| Hired Candidates Update: 
Multi-year Anniversaries at The Seeing Eye |
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| MORRISTOWN, NJ - Multi-year anniversaries are approaching for Randy Ivens, Director, Human Resources (left)and George McGuinness, VP Finance and Administration (right) at The Seeing Eye in Morristown. Back in 1997 and 1998 when George and Randy were hired, president Kenneth Rosenthal had high hopes that these "Mission Critical" senior team members would make an important difference in helping to realize the ongoing Mission of The Seeing Eye, which is "to enhance the independence, dignity, and self-confidence of blind people through the use of Seeing Eye dogs." The Seeing Eye is an incredible organization doing important and wonderful work. If and when you are ever in Morristown you will likely observe Seeing Eye instructors leading classes of students who are learning how to interact with their guide dogs. It is important to understand that the guide dogs are real "workers" carefully trained to be the eyes of a blind person; it is amazing to see what great work these dogs really do. When a blind person is accepted into the program he or she spends almost one month at the headquarters in Morristown being trained. The only cost for the student is the purchase of the guide dog; roughly $150. This internationally famous school, founded in 1934, is set on a beautiful campus in the Washington Valley section of Morristown. For more information about The Seeing Eye please visit their website. Randy and George have become part of the fabric of what makes this organization great, and we congratulate them on all the many contributions they have both made over the years since they joined The Seeing Eye. 1/4 - previous article - next article |
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Steady growth and success at Quintum Technologies, Inc. |
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| EATONTOWN, NJ - David Gombos, Director, Sales, (left) and Peter Nelsen, Director, Business Development, (right) have been part of the steady growth and success of Quintum since their arrival at the company approximately three years ago. When Dave Gombos arrived at Quintum his job was to develop and manage Global Alliances as part of the effort to sell their products through distributors and re-sellers in the sales channel. Dave began work on an "inside sales" force, as well, which was a strong part of his background before coming to Quintum. His success in the sales endeavor was recognized by Quintum CEO, Cheng Chen; as a result, Dave was promoted to Director, Sales after 2 years on the job. Sales for Quintum continue to grow steadily under Dave's leadership and effort in conjunction with the Marketing Team led by Charles ("Chuck") Rutledge, VP Marketing, who originally hired Dave. Peter Nelsen came on board to work with Chuck Rutledge to focus on the Business Development function for Quintum. Pete has done a great job, not only in creating new relationships with sales channel partners who re-sell their equipment, but also in managing these relationships so that the partners will want to learn more about Quintum's latest product developments. Our congratulations to both Dave and Pete, and to their hiring management team at Quintum for a job well done. For those of you who like to keep current on the latest developments in the world of telecommunications, the Quintum story is an enviable one in many respects. With all the reports of telecommunications network over capacity and the demise of many large and early stage companies in this sector, one might think that Quintum would be struggling hard like so many others in their broader industry just to remain solvent. Not so. Similar to another top company in the networking and communications sector, Cisco Systems, Quintum offers communications and networking equipment that are "crucial links in the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) value chain"--Communications Convergence, October 2003, page 26. Unlike competitive product offerings, Quintum's TENOR product line is a lower cost, easier to install "add-on" to an existing telecom network. The big benefits to customers with multiple sites include speed of entry to VoIP for both voice and data as well as key network operation and toll call cost reductions. In recognition of their success, Quintum recently won a coveted Deloitte & Touche "Fast 500" award. To quote from the October 23, 2003 Quintum press release that discusses this award:
Says it all doesn't it? Well, Dave and Pete have been key contributors during this three-year period. More importantly, Quintum is in the right business --VoIP Gateways-- at the right time. The explosive growth of Internet based calling is just beginning. Many traditional telephone service providers are starting to really gear up for the conversion to digital/data based systems that will begin to manifest themselves more and more in the coming few years. Quintum TENOR product lines help companies save time and money, the two most important benefits of all time. Congratulations to Dave and Pete and to all their colleagues at Quintum, particularly, their original hiring manager, Charles Rutledge, Vice President. 2/4 - previous article - next article |
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Rapid Growth in 2004 Expected for Plasmion Corporation |
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| HOBOKEN, NJ - Dr. James Ionson, Chief Executive Officer, reports that his company is now actively selling their "consumable" product for use in highly sophisticated manufacturing processes for the microchip industry. Jim reports, "We are doing very well, Keith. We have customers for our consumable cartridge and are looking forward to rapid growth in 2004." Dr. Ionson recently presented Plasmion's story at the New Jersey Technology Council Growth Company Showcase held on October 23, 2003 at the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City. During his presentation Dr. Ionson mentioned an increased per share valuation of Plasmion as well as how the company expects to generate significant increases in both revenue and net income in 2004.
The patented technology of Plasmion stems from original research of Stevens Institute of Technology professors, Dr. Steven Kim and Dr. Eric Kunhardt. To say that Jim appears to be doing a good job is an understatement; the board is delighted with the progress he has been making since his appointment in May of 2002. Jim has focused the company strategically, operationally and developmentally and, as a result, Plasmion is now poised for rapid growth that will be fueled by sales to existing and new clients of the "consumable" cartridge. Congratulations, Jim, and keep it up. 3/4 - previous article - next article |
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| As the year ends, insights into the future | ||||||||||||
| I like to write this column because it provides me with an opportunity to offer a few insights and share some interesting happenings at our firm and in my life. To begin, the retained search business has never been more challenging, or filled with more promise, as we are about to enter 2004. Many of our clients and candidates have asked how the job market looks to us. Overall, we think that the market looks better; a slow steady movement toward more hiring is now developing. This is reflected in the anecdotal comments from peers and surveys of executive search firms from such credible organizations as Execunet. Survey data indicates a markedly positive sentiment among search firm owners and principals based upon a forecasted increase in the number of retained search assignments. Broader based economic statistics are reflecting a steady drop in new jobless claims as well as strong increases in GDP which came in at a whopping 8.2% for October 2003. The strong November factory order report helps build further confidence that this recovery appears to be the real deal. Top Candidates interested in career advancement can take heart--great company management teams are starting to make moves again. As a result, KULPER & COMPANY can take heart, too; our clients are calling us because they know that a quick and cost effective way to attract top talent is get us on the project. I can report that we are actively discussing a variety of new assignments--so watch your "in-box" for announcements from our firm. The run up in the Dow Jones Industrials Average (DJIA) appears to be for real. Why? Because this time it's not based on "froth," "irrational exuberance" or wishful thinking--this time it's based upon real earnings and relatively, in terms of the past few years, low Price/Earning ratios at some of the most stable industry sector leading companies, like IBM, CISCO, GE and many others. As corporations continue to ring up increasingly strong sales and profits, the DJIA ought to keep rising; DOW 10,000+ at close of year December 31, 2003 is looking very promising. The DOW broke 10,000 for a few minutes today-- December 9, 2003. Of course, the Federal Reserve helped keep the ball rolling with their continued credit policy stance. I would think that we would likely see DOW 11,500 by December 31, 2004 despite the many challenges to our economic growth. Clearly there are the sobering thoughts of the Federal Deficit and an uncertain international outlook complicated by pressured relations with key European Union countries and chronic conflicts in the Middle East. The world is an imperfect place... Are you feeling more confident now about your business than you did just 2 months ago? I would be interested in hearing your answer to this question--please email me your comments at kdk <at> kulpercompany.com If you are a senior manager, a real emphasis should always be placed on making sure that you have the right people in your key positions. At KULPER & COMPANYwe want to help you attract and hire "Mission Critical" leaders who will make a real difference in your organization's bottom line. Thankfully, our track record reflects a steady stream of solid outcomes, which you can read about in our HIRED CANDIDATE UPDATE article of this edition of NEWS FROM... Please do pick up the phone and call us at (973) 285-3850...it will be nice to talk with you about your hiring needs for 2004. In this column I like to write about things that are happening in the larger picture of my life and to share them with you. Our son, Sloan A. Kulper, graduated from MIT with a BS from the School of Architecture. Right now he is happily pursuing his Master's in Industrial Design at Rhode Island School of Design. This Fall Sloan was asked by Professor Shelia Kennedy, to act as a special Teaching Assistant for her graduate course in lighting design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Sloan prepared and delivered three lectures on the underlying practical application of electronic theory when considering lighting design options and worked with students to develop their concepts into prototypes. He tells us that the graduate students liked him as a lecturer and found the content interesting. How about that? Sloan is just 22 years old and the first Kulper to have ever done anything like this...way to go, Sloan! We plan to frame a photocopy of his check from Harvard for the sake of posterity. I also am proud to report that our daughter, Kendall A. Kulper, now a High School senior, had the experience of a lifetime this summer when she traveled to the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Chula Vista, CA, for a week of inspired learning and training. Kendall is a JOAD (Junior Olympic Archery Development) archer with hopes of one day representing the United States at the Olympic Games as a member of the Women's Archery team. Kendall uses a recurve bow made of various high tech components, including titanium. She has trained for the past several years under the expert guidance of her wonderful coach, Jackie Fiala - arrowcoach <at> aol.com, based in Chatham, NJ, and who also directs the Summit Archers Club. Jackie is closely tied to the National Archery Association as well as to the US Olympic program. She thought that the experience of going to Chula Vista would be terrific for Kendall; and, clearly, it was. Kendall learned a great deal from the top coaches assembled at Chula Vista and improved her technique and her scores. Kendall even got a chance to rub shoulders with some of the members of the US Women's National Soccer team who were also in residence at the Chula Vista OTC, training to get ready for the 2004 Olympics and other world class competitions. Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and "Cat" Reddick, to name three of the most famous members of this team, took their meals in the same dining room along with Kendall and her archery buddies---pretty neat. Kendall has much work to do to hone her archery skills in the months and years ahead, but her tournament scores show steady improvement. She is currently ranked 10th in the Junior Female Recurve Division of the NAA (National Archery Association). Kendall will need to compete at the US Olympic Trials next Spring in Ohio, in order to hope to become one of the three Woman archers to go to Athens in 2004---a very challenging and exciting opportunity. It will take commitment, persistence and discipline to make the team, all great Olympic (and life affirming) ideals. As with many of our Olympic teams, like skating, rankings don't assure an Olympic berth since it all comes down to how well the athlete does at the Olympic Trials. There are many excellent woman archers who appear to be destined to represent our country in future Olympic Games; Stephanie Miller, Jennifer Nichols, Kathie Loesch, Karen Scavotto and Kendall's own "Summit Archers" team mate Margot Stuchin, each stand an excellent chance of going to Athens in 2004. We wish them all the very best as they train to get ready for the trials. I hope you will pull for Kendall, and all Olympic hopefuls to succeed in their athletic endeavors, and also, that you will support the US Olympic team. All costs for the US Olympic Team are covered through the generosity of private individuals and top US Corporations such as AT&T, Home Depot, Lucent Technologies, VISA, & Coca Cola. To learn more about the US Olympic team please visit: http://www.olympic-usa.org Well, if you are a current or new client--make our phone ring! We want to do more business with you; tell us about your hiring plans for 2004 and how you hope to make your company or organization a real winner. Success is always more about the people, the team and the leadership, not necessarily the technology, the product or service. We will help you attract the "mission critical" people you need to make a real difference over the long run...so call us today at (973) 285-3850. If you are a potential candidate--I hope to make your phone ringbecause you are the solution that our clients need and want. Thanks for your continued interest in KULPER & COMPANY.
Keith D. Kulper President Kulper & Company, LLC 4/4 - previous article - back to top - next article |
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| www.kulpercompany.com | ||||||||||||
Charles Rutledge