Ronald
Blum, O.D., is Founder and Chairman of The Egg Factory, LLC. He
is also the President/CEO and Chairman of PixelOptics. He has had great
success in building diverse management teams needed to develop products
as well as executing business strategies. He is a visionary, innovator
and businessman. Dr. Blum is named as the inventor on over 150 patents
and patent applications. He has been on the editorial advisory boards
of two national vision care industry publications. Dr. Blum has also
had substantial commercial innovation success, including Innotech which,
was sold in 1997 to Johnson and Johnson. Innotech was founded by Dr.
Blum in 1990, and under his direction as Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer was taken public on the NASDAQ exchange in 1996 before being
sold in 1997. Dr. Blum remained with Johnson & Johnson until March
1999 serving as General Manager of Advanced Technologies for the Spectacle
Lens Group of Johnson & Johnson, where he lead and managed the team
that invented and developed the Definity (Progressive Addition Lens).
The Definity Lens was acquired in 2005 by Essilor (the largest lens
manufacturer in the world). Prior to founding Innotech, Inc., Dr. Blum
founded in 1977, Drs. Blum, Newman, Blackstock & Associates, Optometrists,
P.C. By the time of Dr. Blum's departure in 1992, Drs. Blum, Newman,
Blackstock & Associates, Optometrists, P.C., had grown to be one
of the largest multi-location private professional optometric practices
in the Southeastern United States. In 1999 Dr. Blum was presented by
the Mayor of Roanoke, Virginia a Key to the City, as well as, by the
Governor of Virginia honorary shares in the original trading company
of Jamestown, Virginia founded in 1607. Dr. Blum recently served on
the Board of Trustees for Roanoke College. Dr. Blum received his Doctorate
of Optometry degree from the Southern College of Optometry. www.pixeloptics.com
Evelyn G. Blake is the Secretary & Director, Legal Affairs for
The Egg Factory, LLC. Ms. Blake is also Secretary for G-Nano, New Lens
and High Performance Optics, Inc. Before joining The Egg Factory, Ms.
Blake was Corporate Administrator for Innotech, Inc., which manufactured
and sold lens surface casting fabrication systems and was purchased
by Johnson & Johnson in 1997. Prior to Innotech, Inc., Ms. Blake
was the office manager of Drs. Blum, Newman, Blackstock & Associates,
Optometrists, P.C. Ms. Blake has over 10 years of intellectual property
management experience and has a legal assisting/paralegal degree.
William
Burns is President of Encore Vision and serves as Advisor of
Marketing and Advertising for High Performance Optics. From Jan. 2000-
June 2005 Mr. Burns served as Vice President of Global Marketing, Consumer
and Pharmaceutical Products for Alcon where he directed the brand launch
of Systane Lubricant Eye Drops worldwide and directed the team market
plan launch of Optifree, the Contact Lens Care Solution line. During
this time Mr. Burns represented $600 million of the $4 billion dollars
sales of Alcon products. From Jan. 1996- Dec. 1999 Mr. Burns served
as Vice President of International Marketing, Pharmaceutical and Consumer
Products for Alcon where he directed the preparation of Alcon’s
first global launch for the anti-glaucoma drug Travatan, which have
current sales of $200 million.
Mr.
Burns has a Bachelor of Arts from Slippery Rock University with a Major
in Biology and Minor in Chemistry. He attended the Program for Management
Development from the Harvard Business School and the Framework for Strategic
Thinking and Planning from Columbia University.
James
B. Currie, Chairman, President & CEO, has been a senior
executive of several Fortune 500 companies, including Sears, Roebuck
and Co., Heller Financial, Coldwell Banker Group and Moore Corporation
for the last 20 years. Mr. Currie has led strategy and business development
for public companies and has been instrumental in revitalizing existing
businesses in diverse industries. His success in launching new businesses,
improving existing operations and completing M&A transactions has
produced significant shareholder value for companies. Mr. Currie created
and developed two innovations in the service sector, Rapid Refund and
Borrowers Choice. Rapid Refund was the nation's first business to offer
the filing of individual federal income tax returns via computers and
the direct deposit of taxpayer refunds. Borrowers Choice was the first
known computer offering of mortgage loans from competing lenders. The
technology behind this innovative business also promoted the successful
cross-selling of ancillary real estate services. Mr. Currie began his
career as an attorney, concentrating on acquisitions, divestitures and
alliances. In one transaction, he led all aspects of Sears’ acquisition
of Dean Witter and Coldwell Banker in 1981. He has also served as General
Counsel to three major companies. While employed at Moore Corporation,
Mr. Currie was responsible for maximizing the value of its Research
and Development Group's technology and innovations. Mr. Currie received
a BA degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and graduated with
honors from IIT - Chicago Kent College of Law where he was a member
of Law Review and Order of the Coif. Mr. Currie is also past President
and COO of The Egg Factory and has transitioned out of his role at The
Egg Factory to dedicate his efforts full-time to IntelliMats. www.intellimat.com.
Michael
P. Packard
is currently President and C.E.O. of High Performance Optics, Inc. Mr.
Packard previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Optical Dynamics
Corporation in Louisville, Kentucky. In late 1999, Mr. Packard created
his own firm, TransCat Consulting, helping organizations “make
change that matters.” Mr. Packard focuses on maintaining ongoing
consulting relationships with several private sector companies and public
school districts, concentrating on leadership development and strategic
planning, but offering a wide range of organizational and functional
experiences. From 1989 - 1999, Mr. Packard’s role as Executive
VP and Chief Administrative Officer at LensCrafters was key to creating
the most successful optical retailer in the world and one of the most
successful overall U.S. retailer In addition to his roles at LensCrafters
(1987 – 1999) and Procter & Gamble (1971 – 1987), Mr.
Packard was the key outside director on the Board of Innotech, Inc.,
a high-tech optical equipment company from 1992-97. His involvement
included the “garage” R&D stage, a successful IPO, and
ultimately the purchase of the Company by Johnson & Johnson. He
presently serves on the Boards of several high-tech product development
companies. He also plays an active role and serves on the Board of Trustees
for the Economics Center for Education and Research, part of the University
of Cincinnati. In addition, since 1999, Mr. Packard has been affiliated
with the tompeterscompany! (Sic), an organization dedicated to cutting
edge leadership education, training and development at all organization
levels. He has a Chemical Engineering Degree (Bucknell 1970) and an
MBA (Virginia 1972) concentrating on organizational behavior and leadership.
Continued education includes the Change Leadership Program (Wharton)
and the Retail Executive Program (Harvard). Mr. Packard developed and
facilitates unique workshops in areas such as Conflict Management, Writing
to Get What You Want, Strategic Planning, Priority Setting and Action
Execution, and Leadership Development.
W.
Ed Tyler is President of G-Nano. He was also appointed CEO of Ideapoint
Ventures in 2002. Ideapoint Ventures is an early stage venture fund
that focuses on nanotechnologies. Prior to joining Ideapoint Ventures,
Mr. Tyler served as President and CEO of Moore Corporation Limited for
three years, beginning in April 1998. During his tenure at Moore, he
led a worldwide repositioning and restructuring of the company. From
1974 to 1998 he was with R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company in Chicago,
becoming Executive Vice President, Sector president, and Chief Technology
Officer in 1995. From 1995 through 1998, he also was responsible for
77 Capital, an early stage venture capital subsidiary of Donnelley.
He was directly responsible for investment decisions and worked closely
with the portfolio companies while participating on many of their boards.
Mr. Tyler began his career at Donnelley as an electronics engineer and
progressed through increasingly responsible management positions throughout
the country. Mr. Tyler is immediate past Chairman of the American Red
Cross (Mid-America Chapter); Campaign Chairman of the United Way of
Lake County; and a director of First Industrial Corporation as well
as several small, private companies. In 2002 he was elected to the Board
of Directors of Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, where he
is also an adjunct faculty member. He previously served as Director
of the Western Michigan University Foundation.
Joel
D. Zychick is President of Agroshield, LLC, as well as, founder
and President of Zcounsel LLC, has more than 25 years of hands on experience
as an attorney, CEO and CFO, assisting clients in growth industries
reach greater levels of profitability. Here’s a brief summary
of his professional career.
Joel
is a practicing attorney with more than 25 years of experience representing
closely held private and public companies in their capital and financial
transactions, including strategic acquisitions and depositions as well
as initial public offerings. Between 1986 and 1997, Joel was a Partner
of the New York law firm of Hertzog, Calamari & Gleason, where he
directed its tax and business investment practices.
Since
2000, Joel has represented private companies in a variety of transactions,
which include by way of illustration, the sale of a privately held company
to a public company and the subsequent reacquisition of portions of
that company by the original sellers, an industry “roll-up”
of several companies with the subsequent acquisition of the industry
leader and structuring the “going private” transaction of
a NASDQ listed company.
Joel
has also amassed significant management experience with a diverse mix
of operating companies. Between 1996 and 1999, he served as President
and CEO of GETKO Group Inc, then an affiliate of the Cendant Corporation
(NYSE), which provides direct mail, advertising and print-on-demand
publishing services. During his tenure at GETKO, Joel expanded the company’s
U.S. operations to Canada by means of acquisition and internal growth;
completed the conversion of it’s publishing operations and systems
to a “print-on-demand” environment; transitioned its traditional
print (off-line) products to the Internet (on-line); and merged GETKO’s
direct mail programs with the distribution programs offered by Welcome
Wagon International, Inc. and consolidated the 3,400 employees of the
two media operations into an integrated 800-person direct mail operation.
Presently,
Joel serves as the interim president of the largest provider of decorative
accessories and furnishings to the film, television, print and related
arts industries of New York. He has also served as the interim chief
financial officer of a number of the companies he has represented and
presently serves as a member of the Board of Managers and Advisory Boards
of several for-profit enterprises.
Joel
is extensively involved in the leadership of the American Bar Association
(ABA), where he served as Secretary of its Section of Taxation and continues
to serve on the Section’s governing body as a member of its Council.
He previously served on the Section’s Nomination and Resolutions
Committees and as Chair of its committee on Sales and Financial Transactions.
Joel also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the ABA’s
Section Officers Conference.
