11/30/2009 2:43:00 PM A Conversation With ... Guy Colby Mace
Title: CEO
Company: Turblex Inc., a Siemens AG company, 1635 W. Walnut St.
Education: Mechanical engineering degree, Washington University, St. Louis; pursuing an MBA at Missouri State University
Climbing the ladder: Guy Colby Mace first started working on the Turblex shop floor 16 years ago when he was 16 years old; he was national sales manager before being named CEO last year.
We've divided our business into two different segments, wastewater treatment and what is called flue gas desulfurization. Wastewater treatment is literally no different than your fish tank at home. There are (aerobic) creatures that live in wastewater naturally (and) require oxygen. Our equipment is a compressed air system that distributes and provides that air supply ... so (the bugs) can break down the waste ... and essentially clean it up. The flue gas desulfurization application is in a coal-fired power plant. Sulfur in the atmosphere is not good, because that produces acid rain. (We) import from our partner in Helsinger, Denmark, the core compressor unit ... and we fabricate the base and buy the motors and put it all together. We've got 130 employees (and complete) around 100 machines per year.
What's your role as CEO?
I oversee the entire operation, but I give a special focus to sales and marketing. I'm a firm believer, when you look at our history, the reason why we've been so successful and have grown the way we have is because from the very top level in our organization, we've always been a sales and marketing-oriented company. That's not really common for our type of equipment , but we cater as much as possible to what the customer needs.
Who are your professional mentors?
At the top of the list, obviously, is my father, Guy Mace. He's the type of CEO who was very global (and) very local in focus, meaning that he could execute the typical responsibilities and initiatives that a CEO must ... but he never forgot the people who worked for him or the fact that there are families behind those people. And I'm trying to continue that legacy. ... The very first summer I worked here, I broke my ankle. I was working out in the shop at a pretty labor-intensive job, and obviously, I couldn't do that. So my father invited me on a sales trip. ... He is a chemical engineer (and) he was in a meeting with other engineers ... and he was doing his thing. It was interesting to see him control the conversation. I went away with a very clear message in my mind that a truly great opportunity path would be for an individual who is smart enough to understand the engineering side of the product but who equally has the ability to communicate the benefits of that product to any customer. Dad had that ability. Most engineers don't.
What key lessons have you learned as CEO?
If you don't have an empowered team behind you, supporting you, you cannot succeed over the long term. I know that when I initially came into this position - recognizing that I was dealing with the newness of an actual position - but also being a part of an organization that has 475,000 employees, there were obviously two new environments and cultures to get used to. In leveraging the benefits of that size of an organization, patience is an absolute virtue in a CEO.
How does Turblex fit into the overall operations of Germany-based Siemens AG, which acquired the company in 2007?
When (Siemens officials) looked at the portfolio of products that (Turblex was) a part of, they were attracted to our business because it had an environmental focus. Siemens is also well-known for ... big wind turbines and (has) a whole water-clarification division. They're very interested in an environmental portfolio, and (we) offered them the opportunity to expand that (and not) overlap with their existing portfolio. ... They are heavily working with Turblex to expand into markets and territories that they deem would be beneficial to leverage us. For instance, South America has been a white spot for (Siemens), meaning it's a market that was not a priority.
How does the acquisition benefit Turblex?
We're leveraging Siemens to get into new business (as part of) the oil and gas division. There are some great applications for our product portfolio there. (We have equipment) that's going to Singapore into one of Exxon Mobile's largest refineries. It's actually going into their wastewater application. (Other equipment) is going into a nonwastewater oil and gas application. The interesting thing about the worldwide supply of oil is that a lot of the oil reserves that are left are dirty, so they take a lot more refining to get out. This equipment gets out the sulfur from oil. (We're pushing) international applications. Siemens is in more than 190 countries around the world. Some of the other neat things we're working on right now (include) brand-new technology for a pneumatic-bearing compressor, meaning there's no lubricating oil. ... It's a technology that came from NASA.
