SSI Appoints Alien Technology VP as New Board Member
Santa Clara-based Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc. has announced the appointment of Keith McDonald, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Morgan Hill-based Alien Technology Corporation to a vacant seat on its board of directors.
McDonald has been with Alien since 2004 as a senior vice president responsible for setting strategic directions, managing business partnerships, enabling technology alliances, and establishing OEM relationships.
McDonald also worked as a corporate vice president of global accounts and relationship management at Solectron, a leading provider of electronics manufacturing and supply chain services.
McDonald also spent 10 years at Samsung Semiconductor as a senior vice president of sales and marketing and a member of the board of directors, playing an integral role in leading the company to the top position in the electronics industry, generating more than $6 billion in yearly revenue.
“Keith brings extensive technology industry, business development and management experience to ISSI. We welcome Keith to ISSI, and look forward to having his expertise available to us, to help us grow the company and implement our business strategy,” said Jimmy S.M. Lee, chairman and chief executive officer of ISSI.
“I am excited to join the board of ISSI and hope to contribute to the strategic direction and business goals of the company. With prior experience in the semiconductor and high technology markets, I believe my experience and background will fit well with ISSI’s products and market strategy,” said McDonald.
ISSI is a fables semiconductor company that designs and markets high performance integrated circuits for the digital consumer electronics, networking, mobile communications and automotive electronics markets. The company’s primary products are high speed and low power SRAM and low and medium density DRAM. The company also designs and markets EEPROM, SmartCards and is developing selected non-memory products focused on its key markets. ISSI is headquartered in Silicon Valley with worldwide offices in China, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Korea and Taiwan.
For more information visit www.issi.com.
Alien Technology Forms Alien Technology Asia in Korea
Morgan Hill-based Alien Technology Corporation has announced the formation of Alien Technology Asia, based in Songdo, Incheon Free Economic Zone, Korea to serve the rapidly expanding markets for RFID or radio frequency identification in Asia.
Alien will invest up to $10 million in the new venture, which will develop sales, distribution, marketing, R&D, and manufacturing capabilities to enhance Alien’s existing Asian distribution network and address the comprehensive needs of customers across Asian markets.
“The advanced stage of the Korean RFID market coupled with the technology capability, leadership and vision demonstrated in adoption of RFID in Korea, make the country an ideal location for the headquarters of Alien’s business operations in Asia,” said Robert Eulau, Alien’s chief financial officer and acting CEO. “We look forward to further engagement with the leaders of the RFID industry in Korea to address the growing opportunities for RFID business across Asia.”
Alien Technology Asia will offer Alien RFID Academy training courses for the Korean market beginning in January 2007 utilizing the u-IT Cluster Center facilities in SongDo Incheon City, Korea. The Alien RFID Academy, which has graduated more than 1,800 individuals representing over 600 commercial and governmental organizations around the world, offers both fundamental and advanced hands-on courses for optimizing RFID implementations.
Alien Technology provides UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) products and services to customers in retail, consumer goods, manufacturing, defense, transportation and logistics, pharmaceuticals and other industries. Organizations use Alien’s RFID products and services to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and security of their supply chains, logistics and asset tracking operations. Alien’s products include RFID tags, RFID readers and related training and professional services. Alien’s patented Fluidic Self Assembly (FSATM) technology and related proprietary manufacturing processes are designed to enable the manufacture of high volume, low cost RFID tags.
Alien was founded in l994. The company’s facilities include: its corporate headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA; an RFID tag manufacturing facility in Fargo, ND; the Alien RFID Solutions Center, in the Dayton, Ohio area, and sales offices in the US, Europe and Asia. Alien is a member of EPCGlobal.
More information about Alien is available at www.alientechnology.com.
Survey Results Show Business Owners Optimistic For New Year
The Alternative Board (TAB), an organization that offers small to medium-size businesses business advice, has released its 2007 forecasting survey with results that show business owners in the United States are optimistic about the growth of their companies this year.
According to Bill Ross, a San Jose-based TAB-Certified Facilitator, the data gathered from the survey forecasts relevant opinions to promote the awareness of the concerns facing the business world. What?s encouraging for the small and medium-size businesses in general, Ross said, is that over 60 percent of those surveyed said they were optimistic about the future of the economy.
“The survey was created to identify the needs and concerns of business owners so we can create a better awareness for the opportunities and challenges facing owners of small and medium-size businesses,” Ross said.
“What we found most interesting for the 2007 economy is that the business owners surveyed projected an increase in their revenues, capital spending and hiring for 2007.”
One component of the survey evaluated U.S. TAB members, who receive regular peer advice and business coaching, said they expected substantial increases in several areas of business. For example, over 80 percent of them anticipated an increase in revenue. And, over 60 percent of the business owners predicted they would hire more employees, while 35 percent projected they would have the same amount of employees. About half of the business owners expected their capital spending would remain relatively flat in 2007.
While it is easy to see that business owners are looking forward to the future, the TAB survey also reveals pressing concerns that they have about their business, which are in the areas of sales, marketing, human resources, finances and managing growth.
“What many small and medium-size business owners find most challenging is the lack of practical, seasoned advice on the concerns that are pressing on them the most,” Ross said. “TAB’s peer advisory boards and coaching solutions are designed to help business owners develop ideas, insight and solutions from other business leaders who can speak of similar situations they have experienced first-hand.”
The survey, sponsored by The Alternative Board® and conducted by CfMC, a leading market research firm based in San Francisco, was administered to small and medium-size business owners throughout both the United States and Canada.
For more information about this survey, or to find out more about the services offered by TAB, please contact Bill Ross at (408) 532-0910.
Verizon Boosts Local Broadband in Morgan Hill, Gilroy
Verizon has boosted access to its DSL broadband service in South Valley with technology upgrades to its Morgan Hill and Gilroy switching centers, along with more than 180 of the company’s networks.
By extending the reach of its DSL service within the communities, Verizon will bring upgraded technology to its networks allowing customers who have not had access to DSL to have high-speed connection to the Internet.
For more information visit www.verizon.net/dsl. New customers who go online to order consumer DSL service with an annual service plan can choose from a maximum connection speed of up to 3.0 megabits per second, downstream and 768 kilobits per secon, upstream for $29.99 per month, or a maximum connection speed of up to 768 kilobits downstream and 128 kilobits upstream for $19.99.
For more information on Verizon visit www.verizon.com.
Disaster Assistance for Small Businesses Now Available
Small, non-farm businesses in Santa Clara County may now apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues to farmers and ranchers caused by the record-setting heat wave, which occurred July 1 through July 31.
Small businesses may qualify for economic injury disaster loans of up to $1.5 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met had the disaster only and not on any actual property damage. These loans have an interest rate of 4 percent, a maximum term of 30 years and are restricted to small businesses without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship,” said Alfred E. Judd, director of the SBA’s Disaster Field Operations Center.
Businesses primarily engaged in farming or ranching are not eligible for SBA disaster assistance. Agricultural enterprises should contact the Farm Services Agency about the U.S. Department of Agriculture assistance made available by the secretary’s declaration.
For information and application forms call (800) 659-22955 or visit SBA’s Web site at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance. The deadline to apply is July 2, 2007.
