SAN DIEGO, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- A day after returning to the helm of
the company he founded 15 years ago, Ted Waitt, Gateway (NYSE: GTW) chairman
and chief executive officer, today unveiled his management team.
"We are fortunate to have an aggressive and nimble management team with
decades of industry experience, tremendous business acumen and total focus on
client satisfaction and shareholder value," Waitt said. "We need to get off
to a fast start and we have a lot of work to do. I am confident that the team
we have in place will execute against our proven strategy in order to deliver
continued success."
The following people will report directly to Waitt.
Joe Burke becomes senior vice president and chief financial officer
replacing John Todd, who is leaving the company to pursue other interests.
Burke, who joined Gateway in October 1995 as a vice president for Market
Development, is a seasoned financial executive. Burke started his career at
the predecessor of PricewaterhouseCoopers, specializing in audit, and then
moved to corporate controller and later treasurer of Blockbuster Entertainment
Corp. He also served as chief financial officer of Blockbuster's
International division. Upon joining Gateway, he was responsible for leading
the company's Gateway Country store expansion plans through 1998 and recently
served as senior vice president of Global Business Development and as senior
vice president, Latin America, with responsibility for Gateway's expansion
there.
Bart Brown becomes senior vice president, Gateway Consumer, replacing
Cliff Holtz, who is leaving the company to pursue other interests. Brown, a
12-year Gateway veteran, has worked in Sales, Marketing and Product roles,
including a previous one-year assignment as head of Gateway's consumer
business. Most recently, he served as vice president overseeing Gateway's
Consumer-focused beyond-the-box sales strategies, offering products and
services to complement the PC.
Dave Russell becomes senior vice president, Supply Chain Management. In
this role, he is responsible for worldwide procurement, materials and
logistics. Russell started at Gateway in August 1988 in inventory management,
and has served in a number of roles within Gateway in the procurement and
materials area. Most recently, he was vice president, Supplier Management.
Sue Parks remains senior vice president, Gateway Business. Mike Hammond
remains senior vice president and will head the company's global manufacturing
operations. William Elliott remains senior vice president, general counsel
and corporate secretary. James Pollard remains senior vice president and
chief information officer. John Renfro remains senior vice president, Human
Resources.
As part of this reorganization of the team, other executive officer
positions have been eliminated and those officers are leaving the company.
Conference Call
A special conference call will be held on today at 9 AM EST and will be
accessible via live audio webcast at http://www.gateway.com.
About Gateway
Gateway (NYSE: GTW), a Fortune 250 company founded in 1985, focuses on
building lifelong relationships with consumers, small businesses and
government and education institutions by helping our clients meet all their
technology needs. Gateway had total global revenue of $9.7 billion in 2000.
For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.gateway.com
Special Note
The above statements include forward-looking statements based on current
management expectations. Factors that could cause future results to differ
from these expectations include the following: general economic conditions;
growth in the personal computer industry; competitive factors and pricing
pressures; component supply shortages; short product cycles; foreign currency
fluctuations; risks relating to new or acquired businesses and joint ventures;
risks of financing customer orders; infrastructure requirements; risks of
equity investments; changes in product, customer or geographic sales mix;
access to technology; and inventory risks due to shifts in market demand.
Additional factors are described in the Company's reports and other filings
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Gateway Management Team
Ted Waitt, chairman and chief executive officer
At the age of 38, Ted Waitt is a true pioneer of the information age, and
is responsible for a string of innovations that have transformed not just
Gateway, but the technology industry as well.
The son of a fourth-generation Iowa cattleman, Waitt has parlayed a
genetic predisposition for plain talk and fair dealing into a business model
that is as true today as it was when he founded the company. In 1985, he and
Mike Hammond, a friend, co-founded Gateway with a $10,000 loan guaranteed by
his grandmother. The company's early value proposition was simple, and is
similar to today's: offer products directly to customers by telephone and
build them to their specifications -- and always provide the best value for
money. With a sharp focus on customer satisfaction, the fledgling start-up
grossed $100,000 the first year.
Under Waitt's stewardship, Gateway has grown from a start-up to a
$10 billion company in 15 years. That growth is founded on two simple
observations. Technology should be simple to use and should improve the
user's life; and a company that provides technology should strive for lifelong
relationships with its customers. Gateway, Waitt likes to say, is the
customer's trusted guide -- or an IT department for the masses.
In the mid-1990s, Waitt saw that the traditional PC business was
commoditizing at a rapid rate. He was determined to prevent Gateway from
following that path. Waitt, the first in the PC business to see the PC as a
platform for additional related revenue sources, implemented a series of
innovative initiatives designed to provide Gateway with a richer and more
diverse profit stream, as well as fresh, new ways to strengthen Gateway's
customer relationships.
Under Waitt, Gateway became the first PC maker to:
-- Offer PC upgrades such as Microsoft Windows, choices of software and
CD-ROMs as standard at no extra charge
-- Explore convergence of the PC and television with the visionary
Destination system
-- Sell directly on the Internet
-- Offer financing through the Your:)Ware program, a revolutionary way to
buy and own a PC that protects customers against technology
obsolescence
-- Open and scale a non-inventory retail channel, Gateway Country stores,
becoming one of the nation's first "bricks and clicks" retailers
-- Sell peripherals on-line
-- Bundle its own branded Internet service with the PC
-- Offer its own training direct to customers
Likening the worldwide digital divide between computer haves and have nots
to a "chasm" of Grand Canyon proportions, Waitt has worked tirelessly during
2000 to ramp up a family foundation designed to ensure children have equal
access to technology. The Waitt Family Foundation is a private family fund
focused on serving the needs of families and children in crisis, with a
special interest in bridging the digital divide.
Born Jan. 18, 1963, in Sioux City, IA, Waitt attended the University of
Iowa before founding the company. Waitt, his wife and four children reside in
San Diego.
Bart Brown, senior vice president, Gateway Consumer
Bart Brown is senior vice president, Gateway Consumer, responsible for
improving and expanding services to clients by managing sales, customer
support and marketing functions in the U.S. consumer operation, including the
telephone, Internet and Gateway Country store channels.
Brown has an outstanding track record of achievement with Gateway. During
his 12 years with the company, he has worked in Sales, Marketing and Product
roles, including a previous one-year assignment as head of Gateway's consumer
business. Most recently, he served as vice president overseeing Gateway's
Consumer-focused beyond-the-box sales strategies, offering products and
services to complement the PC.
Brown has an in-depth knowledge of Gateway's products, client base and
history as well as a clear vision of how Gateway can enhance sales of not just
the PC, but of products and services other than the PC, in order to diversify
and aggressively grow the company's revenue streams, and build lifelong
relationships with clients.
Born April 23, 1965, in Sioux City, IA, Brown attended the University of
Iowa. After leaving college, he joined Gateway.
Joseph Burke, senior vice president and chief financial officer
Joseph Burke is senior vice president and chief financial officer,
responsible for coordinating financial controls and planning tools and for
communications between Gateway and the investment community. Burke also is
responsible for Business Development, Latin America operations and real estate
and administrative services.
Burke, who joined Gateway in October 1995 as a vice president for Market
Development, is a seasoned financial executive. Burke started his career at
the predecessor of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, specializing in audit, and then
moved to corporate controller and later treasurer of Blockbuster Entertainment
Corp. He also served as chief financial officer of Blockbuster's
International division. Upon joining Gateway, he was responsible for leading
the company's Gateway Country store expansion plans through 1998 and recently
served as senior vice president of Global Business Development, and senior
vice president, Latin America, with responsibility for Gateway's expansion
there.
Burke's leadership grew the Gateway Country strategy from just an idea to
more than 170 stores in less than three years, often in the face of many
external skeptics. Drawing on his background and following Chairman Ted
Waitt's vision, Burke's team grew Gateway Country into a power that redefined
both retail sales and the direct channel. The first two stores opened in
November 1996. Today Gateway Country is a major, thriving segment of
Gateway's overall business.
Born September 17, 1957 in Scranton, PA, Burke received a bachelor of
science degree in business administration from the University of Florida in
1978.
William Elliott, senior vice president, general counsel and corporate
secretary
William M. Elliott is senior vice president, general counsel and secretary
of Gateway, Inc. He has responsibility for managing the legal affairs and the
corporate secretarial matters of the company as well as responsibility for the
contract management function and patent licensing. He also is responsible for
Compliance and Ethics and Government Relations.
During his tenure with Gateway, Elliott has put in place the nucleus of
his Law Department team providing timely, effective and efficient legal
services to all functions of the corporation. He has in place the Secretarial
function administering the Secretarial services to the New York Stock
Exchange-listed parent company and its many domestic and international
subsidiaries. Elliott has responsibility over the contract negotiations and
contract administration functions of the company and heads up a team
responsible for patent licensing matters.
Before joining Gateway in 1994, Elliott spent three years as Senior Vice
President, General Counsel and Secretary of International Telecharge, Inc., a
telecommunications company specializing in the public and private pay
telephone markets. From 1977 to 1990, Elliott was Senior Vice President and
General Counsel of Northrop Corporation, an aerospace company. He was
Corporate Secretary of Northrop Corporation from 1977 to 1983. From 1968 to
1977 Elliott was the General Counsel of Martin Marietta Aluminum and Corporate
Secretary for Martin Marietta Corporation and Martin Marietta Aluminum, Inc.
Elliott began his career as a staff counsel for Mobil Oil Corporation from
1962 to 1968.
Born in Leavenworth, KS, in 1934, Elliott received his bachelor's degree
in 1959 and a J.D. degree in 1962 from the University of Missouri at Kansas
City. Elliott is a member of the bar of the states of Missouri, Michigan,
California, Maryland and the District of Columbia. He is also admitted to
practice before various Federal Courts and the United States Supreme Court.
Mike Hammond, senior vice president, Operations
Mike Hammond is senior vice president, Operations, with responsibility for
Gateway's global manufacturing operations.
Hammond returns to leading the Operations effort after a stint as head of
the company's Business Process Simplification team. Hammond also has served
as senior vice president of Global Manufacturing and vice president of
Gateway's Asia-Pacific organization.
In September 1985, Hammond and Chairman Ted Waitt co-founded Gateway in
Sioux City, Iowa. Since then, he has worked in every part of the business.
Hammond was the architect and engineer of the company's highly efficient
manufacturing facilities and built-to-order systems, which are the backbone of
Gateway's global manufacturing operations. Under Hammond's guidance,
Operations has been a model of continuous cost-efficiency improvement and
customer satisfaction.
Hammond was born Nov. 28, 1961 in Des Moines, IA.
Susan Parks, senior vice president, Gateway Business
Susan Parks is senior vice president of Gateway Business. Parks joined
the company in September 2000 to lead Gateway Business as it intensifies its
strategic focus on small and medium business, education and government
markets.
Parks is responsible for driving the development and marketing of
technology solutions and services for Gateway's business clients. Through her
leadership, Gateway Business is expanding its beyond-the-box offerings with
such popular services as web hosting, business Internet service and on-line
application services. Parks also is focusing on leveraging the company's
unique assets, such as Gateway Country stores, to service small and medium
businesses, government and education customers.
Prior to joining Gateway, Parks was a senior vice president at Qwest,
which recently merged with U S WEST. Parks spent five years in a number of
senior positions of increasing importance at U S WEST, most recently heading
the Business and Government Solutions division, a $2.6 billion business unit
with 3,500 employees. She led the division's programs to provide integrated
voice, data, video and Internet solutions to more than 10,000 business
customers. As vice president of Voice Products for U S WEST, Parks drove the
company to its strongest growth among small business clients. While at
U S WEST, she was instrumental in shaping a number of product development,
marketing, sales and employee initiatives.
Parks also held leadership positions at Mead Corporation and
Avery-Dennison.
A native of Rockford, IL, Parks earned her BA in Industrial Administration
in 1979 from Iowa State University.
Born March 10, 1957, Parks is based at Gateway Business headquarters in
Lake Forest, CA.
James Pollard, senior vice president and chief information officer
James Pollard is senior vice president and chief information officer. He
joined Gateway in June 1999 as vice president of Global Applications and was
appointed vice president, chief information officer in August 1999.
Pollard has global responsibility for directing the company's information
technology strategy and architecture, daily IT operations and industry-leading
technology initiatives. He played a key role in implementing the most
sweeping and successful internal systems overhaul in Gateway's history during
1999. Pollard continues to oversee later phases of that continuing effort
aimed at dramatically increasing productivity while reducing costs and
capitalizing on Internet technology. He's also been key in implementing an
integrated application environment, outsourcing of infrastructure and legacy
applications.
Born December 25, 1946 in Idabel, OK, Pollard came to Gateway with more
than 30 years' experience. Before joining Gateway, Pollard was chairman,
president and chief executive officer for ECWerks, Inc. in Tampa, Fla., a
pioneer in e-commerce. Prior to joining ECWerks, Pollard was executive vice
president of operations and chief information officer of Tech Data Corporation
in Clearwater, Fla.
John Renfro, senior vice president, Human Resources
John M. Renfro is senior vice president of human resources for Gateway
with responsibility for managing Gateway's culture, organizational
development, employee development and training, staffing, compensation and
benefits, health and safety, employee relations and human resources systems
for Gateway's 21,000 employees on four continents. Renfro also is responsible
for Gateway's Community Relations activity, as well as the Gateway Foundation.
Renfro continues the mission of preserving Gateway's unique corporate
culture while constructing a scalable, world-class HR infrastructure at
Gateway to manage the company's explosive growth.
Renfro joined Gateway in June 1998 as vice president of corporate human
resources. Before coming to Gateway, Renfro was senior vice president of
human resources and administration for Zenith Electronics Corporation in
Chicago.
Before joining Zenith, Renfro was vice president of human resources and
administration for the Small Business Services division of Ameritech in
Chicago. Prior to joining Ameritech, Renfro was vice president of human
resources for AC Nielsen International and Dun & Bradstreet's consumer
marketing information group for Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Africa
operations, based primarily in Sydney, Australia. During his six years at
AC Nielsen, Renfro also served as vice president, human resources, in the
domestic marketing research division. Renfro has human resources experience in
45 countries.
Born December 31, 1959, and a native of Collinsville, IL, Renfro earned a
bachelor's degree in administrative sciences from Southern Illinois University
in Carbondale in 1982. He is a member of the executive committee of the board
of directors of the San Diego United Way, and of its cabinet of the Alexis de
Tocqueville Society.
Dave Russell, senior vice president, Supply Chain Management
Dave Russell is senior vice president, Supply Chain Management, and is
responsible for worldwide procurement, materials and logistics. Russell
started at Gateway in August 1988 in inventory management.
Russell served in a number of roles within Gateway in the procurement and
materials area. Most recently, he was vice president, Supplier Management.
Russell was born Nov. 5, 1963 in Sioux City, IA.
SOURCE Gateway
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.gateway.com
CONTACT:
media, John W. Spelich, Public Relations,
858-799-2657, john.spelich@gateway.com, or investors, Marlys D.
Johnson, Investor Relations, 605-232-2709,
marlys.johnson@gateway.com, both of Gateway
|
