James S. (Jim) Twerdahl                   (jim@twerdahl.net, 323-931-8538)

Jim Twerdahl has had over 30 years' experience managing companies that develop, manufacture or source, and market technically sophisticated consumer products.  His detailed resume follows. 

SUMMARY • Senior management leadership— Extensive turnaround experience    as well as high growth and start-up experience. Strengths in strategic        planning, product development and sourcing, marketing, sales,    international business development, financial management and    employee development. • Experienced director in private, public and not-for-profit    corporations. • Principal experience in manufacturing and distribution    companies; in the development, manufacturing or sourcing, and     marketing of consumer high tech products and medical research and    services.

• Industry knowledge: consumer electronics, consumer durables; craft, art, leisure and hobby products; medical technology products and services.
• Channel knowledge: business to business; mass merchants, big box retailers, specialty retailers, Internet and other direct marketing, manufacturer’s representatives, distributors.
• Extensive sourcing experience: principally in Japan , Korea , Hong Kong , China .
• International marketing experience: principally in Europe , Japan, Australia and South America .
• Mergers and Acquisitions experience—supervised or principal in 12 acquisitions/sales from identification and due diligence through closing.
•  Capital raising experience—angel, venture and institutional sources.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

(Detailed resume with accomplishments upon request.)

Managing Director, James S. Twerdahl & Associates and VMG Capital, Los Angeles, California.

VMG Capital and James S. Twerdahl & Associates are two firms engaged in a variety of consulting and investment banking functions.  Both companies focus on work with smaller and middle market companies. The focus of VMG Capital is on capital raising and sell-side M&A activities.  James S. Twerdahl & Associates consults with businesses in strategic planning, marketing and distribution planning, and international business development. It also works with management in turnarounds and crisis management.

      Curently:  Chairman, Neosonik Audio, LLC, manufacturer of wireless digital home theater and high

                              fidelity audio systems.

                        Advisor, Building Safety Solutions, Inc., developer of online life safety training programs for

                              trophy high rise and other buildings.

                        Advisor, VoiKex, LLC, a manufacturer of monitoring devices for expectant mothers.

                        Advisor, San-it-Safe, LLC, a manufacturer of a home sanitizing device for tooth brushes,

                               razors, baby bottles and other personal care items.

                        Advisor, Access Smart, LLC, developer of software and related products for computer

                               password management and identity theft protection.

President and CEO , Simtech International, Inc., Los Angeles , California .           

 Simtech was a development-stage company launched to produce low cost, simplified versions of technically sophisticated consumer electronics products.  

Chairman (1994-7, 2001-2004), Board of Trustees, The House Ear Institute, Los Angeles, California.                                                                                                                                                                

 The House Ear Institute is the world’s leading medical research organization for hearing related diseases and disorders. HEI and the related House Ear Clinic have developed dozens of surgical procedures to advance the state of the art in hearing medicine. The Institute developed the cochlear implant, hearing aids and most recently the brainstem implant to prostheticly treat hearing disease. In the past five years HEI has developed the field’s best cell and molecular biology program.

Instructor in Marketing, Loyola Marymount University Graduate School of Business Administration. 

 MBAC 662 • Brand and Product Management • Fall Semester, 2004

Seminar Instructor, Marshall Graduate School of Business, University of Southern California.

Excelling in Product Lifecycle Management • May, 2005; scheduled for Spring, 2007.

Chairman and CEO , Coloramics, LLC (Mayco Colors, Inc.) , Hilliard , Ohio             

Second largest manufacturer of ceramic glazes, paints and accessories for the craft, hobby, school and art markets.

President, Marantz Company, Inc ., Chatsworth , California, and Vice President of Parent, Dynascan / Cobra Corporation (NASDAQ) Chicago , Illinois                                                      

Producer of high fidelity audio and video components and systems.

President , Fertility and Genetics Research Inc. , Chicago.                                                     

 FGR was a publicly traded (NASDAQ), development stage medical technology company formed to market a UCLA-developed treatment for female infertility.

President, JBL Incorporated (James B. Lansing Sound Co.), and Senior V.P. & Director, Harman International Industries , (NYSE), Northridge , CA .                                                  

 Manufacturer of loudspeakers and electronics for the home high fidelity and professional audio markets.

Chief Executive Officer, Jensen Sound Laboratories, Schiller Park, Illinois, and Group Vice President Consumer Products , International Jensen, Inc .                                               

 Leading manufacturer of car audio speakers and electronics, home loudspeakers and audio accessories.

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Education:

       B. A.       Trinity College , Hartford , Connecticut.   Major: economics.

     M.B.A.     Kellogg School of Management , Northwestern University Graduate School of  Business.                                     Major: marketing; Minor: finance.

___________________________________________

Board Affiliations :

Corporate Boards

Inside management directorships .

Harman International, Inc. (NYSE), consumer and professional audio products.

Fertility and Genetics, Inc. (Pink Sheets), treatment for female infertility.

Mayco Colors, Inc., manufacturer of glazes and paints for craft, hobby and art industries.

Coloramics, LLC, holding company for ceramic glaze manufacturing companies.

Simtech International, Inc., low cost consumer electronics products.

Compact Industries, Inc., Coffee packaging and distribution.

Outside advisor/directorships .

Metal Box International, Inc., manufacturer of sheet metal tool boxes and point of purchase

 displays.

Delivrion, Inc., Dot-com start-up in food delivery business..

Communication Innovations Corporation, owner of nationwide paging license.

Comfort Center Stores, Inc., the largest retailer of mattresses in the Western U.S.

Leeper's Wood Products, manufacturer of stair products and components.

Building Safety Solutions, Inc., information technology for the commercial real estate industry.

Neosonik Audio, Inc., developer of wireless loudspeakers.

Industry organizations

Governor/Executive Committee Member, Electronics Industries Association

Director and Division Chairman, Consumer Electronics Group. (Consumer Electronics Show)

Chairman and Co-Founder, Committee of Car Audio Manufacturers.

President and Treasurer, Car Audio Specialists Association (CASA).

Founding Sponsor & Director, Contemporary Ceramic Studios Association.

 Awarded the Association's first "Lifetime Achievement Award", August, 2001.

Founding Director, Ceramics 2000.

Civic and charitable organizations

Chairman, Board of Trustees, House Ear Institute. (also served as Vice Chair

         Finance, Vice Chair Research, Audit Committee Chair)

Member, National Association of Corporate Directors.

Member, Corporate Directors’ Forum.

Several Offices, Young Presidents' Organization (YPO).

YPO -G, Young Presidents' Organization Graduates.

Officer, World Presidents’ Organization, Santa Monica Bay Chapter

Member, Professional Networking Group

Chair and Co-Chair, California Club Executive Forum.

Director and Chair of House and Grounds Committee, Los Angeles Tennis Club.

Director, Los Angles Music Center 's "In the Wings".

Board Member, St. James' Episcopal School.

Steering Committee Member, National Public Radio.

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Leland D. (Lee) Shaeffer                           (info@plmassociates.com   310-393-9259)

Lee Shaeffer is the founder and managing director of PLM Associates, a consulting firm dedicated to helping companies bring better products to market faster, using fewer resources, by helping them implement or improve development and product lifecycle management processes. Lee also has extensive experience in branding and strategic marketing management for a wide variety of companies, especially technology-driven companies.

He brings a strong combination of analytical skill and practical experience to marketing and product development issues.  For over 20 years, Mr. Shaeffer has been involved in product management and development for high-technology companies. He has held senior positions in product management, engineering and marketing at companies ranging from venture capital backed start-ups to Apple Computer, Convergent Technologies/Unisys, Imagery/Eastman Kodak, and Siliconix/Vishay. Mr. Shaeffer also was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he specialized in product/market strategy.

Mr. Shaeffer holds a BS in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a MBA from Stanford University.

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Stewart Sando                             ( s.sando@adelphia.net , 626-533-5386)

As the founder and principal of Technology Venture Consulting, based in Southern California , Stewart Sando has been active in the areas of business development and marketing strategy for corporations, start ups and research institutions engaged in the development of high technology products and licensable intellectual property. As a consultant he has worked on multi-core processors for multimedia and broadband applications, plasma etching down to atomic smoothness, high dynamic range image sensors, medical devices, MEMS devices and nanotechnology. He was recently responsible for identifying the He was recently responsible for identifying the opportunity, engaging the prospect, and closing a licensing contract with a major cell phone chip set manufacturer for a MEMS switch patent that was developed by a globally ranked research institution.

During his earlier career in Silicon Valley , Mr. Sando held senior positions in product line management, marketing management, and business development at major semiconductor companies, including Intel, Cypress Semiconductor and Hitachi Semiconductor, as well as, serving in business development and consulting roles for various startups and research institutions. He has launched new products ranging from DRAMS to cache RAMS, from fiber optic modules to RF power amplifiers and RISC processors to DSP cores. He has been responsible for product line revenues of up to $200 million per year and has had extensive experience establishing major supplier relationships with companies ranging from IBM to AT&T, from Motorola to Nokia, and from Tyco to Delphi .

Stewart Sando has over thirty years of experience in the high technology arena bringing new products and technologies to market. He has expertise in the areas of RISC processors, digital signal processors, multimedia and image processing, non-volatile memory devices, broadband DSL and cable devices, image sensors, fiber optic devices, solid state laser devices and RF power devices. In addition, he has worked with technologies ranging from silicon to gallium arsenide integrated circuits, III-V lasers to RF devices, medical devices, MEMS devices, and nanotechnology.

Mr. Sando holds a B.S. in Physics and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and has served as a speaker and moderator at numerous integrated circuit, fiber optic and broadband symposia over the years. Additionally, Mr. Sando serves on the Caltech / MIT Enterprise Forum steering committee and is a member of the Los Angeles Venture Association and the Orange County Venture Group.