For More information Contact:
Sally Muller at 1-888-443-5285, Roger Orlady (920) 858-2051 OR
Janice Stark – Rivers Edge Marketing, LLC. (920)-422-0583
For Immediate Release:
challenges of GROWING A COMPANY IN A $100 BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY
September 2005 – Wisconsin Innovation Network Northeast (WIN NE) will hold the monthly meeting in Manitowoc on Thursday September 22, 2005. Topic: Neal Verfuerth CEO and major shareholder of Orion Energy Systems will be presenting the History of Orion and how they successfully handled the challenges of growing a company in a $100 billion market in the U.S. A plant tour will also be available.
Orion has been innovative in the energy and lighting business since 1996. Neal will outline his methodology for doubling Orion’s sales each of the last four years, with an emphasis on the importance of innovative manufacturing processes, capital formation, sales and marketing efforts, and the transformative nature of new technologies in the electricity sector.
Neal Verfuerth, President of Orion Energy Systems, has received two of Wisconsin’s most prestigious awards, Ernst & Young’s 2004 Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year and WMC’s Manufacturer of the Year 2004 Grand Award Recently, Orion has Received the 2004 Wisconsin Partners for Clean Air Award given by the Wisconsin DNR. In addition, the company won the 2002 Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year Grand Award in the Emerging Growth category, given by the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Association, the Wisconsin Business Friend of the Environment Award, and was chosen as a “Success Story” for the 2002 Governor’s Summit on Capital. Orion’s innovative Illuminator, an energy-efficient lighting platform for industrial applications, has been awarded a series of 12 patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Additionally, it has applied for numerous other patents relating to metering and control technologies for lighting.
Presentation and plant tour will take place at the Orion manufacturing facility located at 2001 Mirro Drive – Manitowoc, WI. Registration fees are $5 for WIN members and $10 for non-members. Registration starts at 4:45 PM, presentation starts at 5:15 PM with networking opportunities following. To register and to get directions, go to www.wisconsintechnologycouncil.com Registrations may also be taken at the door. Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments are included in the registration fee.
WIN is a network for entrepreneurs and other individuals seeking to aggressively grow their business through innovation. A goal of WIN is to act as a nucleus in assisting entrepreneurs and innovators in profitability growing their businesses in a knowledge-based economy. WIN seeks to act as a catalyst for the entrepreneurial spirit and to help facilitate the flow of information and knowledge with events such as this, as well as annual conferences like the Governor’s Business Plan Contest, Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference and the Early Stage Symposium.
WIN Northeast serves Fond du Lac to north of Green Bay and East to the lakeshore. WIN NE typically meets the third Thursday of every month. The Northeast chapter joins other WIN chapters statewide in Madison, Milwaukee, Chippewa Valley and Lake Superior Region.
The state WIN chapters are subsidiaries of Wisconsin Technology Council, which is the independent, non-profit, not-partisan science and technology adviser to the Governor and the Legislature.
Please join WIN NE on Thursday September 22, 2005 in Manitowoc.
