In business, Penn alum draws on more than academics
By Monday morning, the tired members of the University of Pennsylvania's Mask and Wig Club, a campus comedic crew of jokesters and songsters, will be back in West Philadelphia, recovering from a four-city spring-break performance tour.
By Monday morning, the tired members of the University of Pennsylvania's Mask and Wig Club, a campus comedic crew of jokesters and songsters, will be back in West Philadelphia, recovering from a four-city spring-break performance tour.
Thirty-five miles away, in Pottstown, Christopher J. Kneizys, 52, president and chief executive of two companies with 225 employees and more than $30 million in revenue, is preparing for his own tour.
He is leaving Wednesday for China to visit customers who purchase the companies' cable, cable assemblies, and other microwave components.
What's the link?
Kneizys wouldn't be the president of Micro-Coax Inc. and its sister company, Kroll Technologies L.L.C., without the connections he made as an undergraduate on the stage crew and as business manager of the Mask and Wig Club.
The club's alumni are heavily involved, and that's how Kneizys met Bruce Mainwaring, Penn Class of 1947 and Micro-Coax cofounder, who hired Kneizys and ultimately tapped him to lead the business.
"It's strange," Kneizys said, "that my fate was determined by an extracurricular activity I participated in at college."
Question. Given your experience, what would be your advice to young people?
Answer. Network with as many people as you can because you never know what that relationship might develop into.
Q. It was more than networking.
A. I was actually involved in the activity [Mainwaring and others] were involved in, and contributing, so they watched me work. I made an impression on them and they said, 'Hey this is someone we might want to bring into our organization.' "
Q. On a more serious note, the U.S. Department of Defense is a big customer. How's business in light of the military cutbacks?
A. A lot of our [products] go into electronic things that the services buy. So, the military is cutting back in its engagement in Afghanistan, and [with] troop reductions. We're not seeing a lot of growth on the electronic side, but we're not seeing a lot of cutbacks - yet.
Q. How are products used?
A. If you are going to track what Iranians do in missiles, you are going to need a radar, and our cables go in radars. We make cable assemblies that go in drones. We have cable assemblies that go into missiles.
Q. The FBI has visited you. What happened?
A. We were having our annual company picnic. The theme was patriotic. I was wearing shorts and an Uncle Sam tie and shirt. My assistant said, "There are two gentlemen from the FBI and Department of Commerce who want to talk to you." I'm dressed like a clown. These guys are in suits.
Q. Why did they come?
A. Somebody was taking our products and I think they were diverting them to Iran. The French caught the guy. The [officials] want to check your records and see what people told you they were going to do with your shipments.
Q. Even in high school, you knew you wanted to run a business. Did working on Mask and Wig shows help prepare you?
A. Producing a show and running a business are very much the same. You are orchestrating a cast of characters to have a common purpose to get you to an end point, and, hopefully, your customers enjoy the experience.
Q. Why the ambition to lead?
A. That's where the money is.
CHRISTOPHER KNEIZYS
Title: President, chief executive, Micro-Coax Inc. and Kroll Technologies L.L.C., since 1992
Hometown: Newtown Square.
Family: Wife, Marie; children, Kathleen, 20, Claire, 19, Corinne, 16.
Diploma: University of Pennsylvania, Wharton; finance and entrepreneurial management.
Unusual skill: Interior decorating.
Decorating find: Four six-foot-tall terracotta warriors from China, 300 pounds each.
Wow: Two daughters were born on the same day a year apart.
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HIS COMPANIES
Micro-Coax and
Kroll Technologies
Where: Pottstown
What: Micro-Coax manufactures and sells high-frequency coaxial cable assemblies and connectors.
What: Kroll machines precision components for electronics industry.
Related company: Rosenberger Micro-Coax Ltd., a joint venture in Blackburn, England.
Employees: 225, plus 35 in England.
Revenues: More than $30 million, plus $15 million from joint venture in England.
Best benefit: Half-day on Fridays. EndText
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@JaneVonBergen