About EMS
Advisory Board
EMS has assembled an advisory board of recognized leaders in their fields. Together, they bring extensive experience in high-tech startups, international business, finance, as well as mergers and acquisitions..
Mr. Dennis Johnson
As Advisor to the Board, Mr. Johnson brings to Elliptical Mobile Solutions (EMS) his vast expertise in high-tech startups and company turnarounds. Johnson also has extensive experience positioning companies for sale and completing mergers and acquisitions. Prior to opening his own consulting business, Johnson served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Compellent Technologies, Inc., a supplier of storage area networks. Within three years, Johnson helped grow revenues to more than $50 million using a channel only strategy. In 2007 and 2008 the company was found by Gartner to be the fastest growing storage company in the world. Compellent went public on the NYSE in 2007 raising $81 million and was recently purchased by Dell for just under $1 billion.
Before Compellent, Johnson served as President, CEO and Director of MarixTechnologies, where he restructured a start-up software development company to deliver product as a SaaS through a MN based ISP. Prior to Marix, as Executive Vice President of Sales atXiotech Corp., Johnson grew the sales force from 13 to more than 200 employees in less than two years and increased revenue from $5 million to a run rate over $100 million. IDC ranked Xiotech as the fastest growing company (400%+) in 2001. Xiotech was later acquired by Seagate Technology.
As President, CEO and Director of Xata Corp., Johnson successfully turned around a cash strapped company and later oversaw its NASDAQ public offering. In 1996, the company was listed by INC as one of the 100 fastest growing public companies in the world. Johnson has worked for a number of other high-tech companies including National Business Systems, AmeriData (sold to GE Information Systems) and Currentech (sold to JWP/Entex/Siemens).
Mr. Don Smith
Mr. Don Smith is CEO and President of Smith & Company, an international business consulting firm specializing in business planning with emphasis on sales and marketing, acquisitions and divestitures, Federal Supply Schedule with GSA, attracting capital infusion, business continuity, market research/analysis and general business consultation. With over forty years of sales, marketing and executive management experience, Smith pioneered many techniques in sales and marketing now utilized by many major corporations.
An experienced senior level executive, his accomplishments include developing and managing major international sales and marketing departments, taking new products and services to market successfully, sales & seminar planning across many industries, managing several GSA vendor approvals through completion and contract stage, acquisition analysis and execution as well as business plan development and investment searches for start-up and expanding companies in computer technology, Satellite communications, medical, business services and government related companies. Smith has developed and managed several sales and marketing forces for expanding and mature corporations. He is also a nationally recognized executive in Business Continuity Execution and Planning. Recent projects have emphasized the Computer, Satellite, Federal government and military marketplace
During his corporate career he has held positions as Corporate Vice-President of Strategies, Executive Vice-President, President and CEO. As a recognized international management and marketing executive and consultant he has served a number of diversified companies in that role including: On Display, Weyerhaeuser Corporation, Comdisco, Inc., General Electric, El Camino, Global Marine, CompuServe, AIM, Provident, Honeywell Corporation, Calvin Klein Industries, Bioenergy, Inc., Data-Com Facilities, Norsk Data of Norway, Tropical Oysters Limited, Control Data Corporation, Credit Thrift, The Military Channel, VIDECO, VenuSystems, Winston Industries, Dialogic Communications Corp., SEA Technology, Agility Recovery Services, Hewlett-Packard, the Department of Justice and most recently, SkyWayUSA.
Professionally active, he has served or is serving on several boards of directors and advisory boards including OnDisplay, which recently sold to Vignette Corporation for $1.8billion, SkyWayUSA, Magnio, Inc., Jefferson Medical Society Business Board, Carnegie Center, Page Publishing, VenuSystems, Inc., the University of Michigan and Purdue University, to name a few. He was also selected for the WHO’S WHO in America-Executives. He has developed course material for and instructed in Kellogg Management, Xerox Sales Training, TRATEC Professional Manager, CDC Professional Manager, Psychology of Selling, GSA Negotiations, Government Trade Regulations, International Business and many General Electric Management courses.
Mr. David Colburn
Mr. Colburn has held executive positions at various $100 million to $7 billion corporations over the last twenty years, with experience in the aerospace/defense, automotive and information technology industries.
Prior to joining Elliptical, Colburn spent five years as President of the Global Manufacturing Industry Practice at Electronic Data Systems, where he was responsible for reaching a $7.1 billion revenue target. Colburn also previously spent three years as Executive Vice President of MTD Products, a multi-billion dollar equipment supplier, and President of MTD Automotive.
Over the last twenty years, Colburn has also held executive positions at Repcoparts Corporation, Dana Corporation, AP Parts International, Del-Met Corporation and Smart Online, where he persistently developed strategic direction, restructured operations and implemented value-added decision making at all levels of management. Colburn has served a long list of technology clients, such as Dell, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and EMC, as well as non-technology clients, such as General Motors, Ford, BMW, Wal-Mart, Sears, Northrop Grumman and Rolls Royce. Much of his career has been spent in global operations, with considerable time spent in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Canada.
Colburn currently serves on the Board of Directors for Hickory Spring Manufacturing, Inc., a billion-dollar industrial manufacturer, Evatran, LLC, an automotive electric vehicle manufacturer, and Rogo, LLC, a security software company.
Mr. David Swintowsky
Mr. Swintosky has nineteen years of professional experience in providing business and financial consulting services. His background includes mergers and acquisitions, capital advisory services, initial public offerings and secondary offerings of debt and equity, private debt and equity transactions, restructuring, corporate development, business strategy, financial audits and internal financial controls evaluation.
Prior to forming Dunning Capital, Swintosky operated a financial consulting practice from 2000 to 2002. From 1995 to 2000, he worked in the Corporate Finance and the Entrepreneurial Services Groups of Ernst & Young LLC in Raleigh, NC. From 1992 to 1995, he held positions with Price Waterhouse, LLP and Concours, Inc., both located in Milwaukee, WI.
Swintosky is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, Association for Corporate Growth, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the NC Association of CPA's. In 2006, Swintosky was recognized as one of the 40 most influential young business professionals in the Triangle market.
Mr. William (Chris) C. Hanks
A highly successful entrepreneur with a proven track record of achievement, Chris Hanks is a notable addition to the EMS Advisory Board.
He served as Co-Founder and President of Hosted Solutions, a leading regional data center and managed hosting provider for small and medium-sized business customers as well as large enterprises. The company served more than 600 customers and had approximately 125 employees prior to being acquired by Windstream Corp. for $310 million.
Prior to that, Hanks was President of the Consumer Division of Duro Communications where he oversaw more than 300,000 subscribers and 300 employees. Before that, he served as Executive Vice President where he aggressively acquired North Carolina and South Carolina based ISPs and CLECs. Under his leadership, he was responsible for eight acquisitions including full consolidation.
Hanks also served as Senior Data Sales Manager for Nortel Communications.
While there, he was a SBC team member responsible for closing a $1.5 billion Multiplexing deal, the largest of its kind in Nortel’s history.
His leadership experience includes: serving on the boards of ISP Business Forum, Nationwide; New Bern, NC Chamber of Commerce; Lenior Community College, Technology Initiative; Greensboro SBTDC Advisor and the North Ridge Country Club Strategic Planning, COO search and hiring committee.
He holds a B.S. in Marketing Management/Economics from University North Carolina at Greensboro and an M.B.A. from Averett University.
Dr. Ted Steinbock
Dr. Ted Steinbock trained at Harvard University for 12 years, graduating magna cum laude from Harvard College with highest honors in Biology and Anthropology, magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School, and Residency in Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. His book, PALEOPATHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS AND INTERPRETATION, is considered the standard text in its field- the diagnosis of bone disease in ancient human skeletal populations.
For the past twenty years Dr. Steinbock has been president of a large radiology group in Louisville, Kentucky. He serves as a consultant for several healthcare companies in the areas of risk management, utilization, and medical imaging accreditation. He serves on the board of his family’s 92-year-old business, Whip-Mix Corp., an international manufacturer of specialty dental equipment. He has also been a member of numerous civic boards including the Filson Historical Society, Speed Art Museum, James Graham Brown Foundation, and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
A passionate book collector, Dr. Steinbock holds the world’s largest private collection of books, sermons, almanacs, and pamphlets printed in America before 1800. These eloquently tell the story of America’s beginnings, its exploration, settlement, and religious and political history, including its progress towards independence and constitutional framework of government.
Dr. Lawrence Mand
Dr. Lawrence Mand serves as Vice Chancellor Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, Indiana University, Southeast. From 2003 to 2010, he had the dual responsibility for information technology and community engagement. As Vice Chancellor for Information Technology, he was responsible for IT support for a campus of 6,300 students and nearly 500 faculty and staff with approximately 1,500 desktop computers, campus-wide wireless access, telephone service to nearly 500 lines with advanced telecommunications features, and enterprise software that supports the campus’ teaching and learning mission and business operations. With his direction, IT developed and supported the campus website, provided digital audio and video services, and provided campus printing and duplicating services. As Vice Chancellor for Community Engagement, Dr. Mand represented the campus on various regional and statewide bodies, primarily in the areas of economic development and information technology. Dr. Mand also served as a professor of both computer science and mathematics at the University.
His executive leadership positions have included: Chair of the Indiana University Council of Chief Information Officers; Co-Chair of the Greater Louisville, Inc. (GLI) HIRE Education Forum – a consortium of 26 higher education institutions in the Greater Louisville region working to increase post-secondary education attainment throughout the area; Member of the GLI Technology Network; Member of the GLI CIO Roundtable; Member of the One Southern Indiana (1SI) Education Taskforce and Member of the Purdue College of Technology at New Albany Advisory Board. In 2010 Dr. Mand was recognized by the Indiana Legislature for his contributions to the state and was declared a Distinguished Hoosier by Governor Mitch Daniels. He also received the E. Ross Bartley Award from Dr. Michael McRobbie, President of Indiana University, in honor of his service to the university.
Dr. Mand holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Mathematics and French; a Master of Arts from the University of Kentucky – Lexington in Mathematics; and Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky – Lexington in Mathematics.