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Experienced and Proven Senior
Management Team
The Company’s team of Directors, sernior 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
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 is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.
Mr. 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. Under Mr. Hexamer the radio station sold for US$43.5
million in 2000. 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 has held leadership positions in every department of the
Company over the past nine years and has also been a lead participant for the
Company in the identification, negotiation and integration of its six acquisitions
since 2004. As Chief Operating Officer of the Company, Mr. Morris is responsible
for overall operations, including service delivery, provisioning, network
management and information technology. 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 with 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 has a Juris Doctorate degree (with honors)
from the University of Akron.
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.
Roderick Sherwood, III is a Non-Executive Director of the Company. Mr.
Sherwood is responsible for leading Gores’ finance operations as well as working
with portfolio company executive teams to achieve full operational and financial
potential. Prior to joining Gores in 2005, Mr. Sherwood was Senior VP & Chief
Financial Officer with Gateway, Inc., responsible for overall financial and cost
structure, corporate financial control, planning and analysis, capital raising
and other treasury activities, internal audit and investor communications.
Accomplishments include eMachines, Inc. acquisition, major cost reduction programs
and systematizing financial control processes and procedures. Mr. Sherwood has
over 25 years experience in successful financial and operations capacities for
companies such as Chrysler Corporation, Loudcloud/Opsware and Hughes Electronics
Corporation (including Chairman of Hughes Investment Management Company, CFO of
Hughes Telecommunications and Space, EVP of DIRECTV International and
President/General Manager of Spaceway-Hughes Network Systems). He earned a MBA
from Harvard Graduate School of Business and received his Honors Bachelor of Arts
degree, with Distinction, in Economics from Stanford University.
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
David Johnson Since joining First Communications on its entry into the telecommunications sector,
Mr. Johnson has been and is currently responsible for sales and marketing matters. Before the
establishment of First Communications, (in a previous role) Mr. Johnson led an initial sales
campaign to revenue run-rate of US$4,000,000 in August 2007. 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.
Jamie Rowlands joined First Communications in 2002 and is responsible for marketing and
product development, including New Product Development. Under his leadership, the First
Communications’ sales team has enjoyed 32 consecutive months of new revenue and quote achievement
and added, in aggregate, thousands of new residential customers. Mr. Rowlands has 16 years of
business experience with First Energy and First Communications, specifically in the disciplines
of sales management and business and consumer marketing. Prior to joining First Communications,
Mr. Rowlands worked at Sprint Corporation and at FirstEnergy as Director of National
Sales for 12 years. Mr. Rowlands holds an MBA from The Ohio State University and a B.S. in
Business Administration in Business Administration from Miami University.
David Amis is the founder of Xtension. Prior to forming Xtension, Mr. Amis
worked in various leadership roles at GTE including Director of International Market Operations
for GTE Telecom, Controller, Director of Marketing and Business Development, Director of National
Carrier Sales and Chief Financial Officer of GTE Reinsurance Company. Mr. Amis holds an MBA degree
from the University of North Carolina and a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Louisiana
State University. Mr. Amis 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.
Frank Lomanno is the Senior V.P. of Finance for the Company. Mr. Lomanno
joined the Company in 1999. He has held positions as accounting manager,
controller and director of finance and as temporary CFO. Prior to joining the
Company, Mr. Lomanno was with Miller, Miller, Haney and Davis CPA's and was the
Corporate Accounting Manager for Forest City Enterprises (NYSE). At Forest City
Enterprise, he was responsible for the preparation of the annual financial
reports, along with assisting in the preparation of Form 10-Q and Form 10-K
filings. Mr. Lomanno holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the
University of Dayton.
Jessica Newman is the Senior Vice President of Operations. 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.
Ms. Newman has a BA from the University of Minnesota.
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