Tales of a Serial Entrepreneur, and how consultants can help businesses like his.
A presentation by Richard Hale, President and CEO of Wentworth Technology
How can brilliantly innovative companies not only stay alive, but thrive? Richard Hale knows how. He’s made it happen. Quite a few times, in fact. He also knows how consultants can play key roles in making it happen. He uses them actively. Mr. Hale is a serial entrepreneur and business turnaround phenomenon.
Read about his vast experience below, explore his website at http://wentworthtechnology.com/index.html , and bring your questions to this inspiring and informative presentation.
In 1967, Mr. Hale co-founded a new start-up company, Addington Laboratories. Over the next 10 years Mr. Hale served in a variety of roles, from design engineer to Executive VP of Operations, a position he held during the last 5 years before Addington Labs was sold to the Eaton Corporation in 1977, after 10 years of double digit profitable growth. After Addington Labs was sold, Mr. Hale was recruited to take over as Senior Vice President of Operations of Omni Spectra Inc, a public company in trouble, with operations in Waltham Mass, Merrimack NH, Tempe Arizona, and Reading England. After 2 years the company was out of trouble, and in 1980, sold to M/A-Com Inc., a public company, and the largest company in the microwave industry. Mr. Hale was asked to stay, and appointed initially as President of Omni Spectra. Over the next 10 years, Mr. Hale served in a wide range of roles with increasing responsibility, reaching the position of Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, and Member of the Board of Directors of the parent company. Mr. Hale, at the time of his retirement in 1994, was responsible for 8,000 employees and 23 operating divisions scattered around the world. In 1996 Mr. Hale came out of retirement and took a short term position as President of Watson Technology, located in Portland, Maine, at the request of the venture capital financial backer. Watson had burned through almost $10M of capital in 5 years and had never built a prototype. As President, Mr. Hale recruited some engineers, and built a prototype system in 12 months, but advocated to the Board of Directors that the company be shut down, saving the investors $1.0M. The reason for the shutdown was that while the technology was proven, the cost of manufacture was 3X what the market would pay. Having talked himself out of a job, and available, Mr. Hale was next recruited as President and CEO of VXI, a NH based VC backed company which he ran for the next 10 years, tripling the sales in the process. Mr. Hale retired again in 2008, only to be approached in late 2009 by several former employees and asked to start another company. In 2010, Wentworth Technology was formed, which after a year of market research and system development, is about to go to market this month.
Over the last 47 years, Mr. Hale has served on numerous Boards of Directors of both “for profit” public companies as well as several privately owned “non- profit” companies. Mr. Hale has attended University of Illinois, San Jose City College, Stanford University, the Sloan School at MIT, and more recently, The University of Southern Maine. Mr. Hale has served as Chairman of the Board of the Southern New Hampshire Association of Industry and Commerce, the BOD of Junior Achievement of Santa Clara County, and The Compass Project of Portland Maine. Mr. Hale is married, with 4 children, 8 grandchildren and resides in Brunswick Maine. His hobbies are racing sailboats and woodworking.
This presentation will be video recorded by Digital Workshop, www.maineprovideo.com
The A.C.E. regular meeting has networking, a buffet breakfast and a speaker. Guests are welcome.
Registrations are required by July 12, 2011. If you want to be included on the registration list at the meeting then you need to register by the due date.
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A.C.E.
P O Box 404
Gorham, ME 04038
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Members: the $17 fee only works if you pay in advance. At the door, it is $22.
