Emulex’s Household Name; Nexgenix Loses Officials
The executive suites at many Japanese companies here seem to have revolving doors with officials coming and going from Japan every few years or so. Amid the flow, Irvine-based Toshiba America Electronic Components Inc. is looking to create some continuity.
Hisashi Izumi, president since July of Toshiba America Electronic Components, has tapped Stephen Marlow for the newly created position of executive vice president overseeing the electronics company’s strategic direction.
The move is part of an organizational restructuring. Because Japanese executives from Toshiba Corp. headquarters in Japan are in the U.S. for short rotations, Izumi is seeking more permanence with the appointment, according to Marlow.
“He wanted an executive officer to share the responsibility of leadership, guidance and policy for the company,” Marlow said. “The market’s moving at Internet speed and we needed to ensure that we move with efficient agility to maintain our position.”
Marlow’s primary focus will be on the company’s sales organization. He’ll also oversee individual product lines. Marlow and Izumi are in charge of 1,800 employees, including 310 at three different facilities in Irvine.
Marlow, a native of New Zealand, has been with Toshiba for more than 20 years. Most recently, he held dual roles as senior vice president of demand generation responsible for sales, and as vice president of the memory business unit for the Semiconductor Group, where he oversaw product marketing responsibilities for all random access and flash memory products.
Izumi, who has been with Toshiba since 1969, has held several management positions including managing director of Toshiba Electronics (UK) Ltd. and general manager of its semiconductor sales and marketing division.
Toshiba America Electronics Components has a wide variety of products, from memory to microprocessors and storage devices to lithium batteries. Even though Toshiba sells directly to businesses, many consumers unknowingly use the company’s products.
“Whenever they plug something in the wall, whether a computer or stereo, there is very good chance that it has a Toshiba component,” Marlow said. “Within our component industry, we have the broadest line of enabling technologies for computing, wireless, networking and the digital consumer. That embodies all that we are.”
Emulex’s Bright Side
In the short term, the fake press release that caused Emulex’s stock to lose $3 billion in intraday trading earlier this year caused a lot of anger among company officials. But in the long run, the press release gave the 175-employee company a national brand.
“It made us a household name,” said Emulex vice president of worldwide marketing Michael Smith. “We were fortunate to say it wasn’t true. It gave us a lot of visibility. We’re still getting calls on a routine basis from major newspapers and networks on our opinion on Internet security and market volatility. We’ve made the media’s list of 20 calls to make. We even got a call for our opinion on online voting.”
Officials Leave Nexgenix
Irvine-based Nexgenix Inc.’s initial public offering was canceled earlier this year and it laid off dozens of employees over the summer. Now two of its stars have left the company.
Mark St. Clare left after serving less than 10 months as vice president and chief financial officer. Previously, St. Clare was CFO of Costa Mesa-based FileNET Corp. St. Clare is now at Access360 Inc., an Irvine-based provider of products that control access to company networks.
Michael Donner also left after less than a year on the job as Nexgenix director of marketing and communications. A company spokesman declined to say where he is now.
Magic’s German Deal
The Irvine office of Israel’s Magic Software Enterprises is working with Hoffmann GmbH, a German wholesaler of tools, to establish an online presence. The Hoffmann site, which is being developed and implemented in stages using Magic’s e-commerce template, Magic eMerchant, is set to house 35,000 items that can be ordered directly online for delivery within 24 hours. Currently, Hoffman counts more than 78,000 customers in Germany, including Audi AG and DaimlerChrysler AG.
Struxicon Plans Renovation
Irvine-based Struxicon Inc., developer of online services for the real estate and construction industries, has been selected by TechSource Services Inc. to help with its $8 million renovation of two office properties at the Houston Galleria. TechSource and the project team are using Struxicon’s collaboration, project bidding and materials and equipment procurement software.
The project consists of the renovation of lobby, restroom and other public spaces at two properties, the 12-story Galleria Financial Center and 25-story 2700 Post Oak Tower. Houston-based architecture firm Kirksey & Partners is the designer, and general contractor Tellepsen is providing pre-construction services. TechSource is managing the project on behalf of owner Walton Street Capital and plans to begin construction in the first half of next year.
