Innovation is the key to jumping ahead of competitors. While some people and companies may want to hide and ride out the current recession, now is the time to think ahead and innovate. The heart of innovation is with entrepreneurs. They have a risk-taking mentality and are willing to think outside the box. There is a certain spirit that lives within them that comes to the surface in troubled times like these.
Rick Walker
Highlights
Patent Attorney, Business Executive, and Entrepreneur
- proven track record in protecting IP and generating profits for shareholders
- over ten years as a partner in a law firm
- over fourteen years as EVP, CAO, and General Counsel of a NYSE-listed company
- member of a three-person executive management team that led growth from about
- $100 million in sales to almost $1 billion in six years
- compounded annualized return to shareholders of approximately 30% before it was sold
- the company had 30 plants in 5 countries
Named one of “Latest Generation of Atlanta CEOs and Power Brokers”
Atlanta Journal Constitution, April 2007.
- Has counseled Boards of Directors of companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.
Directors included the CEO’s of CIGNA Insurance, Stanadyne (Moen Faucets), and General H. Norman Schwarzkopf.
- Extensive experience in business and transactional law, IP litigation and strategy, licensing, mergers and acquisitions, hostile tender offers, start-up funding, stock offerings, and complex corporate governance situations.
- Guest Lecturer – Emory Law School, Georgia Tech College of Management, and University of Tennessee.
- AV® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell legal directory (highest ranking).
- Society of International Business Fellows (SIBF) – National Board of Directors, Vice President of Membership, Executive Committee, and Finance Committee
- North Fulton Bar Association – Board of Directors, President
- Georgia Automotive Manufacturers Association (GAMA) – Founder, President & CEO
- Numerous non-profit and charitable Boards including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Georgia Golf for the Kids (benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) – Co-Founder of the Atlanta Chapter
Education
- University of Michigan, Business School – Executive Program
- University of Detroit – JD
- University of Detroit – Master of Engineering, Engineering Design and Computer Control
- University of Detroit – BChE (magna cum laude, first in class)
- Process, Manufacturing, and Materials Engineering
- Cooperative training assignments were with an electrical/electronics company
