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 P. Erickson
CEO and President.
Mr. Erickson has been a director and officer of the Company since April 24, 2003. He currently serves as the Company's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President. He was appointed to the positions of CEO and President on November 10, 2009. Earlier, he was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company on September 29, 2003, and resigned from this position on August 31, 2004 at which time he was appointed 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-founder 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.
Mark Scott
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Scott has significant financial, capital market and relations experience in public microcap gold, silver and technology companies. Mr. Scott currently serves as (i) Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer of WestMountain Gold since February 28, 2011 and as a consultant from December 2010; (ii) Chief Financial Officer of Sonora Resources Corp., a position he has held since June 2011; (iii) Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer of Visualant, Inc., a position he has held since May 2010; and (iv) Chief Financial Officer of U.S. Rare Earths, Inc. a position he has held since December 2011.
Mr. Scott previously served as Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of IA Global, Inc. from October 2003 to June 2011. Previously, he held executive financial positions with Digital Lightwave; Network Access Solutions; and Teltronics, Inc. He has also held senior financial positions at Protel, Inc., Crystals International, Inc., Ranks Hovis McDougall, LLP and Brittania Sportswear, and worked at Arthur Andersen. Mr. Scott is also a certified public accountant and received a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of Washington.
Marco Hegyi
Visualant Chairman of the Board.
Marco Hegyi has served as an independent director since February 14, 2008. Mr. Hegyi has been a principal with the Chasm Group since 2006, 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 during 2006. Prior to Yahoo, Mr. Hegyi was at Microsoft leading program management for Microsoft Windows and Office beta releases aimed at software developers from 2001 to 2006. 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.
Yoshitami Arai
Visualant Board of Directors.
Mr. Arai has served as an independent director since October 8, 2008. Mr. Arai brings strategic experience, a broad global business network, and sophisticated business acumen to the board. 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.
Paul Bonderson
Visualant Board of Directors.
Mr. Bonderson has served as an independent director since June 8, 2010. Mr. Bonderson has more than 30 years of technical experience in the computer industry, spanning both hardware and software engineering, engineering management, and product development. Prior to co-founding Brocade, Bonderson held engineering management positions at industry leading companies including Intel Corporation and Sun Microsystems, Inc. Since retiring from Brocade, Bonderson has been an active philanthropist. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Wetlands America Trust, Inc., the organization responsible for managing the endowment and land holdings of Ducks Unlimited. He is also a Senior Advisory Vice President and Board Member of Ducks Unlimited. Additionally, Mr. Bonderson serves on the Advisory Committee of the School of Engineering and the Foundation Board of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California.
James Gingo
Visualant Board of Directors.
James Gingo has served as an independent director since June 8, 2010. TransTech was founded in 1994 and has been led by Mr. Gingo as its President and founder since then. TransTech is a distributor of access control and authentication systems serving the security and law enforcement markets. Mr. Gingo's guidance, experience and great depth of knowledge combined to make TransTech a respected national reputation for outstanding product knowledge, sales and service excellence. James Gingo is a highly regarded industry veteran and one of the early members of the Document Security Alliance, an organization co-founded by the United States Secret Service and concerned industry representatives after the events of 9/11. He sits on the Board of the Security Industry Association.
Dr. Masahiro Kawahata, Ph.D.
Chair of Scientific Advisory Committee.
Visualant Board of Directors.
Dr. Kawahata has served as an independent director since April 19, 2006. 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.
Jon Pepper
Visualant Board of Directors.
Jon Pepper has served as an independent director since April 19, 2006. Mr. 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.
Bradley E. Sparks
Visualant Board of Directors.
Bradley Sparks currently serves as a director. On November 12, 2009, Mr. Sparks resigned as the Company's Chief Executive Officer and President. He held these positions since November 2006. Mr. Sparks currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Laredo Oil, Inc. Before joining Visualant in 2006, he served as Chief Financial Officer of WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. from 2005-2006. Previous to WatchGuard, he was the founder and managing director of Sunburst Growth Ventures, LLC, a private investment firm specializing in emerging-growth companies. Earlier, he founded Pointer Communications and served as Chief Financial Officer for several publicly-held telecommunications companies, including eSpire Communications, Inc., Digex, Inc., Omnipoint Corporation, and WAM!NET. He also served as Vice President and Treasurer of MCI Communications from 1988-1993 and as Vice President and Controller from 1993-1995. Before his tenure at MCI, Mr. Sparks held various financial management positions at Ryder System, Inc. Mr. Sparks also serves on the Board of Directors for iCIMS, a privately--held software company and Comrise China, also a privately-held company. Mr. Sparks graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and is a former Army Captain in the Signal Corps. He has an MS in Management from the Sloan School of Management at MIT and is a licensed CPA in Florida.
Ronald P. Erickson
CEO and President.
Mr. Erickson has been a director and officer of the Company since April 24, 2003. He currently serves as the Company's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President. He was appointed to the positions of CEO and President on November 10, 2009. Earlier, he was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company on September 29, 2003, and resigned from this position on August 31, 2004 at which time he was appointed 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-founder 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.
Mark Scott
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Scott has significant financial, capital market and relations experience in public microcap gold, silver and technology companies. Mr. Scott currently serves as (i) Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer of WestMountain Gold since February 28, 2011 and as a consultant from December 2010; (ii) Chief Financial Officer of Sonora Resources Corp., a position he has held since June 2011; (iii) Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer of Visualant, Inc., a position he has held since May 2010; and (iv) Chief Financial Officer of U.S. Rare Earths, Inc. a position he has held since December 2011.
Mr. Scott previously served as Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of IA Global, Inc. from October 2003 to June 2011. Previously, he held executive financial positions with Digital Lightwave; Network Access Solutions; and Teltronics, Inc. He has also held senior financial positions at Protel, Inc., Crystals International, Inc., Ranks Hovis McDougall, LLP and Brittania Sportswear, and worked at Arthur Andersen. Mr. Scott is also a certified public accountant and received a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of Washington.
Marco Hegyi
Visualant Chairman of the Board.
Marco Hegyi has served as an independent director since February 14, 2008. Mr. Hegyi has been a principal with the Chasm Group since 2006, 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 during 2006. Prior to Yahoo, Mr. Hegyi was at Microsoft leading program management for Microsoft Windows and Office beta releases aimed at software developers from 2001 to 2006. 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.
Yoshitami Arai
Visualant Board of Directors.
Mr. Arai has served as an independent director since October 8, 2008. Mr. Arai brings strategic experience, a broad global business network, and sophisticated business acumen to the board. 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.
Paul Bonderson
Visualant Board of Directors.
Mr. Bonderson has served as an independent director since June 8, 2010. Mr. Bonderson has more than 30 years of technical experience in the computer industry, spanning both hardware and software engineering, engineering management, and product development. Prior to co-founding Brocade, Bonderson held engineering management positions at industry leading companies including Intel Corporation and Sun Microsystems, Inc. Since retiring from Brocade, Bonderson has been an active philanthropist. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Wetlands America Trust, Inc., the organization responsible for managing the endowment and land holdings of Ducks Unlimited. He is also a Senior Advisory Vice President and Board Member of Ducks Unlimited. Additionally, Mr. Bonderson serves on the Advisory Committee of the School of Engineering and the Foundation Board of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California.
James Gingo
Visualant Board of Directors.
James Gingo has served as an independent director since June 8, 2010. TransTech was founded in 1994 and has been led by Mr. Gingo as its President and founder since then. TransTech is a distributor of access control and authentication systems serving the security and law enforcement markets. Mr. Gingo's guidance, experience and great depth of knowledge combined to make TransTech a respected national reputation for outstanding product knowledge, sales and service excellence. James Gingo is a highly regarded industry veteran and one of the early members of the Document Security Alliance, an organization co-founded by the United States Secret Service and concerned industry representatives after the events of 9/11. He sits on the Board of the Security Industry Association.
Dr. Masahiro Kawahata, Ph.D.
Chair of Scientific Advisory Committee.
Visualant Board of Directors.
Dr. Kawahata has served as an independent director since April 19, 2006. 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.
Jon Pepper
Visualant Board of Directors.
Jon Pepper has served as an independent director since April 19, 2006. Mr. 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.
Bradley E. Sparks
Visualant Board of Directors.
Bradley Sparks currently serves as a director. On November 12, 2009, Mr. Sparks resigned as the Company's Chief Executive Officer and President. He held these positions since November 2006. Mr. Sparks currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Laredo Oil, Inc. Before joining Visualant in 2006, he served as Chief Financial Officer of WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. from 2005-2006. Previous to WatchGuard, he was the founder and managing director of Sunburst Growth Ventures, LLC, a private investment firm specializing in emerging-growth companies. Earlier, he founded Pointer Communications and served as Chief Financial Officer for several publicly-held telecommunications companies, including eSpire Communications, Inc., Digex, Inc., Omnipoint Corporation, and WAM!NET. He also served as Vice President and Treasurer of MCI Communications from 1988-1993 and as Vice President and Controller from 1993-1995. Before his tenure at MCI, Mr. Sparks held various financial management positions at Ryder System, Inc. Mr. Sparks also serves on the Board of Directors for iCIMS, a privately--held software company and Comrise China, also a privately-held company. Mr. Sparks graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and is a former Army Captain in the Signal Corps. He has an MS in Management from the Sloan School of Management at MIT and is a licensed CPA in Florida.
