Chuck Cargile, the former chief financial officer of Newport Corp., has been tapped for the top position at Roseville-based Sunworks Inc. and will lead the solar power provider from an office in Newport Beach.
It’s another example of talented executives deciding to stay in Orange County while running businesses’ headquartered elsewhere. Skyworks Solutions Inc.’s Liam Griffin, who was promoted to chief executive last year, opted to stay in Irvine instead of relocating to the Boston metro town of Woburn, Mass.
Cargile, 52, was instrumental in finalizing last year’s $980 million all-cash sale of Irvine-based Newport Corp. to Massachusetts-based MKS Instruments.
Cargile, who joined Sunworks’ board in September, said he’s eager to work at the fast-growing company.
“They needed a CEO with the capability to develop finance, IT, HR, etc. so that the back office can keep up with the dramatic growth being delivered by the front office,” he told the Business Journal. “Also, they need someone with M&A and Wall Street experience.”
Sunworks, which trades under the symbol SUNW on the NASDAQ, posted revenue of $86.4 million last year, up 61% from 2015.
Cargile said he intends to stay active in local philanthropy and other organizations. He is a director at the Forum for Corporate Directors, University of Southern California Marshall Partners and Hoag Charity Sports, which hosts the Toshiba Classic held annually at the Newport Beach Country Club. He’s also on the audit committee at Hoag Hospital Foundation and on the Corporate Advisory Board at USC’s Marshall School of Business.
Newport Corp., which makes lasers and related controls for telecommunications and chipmakers, was No. 21 on last year’s Business Journal list of OC’s largest public companies, with a market value of about $890 million.
Move Up IoT Chain
Wall Street has rewarded Irvine-based Lantronix Inc. for taking several new operational and strategic turns in the last year in an effort to capture more of the booming Internet of Things market while cutting failing product lines.
Shares of the networking equipment maker more than doubled in the first quarter and are up four-fold from its 52-week low of 88 cents. Not to get too excited, though—its market value is still about $68 million, and its stock price of $3.88 is a long way from the heady days of the early 2000s when it topped $60.
Chief Executive Jeff Benck, who took the helm in late 2015, restructured the firm by bringing in new executives, consolidating operations in Japan and exiting its mobile printing business.
“The last year has been a period of significant change for the company as we’ve attracted new talent and implemented a product strategy to move up the IoT value chain,” he said. “We’re excited about the momentum.”
Iteris Gets Greenlight
A new Iteris Inc. customer highlights the company’s ongoing shift from providing primarily transportation data to selling agricultural and weather insights.
U.K.-based Muddy Boots Software plans to integrate Interis’ ClearAg software into its Greenlight Grower Management System to provide real-time, precise field and crop data. The Iteris offering delivers weather, water, soil and crop health data and advisory services to growers, researchers and other agribusinesses that need accurate, location-based information globally.
Financial terms of the multiyear subscription weren’t disclosed.
Iteris shares, traded under the symbol ITI on the NASDAQ, climbed about 49% in the first quarter, with a market value of about $175 million.
