creates no environmental impacts and is not subject to intermittency issues caused by weather conditions.

“We continue to look for ways to innovate and accomplish our Project objectives in an environmentally benign way,” said Scott Slater, Cadiz President and CEO. “With the advantage of the LucidPipe Power system, we found our answer to the question of how we would provide power to meet ARZC’s requests for power with a green, efficient power source.”

AREVA and Kurion Forming Alliance for Nuclear Waste Management to Serve the U.S. Department of Energy

AREVA, a leader in nuclear energy solutions, and Kurion, an innovator in nuclear and hazardous waste management, are creating an alliance for nuclear waste decommissioning and remediation services to serve the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) complex.

“AREVA has long been a global leader in nuclear waste processing services. With Kurion’s proprietary technologies in robotics, waste separation and stabilization, a joint AREVA-Kurion team will be capable of solving nearly any nuclear waste management challenge” As a first step of their collaboration, AREVA and Kurion will create a joint venture for work related to the cleanup and closure of the DOE’s Hanford site in Washington state.

This new alliance will join AREVA’s engineering and operational expertise in the nuclear energy sector with Kurion’s proprietary technologies and expertise in the access, separation and stabilization of nuclear waste. The goal of this partnership is to provide 30 • CorporateAmerica • June 2015

innovative technology solutions for nuclear waste, particularly to meet the needs of nuclear facilities undergoing decommissioning and cleanup, an expanding market in the United States.

“Through this partnership, we will strengthen our offering in the growing U.S. decommissioning market,” said Gary Mignogna, CEO of AREVA Inc. “The unique combination of our companies’ expertise, knowledge and technology will create innovative and economical solutions to best meet our customers’ needs.”

“AREVA has long been a global leader in nuclear waste processing services.

With Kurion’s proprietary technologies in robotics, waste separation and stabilization, a joint AREVA-Kurion team will be capable of solving nearly any nuclear waste management challenge,” said Jacques Besnainou, Kurion president.

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Corporate America /Deals

Red Roof Inn Continues Under the Westmont Umbrella in Multi-Million Dollar Deal Recognizing high demand for the Red Roof brand and the company’s continuing growth trajectory, Westmont Hospitality has recapitalized a portfolio of 89 Red Roof properties.

Westmont will be a minority stakeholder in the new venture and will continue to operate the portfolio.

“Westmont has such confidence in Red Roof and the potential of the brand. Westmont, understanding the value of the assets and the Red Roof Brand, was determined in its desire to maintain their investment in these assets and we are looking forward to continued growth under their umbrella,” said Andrew Alexander, President of Red Roof Inn.

include modern furniture, flat screen TVs, vessel sinks, wood-like floors, additional electrical outlets, a 100% smoke-free designation, rest suite beds by Serta, high-end bedding and renovated lobbies.

The Westmont purchase signifies how integral the economy lodging sector has become in the investment community especially as competition for upscale and luxury properties heats up. “Red Roof is a successful, robust brand with name recognition and an enviable reputation among its franchise owners and its guests and the brand is also a significant component in Westmont’s business ecosystem,” notes Alexander.

“Westmont has such confidence in Red Roof and the potential of the brand. Westmont, understanding the value of the assets and the Red Roof Brand, was determined in its desire to maintain their investment in these assets and we are looking forward to continued growth under their umbrella”

Alexander says all of the 89 properties will remain Red Roof Inn or Red Roof Plus+ properties. The new partnership has also developed a multi-million dollar renovation strategy to upgrade the current level of renovations at some of the properties to better position them for strong revenue growth. Property upgrades will include either NextGen or PLUS+ designs which

Wrangler RIGGS WORKWEAR Announces Partnership with Brett Favre

NFL legend and Super Bowl champion becomes new face of the iconic denim brand’s workwear collection

“His dependability, toughness and down-to-earth demeanor make him the ideal partner for this collection.”

Wrangler RIGGS WORKWEAR have announced future NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre is the new face of the leading industrial grade apparel collection. Favre, a long-standing Wrangler brand partner, will appear in the collection’s upcoming 2015 marketing campaign.

Known for offering work wear designed to meet the demands of men who work long, hard hours in tough conditions, Wrangler RIGGS WORKWEAR uses quality field-tested materials that are durable, versatile, easy to care for, and, most of all, comfortable right off the shelf. Backed by the brand’s lifetime warranty, Wrangler RIGGS WORKWEAR has a robust product roster that offers innovative technology and convenient features including: • • Pants developed with CORDURA fabric specifically engineered to offer strength without sacrificing comfort.

• Durable fabrics designed to deliver unparalleled protection, including abrasion-resistant Durashield denim and 100 percent cotton Ripstop that prevents tearing and offers added breathability.

• Exclusive room2move relaxed fit with gusseted construction

“I’ve always looked to Wrangler for comfortable jeans, and have worn RIGGS for years doing work around my property. The products give me the protection and durability I need along with the comfort I’ve grown to expect.”

“As the NFL’s all-time winningest quarterback, Brett Favre is the epitome of hard work, so it’s only natural that this close friend and longtime spokesman for Wrangler serve as the face of our collection designed for hardworking craftsman and laborers,” said Craig Errington, vice president of marketing communications, Wrangler Specialty Apparel.

• • •

that allows for a greater range of motion in all directions.

Dirt drop vents that leave dirt and debris behind on the jobsite.

Reinforced panels and triple-needle stitching for added durability.

FR protective fabric specially designed to meet flame resistant requirements from leading protection agencies including the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

“When it comes to getting the job done right, I trust Wrangler,” said Brett Favre.

“I’ve always looked to Wrangler for comfortable jeans, and have worn RIGGS for years doing work around my property.

The products give me the protection and durability I need along with the comfort I’ve grown to expect.”

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Corporate America /Appointments /Deals

Appointments Here at Corporate America, we are dedicated to keeping you up to date with the most recent sppointments. Which is why we welcome you to our regular monthly roundup of the biggest, most newsworthy appointments from the past month.

32 • CorporateAmerica • June 2015

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Corporate America /Appointments Dr. Samuel Broder, Former Director of the National Cancer Institute, Joins BioMarker Strategies as Chairman, Scientific BioMarker Strategies, LLC, have announced the appointment of Samuel Broder, M.D., as Chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board and his election as a member of the Company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.

“I am quite familiar with the BioMarker Strategies SnapPath® cancer diagnostics system and its capacity to profile key functional biomarkers through the ex vivo exposure of live solid tumor cells to targeted treatments,” said Dr. Broder. “This approach can provide direct information regarding responses of the dynamic signaling pathways of living tumor cells to targeted therapies. It has the potential to substantially improve our ability to predict which targeted treatment or combination is most likely to provide therapeutic benefit to individual patients.”

Dr. Broder, former Director of the National Cancer Institute, previously served on the BioMarker Strategies Board and left it in 2012 to accept a position with Intrexon Corporation.

Intrexon subsequently went public in 2013 (NYSE: XON). He served as Director of the NCI for six years, and before he became Director, Dr, Broder’s laboratory at NCI was instrumental in developing several of the first drugs now widely used in the treatment of AIDS, as well as a number of very important anticancer agents.

Dr. Broder also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Celera for 12 years, as Chairman of the Health Section and Executive Vice President of Scientific and Public Affairs at Intrexon, and as Senior Vice President of Research and Development at IVAX Corporation, which was acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., in 2005. Dr. Broder holds multiple patents, a number of which have resulted in commercialized products.

He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and has authored or co-authored more than 340 scholarly papers. He received his bachelor’s and M.D. degrees from the University of Michigan.

“We are privileged to bring a leader of Dr. Broder’s distinction and scientific experience back to our Company. His record of accomplishment in internal medicine and oncology are well known, and we look forward to benefiting from his scientific and strategic insight in the years ahead,” said Jerry Parrott, President and CEO, BioMarker Strategies. “I am particularly pleased that Dr. Broder has agreed to take on the important role of Chairman of our Scientific Advisory Board. We expect to announce the members of our newly constituted SAB in the near future.”

Eaton Names Gustavo Cruz Director, Sales, Automotive North America

Power management company Eaton announced that Gustavo Cruz has been named director, Sales, Automotive North America, reporting to Staci Kroon, president, Automotive North America, effective June 1, 2015. Cruz most recently served as general manager, Hydraulics, South America and Mexico, for Eaton. He will be based in Southfield, Michigan.

Cruz joined Eaton in 1997 as a line manager in Brazil, was named general manager of Eaton’s Vehicle Group Inoac joint venture from 2008 until 2011, and has held various positions within Eaton and the Vehicle Group in engineering, manufacturing, program management and plant management.

Cruz holds a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University, a post-graduate degree in business administration from the São Paolo Business Administration School, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical production engineering from the University of São Paolo.

Eaton is a power management com-

pany with 2014 sales of $22.6 billion. Eaton provides energy-efficient solutions that help our customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power more efficiently, safely and sustainably.

Eaton has approximately 102,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 175 countries.

“Gustavo’s broad leadership experience and customer knowledge make him an excellent fit for this role,” said Kroon. “We are pleased to have Gustavo’s talent and enthusiasm as we continue to grow this important part of our business.”

June 2015 • CorporateAmerica • 33

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Corporate America /Appointments

Kevin Reese Joins Enterworks to Lead Sales and Business Development

Enterworks, a market leader in solutions for acquiring, managing and transforming a company’s product information into persuasive content for marketing, sales and omnichannel commerce, today announced the hiring of Kevin Reese as Vice President of Sales and Business Development. Reese comes to Enterworks after serving in sales leadership roles including Vice President of Sales at Boomerang Commerce and Regional Sales Director at hybris, an SAP company.

He brings expertise in end-to-end commerce business processes including merchandising, pricing and promotions, product content management and supply chain, and has extensive software industry expertise from earlier roles at IBM, Sterling Commerce, Yantra and various consulting organizations.

platform that is extensible and scalable to support the complexities of omnichannel commerce,” said Reese. “It meets the pressing needs of marketers, as well as sales and business executives, to ensure compelling and differentiated offers across a variety of digital and physical touchpoints. I am impressed

by Enterworks’ customers — from manufacturers to distributors to retailers — who are effusive about our people, our solution and our ability to execute successfully. I am proud to join Enterworks as we accelerate investment in both the platform and the team.”

Reese has a BS in Business from Indiana University and resides in the greater Los Angeles area with his wife and daughter.

“Kevin understands the challenges our customers face in standing out from their competitors” “The Enterworks team has built a dynamic master data modeling and product information management

Lee Enterprises Appoints Director of Communications

Charles Arms, whose career includes reporting, editing, information technology, finance and advertising has been promoted from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to the corporate office of Lee Enterprises as director of corporate communications.

Arms, 45, joined the sports department of Post-Dispatch in 1998, advancing to director of newsroom administration, where he led the business operations of the newsroom as well as computer-assisted reporting, news research and newsroom technology. He became director of advertising strategy in 2006. Previously, he held a number of positions at the former Nashville Banner including executive sports editor. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee.

He has been a member of the board of directors of the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois, and also a member of the board of stewards of First Baptist Church Harvester in St. Charles, Missouri. He and his wife, Darlena, have three children.

Lee Enterprises owns 46 daily news34 • CorporateAmerica • June 2015

papers and has a joint interest in four others, along with rapidly growing digital products and nearly 300 specialty publications in 22 states. Lee’s markets include St. Louis, MO; Lincoln, NE; Madison, WI; Davenport, IA; Billings, MT; Bloomington, IL; and Tucson, AZ. Lee Common Stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LEE. For more information about Lee, please visit lee.net

Mary Junck, Lee chairman and chief executive officer, said Arms will become a member of the executive team, responsible for leading all aspects of internal and external corporate communications. Charles has a breadth of experience that we’re thrilled to have in this role. He’s excelled in so many areas of our industry. He’ll be a great asset to the executive team and a wonderful communications director.”

“Kevin understands the challenges our customers face in standing out from their competitors,” said Enterworks CEO Rick Chavie. “He shares Enterworks’ commitment to help our customers generate content that reflects their unique brand and business model with a software platform that gives them that competitive edge.”

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Corporate America /Appointments

Media Startup LittleThings.com Hires First COO, Gretchen Tibbits Former COO & CFO at Maxim, Inc. and at StyleCaster Media Group & Vice President at Hearst Business Media Tibbits is a recognized media executive with more than 25 years of general management, strategy, operations, and finance experience.

She has led operations and finance for a variety of recognized brands, including Maxim Inc., StyleCaster Media Group, Hearst Business Media, ESPN, and Working WomanNetwork.

“Our commitment to publishing quality feel-good content, which we know our readers share with their networks, is the primary reason for our exponential growth in traffic,” said Joe Speiser, LittleThings Co-Founder. “We are now the fifth-largest mobile and the 21st-largest trafficked website in the United States, so the time was right to add a proven media executive to our growing team. I am excited that Gretchen will help set the course for further growth and sustainability.”

“Readership development and brand recognition that Mr. Speiser and the LittleThings team have built since the launch is incredible. I am thrilled to bring my experience in

brand building, audience development, revenue stream diversification, and profit generation to the Company,” said Gretchen Tibbits, the newly appointed COO at LittleThings.

She added, “LittleThings represent an incredible business opportunity, and the positive company culture is equally compelling. I relish the challenge of maintaining the work environment that Joe has built – our team reflects the uplifting and interesting nature of our content – as we undergo significant growth of t he business.”

Jeremy Liew, Partner at Lightspeed Ventures and a lead investor in LittleThings said, “I am confident that the leadership, commitment to growth, and passion that Tibbits brings to the LittleThings brand will propel its growth.”

Tibbits will focus on overall strategy, branding, advertising sales, talent acquisition, internal and external communications, finance, and reader growth. She serves on a number of boards, is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she was a Lawn Resident, and holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business where she was a Stern Scholar.

Steve Cohen Named President of Excelsior Growth Fund

Steve Cohen has been named president of the Excelsior Growth Fund, a not-for-profit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) formed by the New York Business Development Corporation (NYBDC) for the purpose of executing creative and flexible lending strategies to support small businesses in New York State.

Cohen is currently the executive vice president and deputy commissioner at Empire State Development, where he heads the Department of Small Business Services and Community Economic Development. The department includes the Division for Small Business, the Division for Minority and Women Business Development (DMWBD), the Empowerment Zones Corporation, the Office of Contractor and Supplier Diversity, and the Economic Revitalization Unit.

At Excelsior Growth Fund, Cohen will lead the organization in several new directions, including expanding activities to business advisory services and developing an online

platform that will provide small businesses with fast and, most importantly, responsible lending products. Excelsior will initially look to work with New York businesses with emphasis on small businesses in Western New York, Long Island and New York City. A special focus of Excelsior will be on underserved communities and businesses having difficulty securing loans from banks or other traditional sources.

One element that will make the Excelsior Growth Fund both unique and critical to small businesses will be an emphasis on providing ongoing business consulting services to the borrower. Excelsior will focus on providing business assistance to small businesses seeking advice and guidance regarding the collection, presentation and analysis of financial information for their business and to provide links to specialized industry assistance.

While at Empire State Development, Cohen led efforts to create, implement and refine important programs and initiatives to support small busi-

ness development, increase access to capital and improve the economic climate in communities throughout New York State. New programs and resources he helped develop and oversee included: the Innovation Venture Capital Fund, the Innovate NY seed stage equity fund, the Small Business Revolving Loan Fund;; the revamped Capital Access Program, the Surety Bond Assistance Program; and Business Mentor NY, the first statewide business mentorship program in the U.S. Over the last four years, these programs provided over $425 million in facilitated lending and more than $150 million in facilitated venture capital investments. More than 20,000 jobs were created or retained and more than 2,000 new businesses were launched. State contracts to certified minority and women-owned businesses rose to $1.9 billion from $900 million in just four years and utilization grew from 10 percent to more than 25 percent during the same period.

“Steve brings to our organization vast experience with capital lending and management. His expertise in economic and community development, public policy and small business operations brings us the kind of experience we need to really expand the Excelsior Growth Fund,” said Patrick MacKrell, CEO of New York Business Development Corporation, Empire State CDC and Excelsior Growth Fund. “We’re very excited to have someone with his credentials on board as we work to fulfill our mission of helping small businesses grow, hire more people and play an integral role in the expansion of our economy.”

June 2015 • CorporateAmerica • 35

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Corporate America /Appointments

Coupa Appoints Todd Ford as Chief Financial Officer

During Coupa INSPIRE’15, the premier cloud spend management industry gathering currently taking place at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square hotel, Coupa Software announced today the appointment of Todd Ford as chief financial officer.

Mr. Ford will report directly to Coupa’s CEO, Rob Bernshteyn, and will oversee the company’s financial operations. The appointment is effective immediately and has been approved by Coupa’s Board of Directors.

“Our relentless focus on delivering real, measurable business value to customers and our innovative cloud platform positions us for further rapid global growth and expansion, and Todd’s background and wealth of experience makes him the ideal executive to help drive Coupa’s financial performance forward,” said Bernshteyn. “I’m thrilled to have a partner like Todd join the Coupa team. He has a proven track record for developing cross-functional business enablement teams and strengthening relationships among investors, board members, custom-

ers and employees, which will be instrumental to Coupa’s success in the future.”

Mr. Ford brings more than 25 years of broad management and financial operational experience to Coupa, and has an extensive background in developing companies from early-stage start-ups through public offerings and beyond. Most recently, he served as CFO of MobileIron, where he led the company through a successful IPO in 2014, and was responsible for financial planning and analysis, accounting, treasury activities, and investor relations.

Prior to joining MobileIron, Mr. Ford was a Founding General Partner at Broken Arrow Venture Capital, where he invested in early-stage companies. He also previously served as CFO of Rackable Systems Inc. (now Silicon Graphics International Corp) where he led the startup from $20 million in revenues to more than $350 million in revenues as a publicly traded company. Mr. Ford has also held various management and financial positions

Presidio Bank Hires San Francisco Market Manager

Presidio Bank, a Bay Area business bank, have announced that it has hired Mathilda Khabbaz as Senior Vice President and San Francisco Market Manager. In this newly created position, she will be responsible for leading the Bank’s San Francisco office.

Ms. Khabbaz has over 15 years in the banking industry. She most recently came from Citibank as SVP/ Senior Relationship Manager in the Commercial Banking Group and as VP/Relationship Manager in the Business Banking Group prior to that. She started her banking career in the International Division at Bank of New York, attending their formal credit training program.

Ms. Khabbaz grew up in the Bay Area and attended Mercy High School in San Francisco. She is active in the local community and has served as a board member for Pacific Community Ventures and Urban Solutions. Ms. Khabbaz earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Political Science from UC Santa Barbara and a Master of Arts Degree 36 • CorporateAmerica • June 2015

in Arab Studies from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

“Mathilda brings strong market knowledge and successful track record of working with San Francisco businesses. She is warm and engaging, possessing strong inter-personal skills,” said Steve Heitel, Presidio Bank President & Chief Executive Officer. “Her commitment towards building successful, long-term relationships mirrors our core values, making her a perfect fit with Presidio Bank.”

Ms. Khabbaz said, “I am so pleased to join the San Francisco team. Presidio Bank has established a solid reputation as a premier commercial bank. The strong corporate culture embodies integrity and a fundamental dedication to its clients and the community.”

with several technology companies including Raster Graphics, and Cadence Design Systems. He began his career with Arthur Andersen and

Ernst & Young, and earned a B.S. in Accounting from Santa Clara University.

“Coupa is absolutely changing the game within the cloud-based spend management market and has the most transformational industry vision and innovative technology I’ve ever seen,” said Ford. “Coupa’s cloud platform is truly differentiated and I’m enthusiastic about joining the Coupa team at a pivotal time in the company’s history and helping facilitate its growth into the future.”

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Corporate America /Appointments

Boston Realty Advisors Announces Janice Dumont as Chief Executive Officer of Advisors Living

Boston Realty Advisors have announced the appointment of Janice Dumont as CEO of Advisors Living, the company’s new residential brand extension, and Senior Partner of BRA. At Advisors Living, Janice leads a team of diverse experts servicing each client, sale and transaction to protect valuable assets in a dynamic industry. In her first days as CEO, she has already brought more than $150 million in listings to the new full-service residential real estate agency focused on marketing and selling new development projects, selling luxury homes and estates, buyer brokerage and consulting for investment entities.

An award-winning real estate agent and entrepreneur, Janice has managed more than $1 billion in sales over the past 10 years. Since launching her successful real estate business in 2003, she has outperformed in nearly every aspect of the industry, from working with national developers on multifamily projects to managing residential sales, leasing and marketing programs.

Jason Weissman, founder and principal of Boston Realty Advisors, added: “Janice’s ability to motivate and lead combined with her unique understanding of site demographics, branding and market requirements make her a valuable asset to the new and growing team at Advisors Living. Residential construction is expanding throughout Boston with 1,866 new units planned for 2016, and we are pleased to have Janice onboard to help us take advantage of this booming market.”

Dumont said: “Boston’s new construction projects are rebounding at an aggressive rate, which is projected to continue over the next three years; I’m eager to expand our fullservice residential real estate business to service this growth.

With the Advisors Living team of dedicated agents, talented researchers and the only 24-hour service desk, we’re ready to help our clients navigate the urban and suburban housing markets to find exactly what they’re looking for.”

Prior to joining Advisors Living, Janice was co-founder and Managing Director of Sales & Marketing at PrimeTime Communities LLC, a company she expanded into five states in 10 years. As a result of her exceptional work, Janice has been recognized at the national level by the National Association of Home Builders and National Sales and Marketing Council as well as locally in the Boston market with numerous sales recognitions and awards.

Geoff E. Molson Succeeds Peter H. Coors as Molson Coors Chairman

In a planned transition consistent with the company’s by-laws, Molson Coors Brewing Company have announced that Geoff Molson, a member of the Molson Coors Board of Directors, will assume the role of chairman, and Pete Coors, current chairman, will assume the role of vice chairman, effective June 3, 2015. The by-laws provide for the chairman and vice chairman to alternate between the Molson and Coors families on a rotating two-year term.

“This has been a time of transformation at Molson Coors under Pete’s guidance as chairman. Under his leadership, the company has significantly expanded its portfolio of products to ensure we are providing the right mix of flavor profiles to satisfy today’s consumer. At the same time, the company has also continued its expansion into select global markets, growing the footprint of brands like Coors Light, Carling and Staropramen. During Pete’s tenure, we also identified the right candidate in Mark Hunter to succeed outgoing CEO Peter Swinburn,” said Geoff Molson. “As incoming chairman, I

look forward to continued engagement with our strong, independent board and leadership team as we build on these successes to further strengthen Molson Coors’ position in the market.”

Geoff Molson has served as a Molson Coors director since December 2009, and is the president and chief executive officer of the CH Group Limited Partnership, as well as owner of the Montréal Canadiens Hockey Club, evenko, l’Équipe Spectra and The Bell Centre. From 2006 to December 2009, Mr. Molson served as vice-president of marketing for Molson in Canada. He previously held various positions in sales, marketing, quality and distributor development at Molson from 1999 to 2005, including Vice President for Molson USA. Mr. Molson holds an MBA from Babson Business School and a BA from St. Lawrence University. He is a member of The Molson Foundation, a family foundation dedicated to the betterment of Canadian society, as well as St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation and the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation.

Pete Coors is chairman of the board of MillerCoors, Molson Coors’ US joint venture. He previously served as chairman of the board of Adolph Coors Company from 2002 to 2005, and was chief executive officer from May 2000 to July 2002. Mr. Coors also served as a director of Coors Brewing Company, the company’s US-based subsidiary, beginning in 1973. In 2002, he was named executive chairman, and was chief

executive officer from 1992 to 2000.

He joined Adolph Coors Company in 1971 where he held a number of executive and management positions.

Mr. Coors is also a director of both Energy Corporation of America and University of Colorado Hospital. In addition, Mr. Coors is chairman of the University of Colorado Hospital Foundation and a trustee of Johnson & Wales University.

“I am pleased to be passing the chairmanship to Geoff, a seventh generation member of the Molson family. As we look to the future, both families continue to share a long-term commitment to the beer industry and this company. This was certainly reflected in Andrew Molson’s leadership as both vice chairman and chairman over the past four years as he played a vital role in our successes and strategic direction,” Pete Coors commented. “Our generations of family leadership drive us to take a long-term view of building value by investing in brands, attracting and retaining the best talent, and ensuring quality across the entire enterprise. I have every confidence in the leadership of our company and our prospects for future growth.”

June 2015 • CorporateAmerica • 37

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July 2015 / Planner

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