Larry White/The Ritz Group
Larry White, President and CEO of The Ritz Group, tells his background story: “My father was a WW-II veteran who was a 1950 entrepreneur starting his own appliance store growing it to be one of the largest in the state. Part of the Greatest Generation – he worked non-stop. His vision was that I NOT follow in the family business….get a degree and work for a major corporation. I did that..working for Firestone Tire and Rubber, Served as an officer in the Army, IBM, Amdahl and Equifax.
My wife also worked for Majors in Retail (Neimans) and when we moved to Atlanta she couldn’t get a job and opened her own store. She was the first Entrepreneur in our family. She was the founder of Bonnie White women’s specialty stores in Park Place, Perimeter, Lenox Square, Phipps Plaza and 87 West Paces road. I was the bedroom CFO gainfully employed before turning my entrepreneurial hobby into a business. I launched multiple companies – some successful…some not and in each case found myself torn between running my company, running out of funds and then trying the impossible task of raising funds while my companies went to H___ in a hand basket.
Not sure I mastered the drill, but eventually I fell in love with both the Entrepreneurial business aspects and the fund raising. Now I am attacking the problem from the Fund Raising side.”
Dale Sizemore/FLIPSFilm
Dale Sizemore with Information System Integrators, Inc. (FLIPSFilm) has had a long career in high technology, selling and deploying “first to market” applications and projects. The common denominator has been “getting information from multiple places and in the form they need into the hands of people so they can make timely, important business decisions”. Dale discovered his 30+ years in high technology sales, marketing and executive leadership was about to open the door for a new chapter in his life.
After his last employer was acquired, Dale took the entrepreneurial route and had his “AHA” moment December 8, 2010 while reading an article about how challenging it was for communities to facilitate filming and TV production in their communities. After a deep dive into the issue, Dale said “I can fix this problem” and FLIPSFilm was born.
Christian Kotscher/MetroTech Net, Inc.
Christian Kotscher with MetroTech Net started his career as an assistant financial controller in Frankfurt Germany after graduating from the University of Iowa with a double major in Finance and International Business. After three years in Europe and another in Florida, he and his wife Micki settled in the Atlanta metro in 1995 where they are raising their three girls. During a stint at MetLife, Christian moved into the IT field when he developed an accounting application for large financial systems. After that he joined GE Capital ITS, where he focused on custom application development and project management.
Christian’s first company was an IT development practice that he sold to Romac International/ kforce Consulting. In 2001 Christian joined IBM where he held national and international positions in mobile and wireless computing. It was there that he developed his passion for the Intelligent Transportation Systems Industry (ITS). Christian left IBM in 2007 to develop a video sensor system that would provide real time traffic information for use across many ITS areas. They have deployed their video analytics in California at 100 intersections and are working in other regions on emerging deployments. MetroTech is looking forward to providing you better traffic information for your daily commute and to give you more quality time for the important things in life.
