Directors and Key Management
The Company’s team of Directors, senior executies and operating managers has significant experience in the communications industry and extensive knowledge of its local markets. Members of the Company’s executive management team have over 70 years of experience in managing communications companies. In addition to industry knowledge, the Company’s management team has public company operational experience and expertise in integrating acquired facilities.
Directors
- Theodore V. Boyd
- Raymond Hexamer
- Joseph Morris
- Marshall B. Belden Jr.
- H. Arthur Bellows, Jr.
- Mark T. Clark
- Scott M. Honour
- Mark R. Stone
Theodore V. Boyd is the Non-Executive Chairman of the Company and an investor in McKinley Communications, Inc. (“McKinley”), the majority investor McKinley prior to the completion of the sale of its ownership interest to First Communications. Mr. Boyd is also General Partner of Rockledge T. Limited Partnership, a private investment holding company, and General Partner in Willmoll Development Company, a developer and owner of commercial, industrial, multi-tenant residential and single family residential real estate. Mr. Boyd has served as a director of Belden and Blake Corporation, an oil and gas exploration and production company, formerly quoted on NASDAQ, prior to its sale to Texas Pacific Group Partners, as Chairman of SKYLan, Ltd., a wireless internet service provider that was acquired by the Company, and as Chairman of Beaverkettle Company Inc., a radio broadcasting company, until its sale to Next Media, Inc. Mr. Boyd is a Director of the Professional Football Hall of Fame and the Northeastern Ohio Council on Higher Education and was Chairman of the Kent State University Board of Trustees. He received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Bethany College and a Juris Doctorate in Law from Cleveland State University.
Raymond Hexamer joined the Company in January 2005 as the Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Hexamer was previously President and General Manager of WHBC Radio and was involved over the years in all aspects of that business from on-air, sales, finance and management. Mr. Hexamer was a part of the investment group and CEO of SkyLAN, a wireless Internet provider, whose assets were acquired by the Company. Radio Ink Magazine named Mr. Hexamer as one of the top five-presidents/general managers nationally in 2002 and top seven in 2003. Mr. Hexamer is involved in numerous community boards and was the 2001 General Chairman of The Professional Football Hall of Fame Festival. Mr. Hexamer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from the University of Akron.
Joseph Morris is the President of the Company. He has held leadership positions in every department of the Company over the last ten years and has also been the lead participant for the Company in the identification, negotiation and integration of its nine acquisitions since 2004. Mr. Morris is also responsible for all legal affairs and setting regulatory strategy and direction for the Company. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Morris was an attorney Roetzel & Andress, L.P.A. with a practice focused on public, corporate and international law. Mr. Morris studied Economics at Queens University of Belfast, received a Bachelor of Arts from Franciscan University and a Juris Doctorate (with honors) from the University of Akron.
Marshall B. Belden Jr. is a 1969 graduate of the Colorado School of Mines and is a petroleum engineer. He was associated with MB Operating Co., Inc, a family owned oil & gas exploration and development company beginning in 1970. He was elected President of the company in 1978 and Chairman of the Board in 1995. He also served as Chairman of Marbel Energy Corporation from its inception in 1995. In 1998 the family energy business was sold. Since that time he has been active in restoration of historic real estate and antique & collectable automobiles as well as other family business and charitable activities. He is employed by McBel Trust, overseeing family investments including McKinley Communications LLC.
H. Arthur Bellows, Jr. is a Non-Executive Director of the Company and an investor in McKinley Communications, Inc. Mr. Bellows is also the Chairman of Braeburn Associates (a private holding personal investment company), and Chairman of The Finance Network, LLC (a private financial services firm). Recent professional experience and positions include founder, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Triangle Corporation; Director, Hexcel Corporation; Director, Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc.; President and Director of Audits & Surveys Worldwide, Inc. Mr. Bellows is also a past President of the Board of Trustees of the Western Reserve Academy, Hudson, Ohio and Chairman of the Board of Governors of the University Cottage Club. Mr. Bellow received a B.A. in Political Science from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Mark T. Clark is a Non-Executive Director of the Company. Mr. Clark is also Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning & Operations of and a member of the Executive Council of FirstEnergy Corp., the fifth largest electric utility in the US. Mr. Clark is responsible for FirstEnergy’s Business Development and Performance Group, Rates and Regulatory Affairs, Information Technology, Supply Chains, Security, Marketing and Sales and Strategic Planning. Mr. Clark previously served as Chairman of the Company. Mr. Clark graduated from The Ohio State University in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science degree and earned a MBA from The University of Akron in 1978. Mr. Clark also completed the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School in 1985. Mr. Clark is on the board of The First Tee of Akron, is on the Champions Council for the Bridgestone World Series of Golf. Mr. Clark is also past president of Portage Country Club, board member of the Akron Area Automobile Association and YMCA Foundation. His past board affiliations include Child Guidance and Family Solutions (formerly Akron Child Guidance), the Better Business Bureau, the YMCA and Junior Achievement.
Scott M. Honour is a Non-Executive Director of the Company. Mr. Honour is responsible for originating and structuring transactions and pursuing strategic initiatives at The Gores Group, LLC. Prior to joining Gores in 2002, Mr. Honour led a career as an investment banker with a focus on creating, structuring, financing and executing financial sponsor-led transactions. From 2001 to 2002, Mr. Honour served as a Managing Director at UBS AG Warburg, where he was responsible for relationships with technology-focused financial sponsors, including Gores, and created the firm's Transaction Development Group, which brought transaction ideas to financial sponsors, including Gores. Prior to joining UBS Warburg, Mr. Honour was an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc. where he executed a variety of mergers and acquisitions, high yield financings, equity offerings and restructuring assignments. Mr. Honour also served as a Vice President in DLJ's Merchant Banking Group from 1995 to 1997. Prior to joining DLJ, Mr. Honour served as an analyst at Trammell Crow Company. Mr. Honour earned his B.S. in Business Administration and B.A. in Economics, cum laude, from Pepperdine University, and his M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with an emphasis in finance and marketing.
Mark R. Stone is a Non-Executive Director of the Company. Mr. Stone is responsible for Gores' worldwide operations group, oversight of all Gores portfolio companies and operational due diligence efforts. Mr. Stone joined Gores in 2005 from Sentient Jet, Inc., the leading provider of private jet membership and three-time recipient of the Robb Report's "Best of the Best in Travel Services" distinction, where he served as CEO. Prior to Sentient Jet, Mr. Stone served as CEO of Narus, Inc., a global telecommunication software company and Sentex Systems, Ltd., an international security and access control manufacturing company. Mr. Stone was Corporate General Manager of Citysearch, Inc. (now an operating business of IAC/InterActiveCorp, NASDAQ: IACI), a multi-billion dollar new media organization. Mr. Stone spent five years with the Boston Consulting Group, a global strategy and operations consulting firm, as a member of their high technology and industrial goods practices—serving in BCG's Boston, London, Los Angeles and Seoul, Korea offices. Mr. Stone holds an MBA in Finance and Multinational Management from The Wharton School and a B.S. in Finance with Computer Science and Mathematics concentrations from the University of Maine.
Key Management
- Raymond Hexamer, CEO
- Joseph Morris, President
- Jessica Newman, COO
- Lyle Patrick, CFO
- David Johnson, SVP Sales
- Jay Martin, VP Marketing
- Jeff Leonard, General Council
- Rick Poore, President FTS
Raymond Hexamer joined the Company in January 2005 as the Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Hexamer was previously President and General Manager of WHBC Radio and was involved over the years in all aspects of that business from on-air, sales, finance and management. Mr. Hexamer was a part of the investment group and CEO of SkyLAN, a wireless Internet provider, whose assets were acquired by the Company. Radio Ink Magazine named Mr. Hexamer as one of the top five-presidents/general managers nationally in 2002 and top seven in 2003. Mr. Hexamer is involved in numerous community boards and was the 2001 General Chairman of The Professional Football Hall of Fame Festival. Mr. Hexamer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from the University of Akron.
Joseph Morris is the President of the Company. He has held leadership positions in every department of the Company over the last ten years and has also been the lead participant for the Company in the identification, negotiation and integration of its nine acquisitions since 2004. Mr. Morris is also responsible for all legal affairs and setting regulatory strategy and direction for the Company. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Morris was an attorney Roetzel & Andress, L.P.A. with a practice focused on public, corporate and international law. Mr. Morris studied Economics at Queens University of Belfast, received a Bachelor of Arts from Franciscan University and a Juris Doctorate (with honors) from the University of Akron.
Jessica Newman is the Chief Operating Officer. Prior to this position she was the Chief Executive Officer of Acceris Management and Acquisition, LLC and prior served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of New Access Communications, LLC. At Acceris she turned the company from a $1,000,000 a month cash loss position to cash positive in 3 months. During her tenure at New Access Communications, Ms. Newman was responsible for integrating several acquisitions allowing the company to increase revenues with minimal operational costs. She also previously served as Vice President, Compliance at the AV Group, Inc., where she was primarily responsible for managing policy and procedure for personnel, sales, finance and acquiring new ventures. From 1989 to 1998, Ms. Newman owned a small retail chain and increased revenue by 400% in the first 5 years. She also now serves as a Director of the Marilou Newman Foundation, a non-profit which supports the Methodist Hospital Foundation.
James Lyle Patrick joined First Communications in March 2009 as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Patrick comes with a background of finance, accounting and telecommunications experience. In addition to fourteen years with Arthur Andersen, he has approximately twenty year’s experience as Chief Financial Officer with Consolidated Communications, McLeodUSA, Completel, MetroPCS and US LEC. He has substantial public company experience, having served as CFO at MetroPCS, a NYSE quoted wireless communications provider with a market capitalization of $2.8 billion and at US LEC, formerly a Nasdaq quoted competitive telecommunications company, which was acquired by Paetec in 2007 for $450 million. Mr. Patrick is a member of the AICPA, is the former Chairman of CompTel (US Competitive Telecom Trade Organization), a former Board member of USTA (United States Telecom Association) and is the former Chairman of the Illinois Telephone Association.
David Johnson is the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Mr. Johnson holds a B.A. in Finance and a B.A. in Management, Magna Cum Laude from Walsh University. Prior to his employment with First Communications, Mr. Johnson worked at The Timken Bearing and Steel Company for five years. Mr. Johnson has been an active board member of Boy Scouts of America (Buckeye Council), The Chapel in North Canton, North Canton Little League and Youth Football.
Jay Martin joined the company in October of 2008 with responsibility for Marketing and Product Management. Mr. Martin has over 20 years of experience in the Telecom industry. Prior to joining First Communications, he served as Vice President of Offer Management at Level 3 Communications were he built an organization responsible for providing commercial support for the Business Markets Group. He joined Level 3 Communications through its acquisition of TelCove were he served as VP of Integrations and Planning and led the Product Delivery and Management organization. He began his career at Sprint were he served 12 years in a variety of Finance, Marketing, and Product Management positions. Mr. Martin attended The Ohio State University were he earned both an MBA and B.S. in Business Administration.
Jeffrey W. Leonard is the General Counsel for First Communications, Inc. Prior to joining the Company in May 2009, he was a partner in Roetzel & Andress Co. LPA where his practice focused on M&A. Jeff remains in an Of Counsel position with R&A. Prior to joining R&A, Jeff was Chief Financial Officer/General Counsel/Director of Strategic Growth of Feature Foods, Inc. (dba Main Street Gourmet), a privately-held manufacturer of frozen bakery products. Prior to holding that position, Jeff was a partner in the Akron, Ohio law firm of Brouse & McDowell where he was chair of that firm’s Tax Practice Group. Before joining Brouse & McDowell, Jeff was an associate in the Columbus, Ohio office of Baker & Hostetler. Jeff has received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been named one of Ohio’s “Superlawyers” in M&A each year since 2004 and has been named of the Best Lawyers in America for Tax Law each year since 2006. Jeff received his undergraduate degree cum laude in accounting from Miami University in 1978 and his law degree from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1983. Jeff is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Rick Poore is the President of First Telecom Services, LLC a wholly owned subsidiary of First Communications, Inc. providing fiber optic and wireless infrastructure to telecommunications carriers and large private enterprise networks. Mr. Poore developed and operated similar companies, first for GPU and later for FirstEnergy, most recently as the General Manager & Director of FirstEnergy Telecom Services, Inc. Mr. Poore has a wealth of experience in leveraging Utility Infrastructure for use by the Telecommunications Industry. Mr. Poore has held various engineering and management positions in telecommunications and information services over his 35 years of experience. Mr. Poore earned a Bachelor of Engineering Technology from the State University of New York and is a graduate of Penn State’s Executive Development Program.
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