General Electric - Experts & Thought Leaders

Members of the Electronic Security Association (ESA) recently approved several competency director and officer positions. After voting for recent director positions concluded on May 24th, Chair-elect Kevin Stone recommended two Competency Directors and requested Board approval on June 2nd. These director positions are selected based on their subject matter expertise and must be an owner, officer, or employee of an ESA Member in Good Standing. Each Competency Director shall serve for a two-year term beginning July 1st, 2024. Competency director positions Kirk MacDowell, the 2023 Weinstock Person of the Year Award winner, is the founder and CEO of MacGuard Security Advisors. Bringing insight from his time at industry innovator Alarm.com, top Fortune 100 manufacturers General Electric and United Technologies, a top 50 SDM integrator, and his own electronic security firm, Kirk now offers guidance on how to innovate, transform, and compete in the ever-changing electronic security landscape. Kirk also remains active in many corps serving on multiple industry and private firm boards A sought-after industry speaker, Kirk also remains active in many associations serving on numerous industry and private company boards. He was the Past Board of Director of the Security Industry Association (SIA) and The Monitoring Association (TMA), past Chairman of AIREF (Alarm Industry Research & Education Foundation), past Chairman of the Security Industry Alarm Collation (SIAC) and past president of the Los Angeles County Burglar and Fire Alarm Association (LABFAA). Kirk currently serves as the Chairman of ESA’s Leadership Identification and Nominating Committee (LINC). Kirk was recently inducted into the SSI Industry Hall of Fame. “I am honoured to join ESA’s board of directors as a competency director and proud to serve the industry that has given me so much. Looking forward to working alongside ESA’s elected board and officers.” Michael Barnes, who recently served as a Competency Director from 2022-2024 under Chairman John Loud, founded Barnes Associates in 1986 and directs the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions activities. He is based in St. Louis, Missouri. Since founding Barnes Associates, Michael has been involved in more than 280 security alarm acquisitions and financings, with an aggregate transaction value in excess of $29 billion. He has lectured at numerous events within the security alarm industry on matters relating to acquisitions, the availability of capital and the operating dynamics and performance of alarm companies. Michael was the 13th person to be inducted into the SSI Industry Hall of Fame, an honor he received in 2004. Barnes Associates co-sponsors the annual Barnes-Buchanan Conference. “Overall, I feel honoured to once again be invited to serve on ESA’s Board. The organization does such great work in supporting and advocating for the industry, and the Board has a large responsibility for setting direction. I feel the weight of that responsibility and hope I can rise to the occasion.” Officer Positions In addition to the approval of the Competency Directors, the Board approved three officer positions to serve from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025. Integrator Director Jeremy Bates, of Bates Security, will serve as Vice Chairman. The Vice Chairman reports to the Chairman and the Board of Directors, serves as liaison to at least one of the standing committees of the Association, promotes all the objectives of the Association, and performs such duties as may be assigned to him or her by the Chairman and the Board of Directors. Competency Director Michael Barnes, of Barnes Associates, will continue in his role as Treasurer. The Treasurer has general supervision of the fiscal affairs of the Association. Integrator Director Melissa Brinkman, of Custom Alarm, will serve as Secretary to the Board. The Secretary is responsible for the preparation of accurate minutes of the proceedings at all membership and board meetings.

Nice, a pioneer in Home and Building Management solutions, announced the appointment of Senthoor Navaratnam as the Chief Product Officer for North America. Senthoor’s deep expertise in driving strategic growth across global markets will be instrumental in accomplishing the company's goal to deliver integrated and unified solutions to Nice partners and end users.  Senthoor brings with him a distinguished 25-year career having worked in executive level positions with esteemed companies such as Hubbell, Schneider Electric, and GE. His experience ranges across positions covering sales, service delivery, technology development, and product management, while overseeing complex P&L responsibilities management, and regional leadership. Simplify everyday movements As Chief Product Officer for Nice, Senthoor is responsible for the strategic vision of the company’s North American product portfolio across residential, commercial, and industrial applications. He will report to Emanuel Bertolini, CEO of Nice North America.  Senthoor is responsible for the strategic vision of the company’s North American product portfolio “Senthoor is a visionary leader with a proven track record of driving growth and implementing customer focused strategies,” said Emanuel Bertolini, Chief Executive Officer at Nice North America, adding “His dedication to create and deliver solutions that meet customer needs and bring advancements in innovations to partners make him an excellent fit to deliver on our company’s core mission to provide innovative solutions that simplify everyday movements.”  Building management solutions “I am thrilled to join Nice during this pivotal moment as the company continues to rapidly expand in the North American market through innovation in development and transformation of Nice,” said Senthoor Navaratnam, Chief Product Officer at Nice North America, adding “As we set out to expand our product ecosystem, I am eager to partner with our product teams to set the standard in home and building management solutions.” Senthoor holds a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Windsor. He resides in Canada with his two daughters and two German Shepherds. As the new CPO, Senthoor has already hit the ground running as the company focuses on transitioning the Linear Access and Surveillance brand to Nice this year, and builds on the successful transition of ELAN®, SpeakerCraft®, and Panamax® energy management under its Home Management solutions business.

BCD Founder and Chief Executive Officer - Jeff Burgess has officially announced his retirement. Burgess, who turned 66 on July 25, 2023, began his computer career back in 1979 after landing a warehouse job at Tek-Aids Industries, an IT computer distributor that carried brands such as Altos, Wyse, and Okidata. Within months, he was moved to the sales desk, and within six years was named Vice President of Sales.   Extensive industry experience After leaving the company years later, he went to Elek-Tek, the Chicago mega-retailer, helping kickstart their corporate sales division. Burgess was responsible for Elek-Tek’s gaining a single-tier distribution agreement with Unisys Corporation, to sell their Goldstar OEM personal computers directly to Unisys’ mainframe customers.  After Elek-Tek, Burgess moved to Hartford Computer Group (Inverness, IL) and, worked closely with IBM, directing the team helping to land the $200 million State Farm account for Hartford, along with multi-million-dollar accounts with General Electric and many of the GE Capital companies.  Started Burgess Computer Decisions, Inc. Burgess also began building high-availability Hewlett Packard servers for his IT customers After twenty years of working for others, Burgess opened Burgess Computer Decisions, Inc. (BCD) in 1999 as an IT Value Added Distributor, working directly with Ingram Micro and Tech Data as inventory providers, blind-shipping goods directly to his customers. Burgess also began building high-availability Hewlett Packard servers for his IT customers, among those the same GE Capital companies to whom he had worked closely in the past. In 2008, he recognised the opportunity for a customised IT server builder in the still-new video surveillance market and took the company along that path. Video surveillance storage systems Burgess leaves BCD as the worldwide pioneer in purpose-built video surveillance storage systems with over 175,000 recorders of all shapes and sizes capturing video in 91 countries and countless vertical markets.  And is amongst the most secure facilities globally, along with the coolest brands in the world. Chances are that users will pass a BCD-protected facility a couple of times a day.  Accolades and awards BCD captured many industry awards and recognition during Burgess’ tenure, being named among Inc. Magazine’s Top 5000 companies five times. BCD also received Computer Reseller News’  Solution Provider 500 six times, including CRN’s  Fast Growth 150 three consecutive years, Crain’s Chicago Business Largest Privately Held Companies four times, and what Burgess was most proud of, being named a combined ten times from Chicago’s Best & Brightest Companies, Best & Brightest Companies in the Nation, and Best Places to Work in Illinois.  Philanthropy Philanthropy was an important part of Burgess’ tenure, offering employment to interns Philanthropy was an important part of Burgess’ tenure, offering employment to interns who became future employees from College Bound Opportunities (CBO), and supporting such causes as Folds of Honour, Wings (domestic violence), Orphans of the Storm (pet shelter), Girl Scouts, and college scholarships for local community high school seniors, as well as in-house college reimbursement programs for all employees.    “It’s been a great run, especially considering where I was in my life before getting that warehouse job forty-three years ago," stated Jeff Burgess. Burgess comments He adds, "What I find most rewarding is that we were able to give so many people an opportunity, as was given to me all those decades ago. And especially considering my two sons not only work here but have earned key positions here. Plus, my daughter worked here in past summers as well.”  Jeff Burgess continues, “I leave having tremendous respect for all those team members committed to our purpose, and knowing we all mutually made a positive difference in people’s lives, both inside and outside the organisation." In addition to travelling and playing golf with his wife Joanne, Burgess plans to spend his time with their family, their dogs, and their grand dogs.