Derek Gentile, CEO and President
EEI Global, Rochester Hills
www.eeiglobal.com
EEI Global went from being an automotive show exhibit designer and morphed into a full-service event marketing company during the past recession. The company got its start in 1981 building dazzling displays for Detroit Edison and Ford’s Electrical and Electronics Division and then landed the 1984 Detroit Auto Show display contract with Dodge. Since then it has built a roster of more than 100 clients worldwide and has 125 employees with two locations. It develops, designs and builds trade show displays for Detroit’s Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) World Congress, the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, and mobile marketing displays for the Woodward Dream Cruise. EEI Global also creates displays for corporate lobbies, customer and visitor centers, museum and retail installations, educational exhibits, and donor recognition memorials. Derek Gentile led the company through the unprecedented challenges of the past decade to the acclaim of the event marketing industry. He has played a major role as well in development of his company’s technology capabilities, leading the development and implementation of proprietary exhibit and event management software that has become the standard for Chrysler and other clients. “My father has been a great inspiration in chasing my business dreams and goals,” he said. “Because of him, I learned early that a company can accomplish just about anything if you stay focused and think like an entrepreneur.” In 2001 he created the graphics unit of EEI and the following year established its mobile marketing component, a capability that has attracted an ever-increasing pace of business and acclaim. In 2005 he managed the purchase and logistics of the organization’s move to a new headquarters in Rochester Hills, Mich. The rebranding of the company as EEI Global Inc. was carried out in 2008 under his program and guidance. “Multitasking has been turbo-charged by technology and the global economy has created an endless workday,” he noted. “Everyone is connected 24/7 with expectations of an immediate response from anywhere in the world. The challenge requires continued investment in hardware, software and training. However, I make time to maintain a healthy work/life balance and enable employees to do the same.” Gentile has worked across the globe, including eight different markets in Asia, as well as in Europe, Latin America and North America.
Hans Hegge, CEO and Co-founder
Text Ripple Inc., Royal Oak
www.textripple.com
Text Ripple enables companies to create long-lasting customer relationships with direct and instant text message connections. Founded by Hans Hegge and Keith Gloster in 2007, the firm works with restaurants and bars, retail outlets, realtors, churches, Web developers, and publishers, and a number of other industries that require proven communication solutions. “With 95 percent of text messages being read within four minutes, instant, direct connections do provide the greatest returns of any marketing a company can do,” Hegge said. “Text messaging allows clients to generate dynamic sales leads, calculate mobile surveys in real-time, communicate employee info instantly, send alerts about upcoming events, and deliver mobile coupons to customers.” Hegge graduated from Wayne State University in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in business, corporate and personal finance. He worked at Robinwood Properties from 2000-2006 before founding Text Ripple.
Jimmy Hsiao, President
Logic Solutions Inc., Ann Arbor
www.logicsolutions.com
Founded in 1995, Logic Solutions is a private, minority-owned corporation with satellite offices in Phoenix, Irvine, Calif., Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Nanjing. It provides technology solutions and services including custom Web applications and mobile development for businesses across the United States. Logic Solutions also helps U.S.-based companies expand their Asian presence with staffing, business development, IT support, application development, and more. The company’s diverse staff includes employees with Asian Pacific (Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong, and Indian) and Middle Eastern backgrounds and a majority of executive positions are held by minorities. Jimmy Hsiao started Logic Solutions in 1995 after graduating from the University of Michigan. As a student, Hsiao realized that the Internet was going to “take off” and wanted to open his own IT company even though he didn’t know too much about the business, he told Mlive.com in a recent story. Since its incorporation, the company has expanded into a global technology firm.