The Visualant management team is comprised of seasoned professionals with many years of relevant experience in building international businesses, deploying technology, introducing new products to market and accessing the capital markets.

Ronald Erickson
CEO, President and Chairman of the Board.

A seasoned executive with more than 30 years of experience in the high technology, telecommunications, micro-computer, and digital media industries, Mr. Erickson was the founder of Visualant. In addition to his Visualant responsibilities he also serves as Chairman of ivi, Inc. a streaming media company and eCharge Corporation an Internet based transaction processing company. He is formerly Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder of Blue Frog Media, a mobile media and entertainment company; Chairman, CEO and Co-founder of GlobalTel Resources, a provider of telecommunications services; Chairman, Interim President and CEO of Egghead Software, Inc. the large software reseller where he was an original investor; Chairman and CEO of NBI, Inc.; and Co-ounder of MicroRim, Inc. the database software developer. Earlier, Mr. Erickson practiced law in Seattle and worked in public policy in Washington, DC and New York, NY. Additionally, Mr. Erickson has been an angel investor and board member of a number of public and private technology companies. Mr. Erickson has a BA from Central Washington University, a MA from the University of Wyoming and a JD from the University of California, Davis. He is licensed to practice law in the State of Washington and the District of Columbia.

Bradley E. Sparks
Visualant Board of Directors.

With over 30 years of high-tech and related industry experience, Sparks expertise ranges from guiding high-tech start up companies through IPO's to serving in senior financial positions for major public companies.

Mr. Sparks was formerly the Chief Financial Officer of WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. which was recently acquired by a private equity group. Prior to that position, he served as CFO for several telecommunications and high-tech companies, including Omnipoint Corp., Digex, Inc., eSpire Communications, and WAM!NET. He also served as vice president and treasurer of MCI Communications from 1988-1993 and as vice president and controller of MCI Communications from 1993-1995. He currently serves on the boards of Global IP Sound, a software company supporting VOIP applications over the internet, and iCIMS, a software company providing applicant tracking systems. He serves on the Listings Qualifications Review Panel of NASDAQ where he previously chaired the Issuers Affairs Committee.

 

Mr. Arai brings strategic experience, a broad global business network, and sophisticated business acumen to the Visualant Board of Directors. He has performed in many professional and civic capacities throughout Japan and abroad, and has served as Director and Senior Executive of international organizations including 7-Eleven, Tokyu Hotels, Systems International, Catalina Marketing and Sony.

Dr. Masahiro Kawahata, Ph.D.
Chair of Scientific Advisory Committee.
Visualant Board of Directors.

Dr. Kawahata is the former Director of the Fujitsu Research Institute. He is known in Japan as "the father of multimedia" for his work as National Program Director in developing the nationwide fiber optic network. Early in 2005, the U.S. Government officially acknowledged him as "Non-U.S. Scientist of Extraordinary Ability". Dr. Kawahata has taught at Tokai University, is a Consulting Professor at Stanford University, Provost's Distinguished Professor at the University of Southern California and Visiting Professor at the University of Washington. He has served as a Director of numerous technology companies, and has received several prestigious awards in the United States and Japan.

Marco Hegyi
Visualant Board of Directors.

Marco Hegyi is a principal with the Chasm Group, where he combines his expertise in, and passion for helping companies expand their businesses with innovative technologies and collaborative partnership strategies using mobile and wireless platforms, service business models and Internet marketing programs.

Prior to working as a strategic advisor, Mr. Hegyi served as Senior Director, Global Product Management, at Yahoo Search Marketing. Prior to Yahoo, Mr. Hegyi was at Microsoft leading program management for Microsoft Windows and Office beta releases aimed at software developers. While at Microsoft, he formed new service concepts and created operating programs to extend the depth and breadth of the company’s unparalleled developer eco-system, including managing offshore, outsource teams in China and India, and being the named inventor of a filed Microsoft patent for a business process in service delivery.

Mr. Hegyi earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Information and Computer Sciences from the University of California, Irvine, and has completed advanced studies in innovation marketing, advanced management, and strategy at Harvard Business School, Stanford University, UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management, and MIT Sloan School of Management. 

Jon Pepper
Visualant Board of Directors.

Jon Pepper is the co-founder of Pepcom [www.pepcom.com], an industry leader at producing press-only technology showcase events around the country. Prior to that Pepper started the DigitalFocus newsletter, a ground-breaking newsletter on digital imaging that went to leading influencers worldwide. Pepper has been closely involved with the high technology revolution since the beginning of the personal computer era. He was formerly a well-regarded journalist and columnist; his work on technology subjects appeared in The New York Times, Fortune, PC Magazine, Men's Journal, Working Woman, PC Week, Popular Science and many other well known publications. Pepper was educated at Union College in Schenectady, New York and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.