TechAmerica Orange County Announces 2009-2010 Leadership Team
Under the executive direction of new regional director Kevin Carroll, new committee leadership sets ambitious agenda as Orange County’s go-to organization for the high-tech community
IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — TechAmerica today announced the appointment of the local executive committee that will steward the strategic growth of the association’s Orange County office during the 2009 fiscal year, which began Sept. 1 and will conclude Sept. 30, 2010. In addition, the Council welcomed Kevin Carroll as the regional director overseeing operations for Orange, San Diego and Los Angeles counties.
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Peter Craig, chairman of Valicore Technologies Inc. in Irvine, will serve as chairman of the 14-member executive committee. Craig succeeds Charlie Sundling, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Pipeline Group in Irvine, who will remain on the committee as past chairman and national small business policy chair. Craig also will serve on the TechAmerica national board of directors during this fiscal year.
The balance of the executive committee represent companies that comprise the rich landscape of Orange County technology and innovation. The committee comprises chairs of standing committees and roundtables, as well as members at large who are leaders of the long-term development of Orange County’s tech economy.
- Ken Burke, president, CMS Products, Inc.
- Kimberley Chen Nobles, partner, Crowell & Moring LLP
- Sigmund Fidyke, president, Custom Software
- Gregg Gallagher, group vice president, Quantum Leaders
- Geoffrey Garland, controller, Staco Systems
- Horace Hertz, partner, Squar Milner, Peterson, Miranda, and Williamson, LLP
- Ting (TK) Hui, CEO, FDB Media
- Kevin Judd, senior staff product manager, QLogic Corp.
- Bruce May, partner, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth
- Marc Schneider, partner, Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth
- Mike Siersema, technical director, CSC
- Frank M. Singer, director, Hixson Metal Finishing
- Cara Stewart, CEO, WunderMarx|PR
- Mitchell L. Wexler, partner, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP
“Orange County has a robust technology community, and TechAmerica is the leading voice to help high-tech companies grow and improve their businesses,” Craig said. “As a committee, we are charged with driving the strategic direction of the organization and providing value to member companies. Our priorities include providing local high-tech leaders with access to capital and resources to increase revenue, facilitating strategic networking exchanges and uniting technology companies politically.”
As part of its mission to provide greater value to member companies in Orange County, the committee establishes strategic initiatives to chart annual growth. For 2009-10, the key initiatives that TechAmerica Orange County will pursue include:
- Providing valuable local program content – TechAmerica Orange County produces more than 25 programs a year, providing valuable peer-to-peer information, benchmarking and strategic networking for the high-tech industry.
- Producing the 17th annual High-Tech Innovation Awards – Nearly 400 attended the sold-out 2009 awards ceremony, making it the premier high-tech event in the region. Attendees included executives from local high-tech companies, financial and government institutions, academic leaders, educators, investors and media affiliates.
- Creating a forum for executive education – TechAmerica Orange County will extend strategic partnerships with Orange County’s top higher-education academic institutions to aid tech executives in continuing their business education to improve skills and decision-making.
- Substantially increasing the high-tech voice in local political decisions – TechAmerica serves as the powerful and nonpartisan voice of the Orange County tech community, protecting the needs of high-tech companies through local advocacy and public education.
“TechAmerica Orange County has made tremendous progress in better serving its membership and showcasing Orange County as an important center of innovation for the best and brightest,” said Carroll, regional executive director, TechAmerica, who also serves on the Orange County executive committee. “Our office is bursting with energy and is an agent of change and advocacy for the high-tech community. Our new members are deeply committed to this community and will steward the board to new opportunities that will drive innovation in Orange County for years to come. They have inherited a strong and dynamic organization, thanks to the outstanding leadership of outgoing Chair Charlie Sundling, who provided the local high-tech community a greater opportunity to unite and work together to strengthen the economy and community.”
Prior to his regional role, Carroll was the executive director for the San Diego council of TechAmerica where he worked with tech giants, including Cymer, Qualcomm and Websense. While in San Diego, Carroll had the opportunity to pilot several successful programs that were subsequently duplicated throughout the country.
For more information about TechAmerica Orange County, visit www.TechAmerica.org/OrangeCounty.
About TechAmerica
TechAmerica is the leading voice for the U.S. technology industry, which is the driving force behind productivity growth and jobs creation in the United States and the foundation of the global innovation economy. Representing approximately 1,500 member companies of all sizes from the public and commercial sectors of the economy, it is the industry’s largest advocacy organization and is dedicated to helping members’ top and bottom lines. It is also the technology industry’s only grassroots-to-global advocacy network, with offices in state capitals around the United States, Washington, D.C., Europe (Brussels) and Asia (Beijing). TechAmerica was formed by the merger of TechAmerica (formerly the American Electronics Association), the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) and the Government Electronics & Information Technology Association (GEIA). Learn more at www.techamerica.org.
Contact:
Anne Caliguiri at 703.284.5305 or anne.caliguiri@techamerica.org
Theresa Dreike, WunderMarx|PR for TechAmerica Orange County at 714.862.1112 or theresa.dreike@wundermarx.com
SOURCE TechAmerica