CommNexus Strengthens Industry Influence: Elects Ten New Board Directors

SAN DIEGO, CA — (CommNexus, March 5, 2010) – Continuing to build on their mission to accelerate the success of technology companies in San Diego, CommNexus announces the election of ten new members to its Board of Directors. Encompassing growing industry sectors such as energy, smart grid and wireless health, the organization positions itself to make an impact on the broader technology community by creating opportunities for collaboration within these areas. These C-level leaders will join an active board comprised of industry leaders such as Qualcomm, Nokia, LG Electronics and Verizon Wireless.

“San Diego is fortunate to have such an impressive array of talent to help drive the CommNexus mission of providing companies value through new business development, talent retention and access to capital” said Rory Moore, CEO. “Adding these high level executives to our Board is not only another notable milestone for our organization, but sends the message that CommNexus is ‘the place to be’ to truly transform San Diego’s innovation economy” said John Major, Chairman.

New Board Directors include:

  • Sony Electronics, Inc. – Stan Glasgow, President & COO. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, Sony is a leading audio-visual electronics and information technology company in the U.S. and internationally with $78.8 billion annual sales last year and 171,300 employees worldwide. Operations include research and development, design, engineering, manufacturing, sales, marketing, distribution and customer service.
  • CareFusion – David L. Schlotterbeck, Chairman & CEO. A global corporation headquartered in San Diego, they employ more than 15,000 people in more than 20 countries. Serving the health care industry with products and services that help hospitals measurably improve the safety and quality of care, CareFusion generated revenue of $4.5 billion in 2008 and 2009.
  • Nokia, Inc. – Keith Hartsfield, Vice President of CDMA. Hartsfield leads Nokia’s Global CDMA business with a focus on Verizon Wireless in North America and with China Telecom in China. Nokia combines advanced technology with personalized services that enable people to stay close to what matters to them. The world’s largest cell phone manufacturer, Nokia now serves more than 1.2 billion people globally. In 2009, Nokia’s net sales were EUR 41.0 billion with an operating profit of EUR 1.2 billon.
  • Nokia, Inc. – Larry Paulson, Former Senior Vice President & General Manager. Paulson joined Nokia in 1987, was a pioneer in their cell phone business. He has served as President of Technophone Corporation, a Nokia owned subsidiary, President of Nokia Product Corporation, another wholly owned subsidiary and Vice President of Americas Business Development. Every day, more than 1.2 billion people connect to one another with a Nokia device – from mobile phones to advanced smartphones and high-performance mobile computers.
  • ViaSat – Richard Baldridge, President & COO. The Carlsbad based satellite and digital communications company builds products that enable fast, secure, and efficient communications to any location in both the commercial and government sectors. The company employs over 2,100 professional and support personnel and annual revenues hit a record $628 million last fiscal year.
  • Md7Michael Gianni, Founder and CEO. One of the world’s leading independent tower lease services companies, Md7 is a financial and operations services company that is committed to alleviating real estate costs associated with doing business in the wireless industry. Prior to Md7, Michael utilized his extensive entrepreneurial expertise to build Gianni & Associates, a $1.5-million construction company he grew to a $20-million services organization providing site acquisition, zoning, construction and equipment installation services to the wireless industry.
  • San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) – Chris Baker, CIO & Senior Vice President, Shared Services. SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides safe and reliable energy service to 3.4 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and more than 840,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties. The company is a leader in SmartGrid design advanced metering infrastructure (AMI).
  • Cooley Godward Kronish – Frederick T. Muto, Partner. Established in 1920, the firm today has nine offices and approximately 650 attorneys practicing law. Muto is the co-founder of the San Diego office where he specializes in corporate and securities law with an emphasis on representing emerging and public technology and growth companies. He has represented companies and investment banks in well over 100 public offerings.
  • Mintz Levin – Eddie Rodriguez, Managing Member. Rodriguez’s practice is focused on a full range of corporate and securities matters, including corporate formation, mergers and acquisitions, venture financing, technology licensing, and general business counseling for both public and private companies. Eddie has represented clients in over 200 mergers and acquisition transactions and has represented investors and private companies in numerous private equity financings valued in excess of $200 million.
  • Morrison and Foerster – Steve Rowles, Partner. Founded in 1883, Morrison & Foerster is a global firm with over 1000 lawyers in key technology and financial centers in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Rowles has extensive industry experience in both the technology and life sciences arenas. He has served as lead counsel on myriad mergers and acquisitions and securities transactions, including public offerings aggregating in excess of $1 billion dollars in proceeds and over 100 acquisition transactions.

About CommNexus San Diego

CommNexus San Diego is a non-profit network of communication companies that works to accelerate the formation, growth, and success of communications technology and service companies in the region. It introduces international markets to local emerging technologies and positions San Diego as a world center for communications technology innovation. CommNexus’ programs and on-line services provide business development and funding assistance to emerging companies. Programs include: MarketLinkTM, which introduces regional companies to multi- national corporations via high-tech speed dates; EvoNexusTM a non-profit incubator for start-up ventures; JobNexusTM, which provides a focused venue for tech industry jobs in San Diego; NextStageTM which prepares emerging companies for the next step in developing their business; Special Interest Groups (SIGs) regularly scheduled panel discussions which examine key issues in the industry. CommNexus San Diego was established in 1998 and assists over 100 companies annually. For more information, please visit www.commnexus.org.

For additional inquiries:

Olga Teplitsky

E-mail – [email protected] Phone – 858.877.794

March 5, 2010
MD7 Bio