BIOGRAPHY

James S. (“Jim”) Twerdahl

Jim Twerdahl has had over 30 years’ experience managing middle market companies that manufacture technically sophisticated products. He served as president or CEO of several consumer electronics companies:

• Jensen Sound Laboratories, car audio and home loudspeakers.
• JBL International and Harman International Industries, consumer and professional audio and electronics products.
• Marantz Company, audio and video components.

He was also president of a public medical technology company, Fertility and Genetics Research, a company dedicated to treating female infertility. He has been a principal shareholder or a director in a variety of small businesses in various industries.

He has served on the boards of directors of over a dozen both public and private companies, including 12 years as Chairman of Mayco Colors, Inc., a manufacturer of ceramic glazes and acrylic paints. He is currently Chairman of Neosonik Audio, a developer of wireless audio and video home theater systems.

In 2001 he formed James S. Twerdahl & Associates, a firm dedicated to strategic planning and development for growth companies and companies in transition. The practice focuses in a number of areas:

• Overall long range strategic planning for the entire enterprise with a focus on training managers to become good planners themselves.
• Go-to-market strategic and tactical planning with emphases on:
  • Innovation and creative product development.
  • Branding.
  • Product development processes and lifecycle management.
  • Distribution planning.
• Development of business plans and marketing materials for debt and equity capital raises.
• Organizational development.
• Development of advisory boards and boards of directors.
• Interim management.
• Exit strategy planning and merger and acquisition assistance.
  • Due diligence analysis.
  • Pre-acquisition integration planning.
  • Post-acquisition integration.

Through an affiliated company, T-Link (Hong Kong), Ltd., he also provides sourcing assistance and extensive quality control services throughout Asia.

During his career he has been very active in industry trade organizations. He served on the board of governors of the Electronics Industries Association, parent of the Consumer Electronics Association, and chaired their Audio Group. He was president of the Car Audio Specialists Association and founding chairman of the Committee of Car Stereo Manufacturers. He served on the board of several ceramics industry organizations and was awarded the first Lifetime Achievement Award from the Contemporary Ceramics Studio Association.

Jim has also been active in civic and charitable organizations. His most active role has been as twenty-five year Trustee, six as Chair, of the House Research Institute, the nation’s leading medical research organization for hearing related diseases and disorders. He is also a member of the Board of Advisors of the new Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC. He has been active in the Young Presidents’ Organization and now chairs the World Presidents’ Organization Mentoring program for members of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization.

He is a graduate in economics from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He has been a lecturer in the graduate business schools at USC, UCLA, and Northwestern, and taught a course in Brand and Product Management at Graduate School of Business at Loyola Marymount University. Jim may be contacted by e-mail at jst@theacagroup.com, or at Jim@Twerdahl.net or by phone at 323-931-8538.