Mace hires new CEO (and you probably know him)
By Martha Entwistle
Updated Thu July 31, 2008
Big news coming out of the Mace camp today: They've hired Dennis Raefield, who lately came out of retirement to run things for Reach Systems and who's got a resume in the industry as long as my arm (and I've got long arms), to be the new CEO. Their last CEO was not an industry guy (and you may remember what happened to him), so this is a real signal that Mace is serious about their security operations, especially in combination with their hire of Devin Benjamin.
No link, but here's the press release:
MACE APPOINTS VETERAN SECURITY INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE, DENNIS RAEFIELD, AS ITS NEW PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
I think all-caps is yelling, but I was too lazy to retype that and blogger doesn't have that cool "change case" function that Word and InDesign have. So there.
HORSHAM, Pennsylvania – July 31, 2008 - Mace Security International, Inc. today announced the appointment of Dennis Raefield, a veteran security industry executive, as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company, commencing August 18, 2008. Gerald LaFlamme will continue to serve as the Company’s Interim Chief Executive Officer and President, until Mr. Raefield assumes the offices.
Pennsylvania has the coolest town names. AlliedBarton is in King of Prussia.
A member of the Board of Directors of Mace since October of 2007, Mr. Raefield is currently President of Reach Systems, Inc., a privately owned manufacturer of security access control systems. He previously served as President of Ademco and Honeywell Access Systems, a division of Honeywell, Inc. and as President of Pinkerton Systems Integration, Inc., a division of Pinkerton. Mr. Raefield will be resigning his position as President of Reach Systems, Inc. on August 15, 2008; effective with his resignation Mr. Raefield will become a director of Reach Systems, Inc.
Bummer for Reach, really. They're a young company just starting to gain some momentum and they were psyched to have Dennis on board. Here's the article about his hire there. At the time, the company was called Edge Integration. But, you know, there's some other folks in access control that like the name Edge for some of their stuff, so...
“I am honored and excited to join Mace and help lead this fine company in a return to profitability, stable growth, and increased shareholder value,†said Mr. Raefield. “Our goal is to have the Mace name become synonymous with personal and business security, as well as becoming a strong player in digital media marketing.
“My first goal will be to raise the top line revenue with quality and profitable products, which has always been the basis for the Mace reputation. I look forward to working with a strong team to achieve these objectives,†he continued.
Good to see someone in the press release writing biz actually knows how to use quotation marks correctly when a quote bridges paragraphs. Well done, Mace.
In announcing the selection, Company Chairman Jack Mallon said: “Dennis has served on Mace’s Board since October 2007, and he understands the fundamentals and vision of the Company. With his proven experience in leading and growing companies coupled with his knowledge of the Company, the Board of Directors believed he is well qualified to become Mace’s Chief Executive Officer. We look forward to his restoring the Company to profitability and enhancing shareholder value.â€Â
Public companies are cool because you can look at all their financials and they can't hide anything, but they're sort of lame because they have to talk like that all the time.
Comments