June 23, 2009, PETALUMA, CA—Calix, the largest communications equipment supplier
focused solely on access solutions for broadband service delivery, today announced
that it has expanded its leadership team with the appointment of four new
executives to sales, marketing, and business and market development positions.
Calix is also expanding its field and corporate operations to enhance its
direct customer engagement model to capitalize on the company's current strong
rate of growth and to better prepare it for the potential impact the broadband
stimulus component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will have on
its service provider customers.
The enhanced Calix field sales structure splits North America into two discrete regions to meet its continued market share gains and rapid
growth. Ken Grelck joins Calix as vice president of regional sales for the
Eastern U.S. and all of Canada. Skip Hirvela has been promoted to vice
president of regional sales, with responsibility for the Western half of the U.S. Robert Checketts, the recently named vice president of field marketing, complements
this new structure by driving all customer-facing marketing activities. Calix
has also named Todd Ortberg to the new position of senior vice president of
business and market development. In this role, Todd will handle new strategic
business relationships as well as explore emerging market opportunities for the
company.
With over 40 percent of the rural broadband service
providers targeted by broadband stimulus already relying on Calix access
platforms for broadband service delivery, and over two-thirds of U.S. service
providers deploying Calix fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) equipment (Broadband
Properties, March 2009), the company is in a prime position to benefit from the
$7.2 billion in broadband stimulus funds earmarked for award by September 30,
2010. The new Calix executives will focus on cultivating customer, prospect,
and partner relationships during this unique market opportunity, working with
service providers to strategically evolve their networks and business models to
best position themselves for the future.
"Challenging economic times present opportunities for
customers and vendors alike," said Carl Russo, president and CEO of Calix. "We
have chosen to position ourselves for continued growth, and this new team of
executives brings Calix and its customers the experience and resources required
to capitalize on this opportunity."
New Executives Leverage Strong Industry Experience
Ken Grelck has 26 years of experience in telecommunications,
networking, and services, leading sales organizations of all sizes at Nortel
Networks. Most recently, he was vice president of North American Sales,
managing a 570-person sales team that generated more than $1.3 billion in
revenue. Other leadership positions he held at Nortel include vice president
of North American sales and vice president of major account sales. He holds a
BS in business administration from the University of New York, an MBA from Campbell University, and served 4-years in the US Air Force.
During the past six years, Skip Hirvela has held regional
sales manager positions at Calix and has been instrumental in introducing new
products, penetrating new accounts, and growing the company's market share. He
has 20 years of sales and marketing experience in the telecommunications and
networking industry, most recently as director of sales at Myrio Corp. Skip
has also worked at NetworkTwo Communications, DecisionOne, Reltec, and AT&T
Global Information Systems. Skip holds a BS in business administration from Miami University and an MBA from the University of Dayton.
Robert Checketts has gained extensive experience in the past
25 years with successful start-ups and companies in the technology,
telecommunications, and networking industry. He joins Calix from Juniper
Networks where as director of Americas marketing he supported the full range of
Juniper products across all markets. In addition, Robert has held executive
marketing positions at Cisco Systems, Yosemite Technologies, Lucent, Sun
Microsystems, and Novell. He holds a BA in business/marketing from the University of Utah.
Todd Ortberg has spent 24 years in the telecommunications
industry in a variety of roles. Previously, he was president and CEO of
network software technology vendor Alvarri. Prior to Alvarri, Todd was managing
director of Coral Capital Management, where he led communications investments
in dozens of venture backed companies. Todd has also held leadership roles at
ADC Telecommunications, where he served as vice president and general manager
of its Cable Access Systems division and vice president of engineering. Prior
to ADC, Todd held numerous marketing and engineering management positions with
Rockwell International and Texas Instruments, and was an adjunct faculty member
at Upper Iowa University, where he taught Business Strategy. He has a BS in engineering
from Iowa State University and an MBA from the University of Iowa, Tipple School of Management.
About Calix
Calix is the largest communications equipment supplier
focused solely on access solutions for broadband service delivery. Service
providers deploy Calix access systems to enable a rich set of information,
communication, and entertainment services and to expand their revenue base
beyond connectivity. Calix access innovation helps service providers transform
their networks from circuit to packet, narrowband to broadband, and copper to
fiber. Calix has deployed millions of ports and tens of thousands of systems
into hundreds of service provider networks throughout North America. For more
information, visit the Calix website at www.calix.com.
For additional information contact:
Jeannette Bitz
Engage PR
510-748-8200 x207
jbitz@engagepr.com
