John Jazwiec: "“RedPrairie remains positioned for growth, allowing us to attract the best industry professionals."

The headline is from a 2/1/2005 press release. The full quote from John Jazwiec, who says no talented executives will come to Milwaukee, about the hiring of Orbitz controller Jeff Liesendahl as CFO, says:

RedPrairie Company Leader John Jazwiec says, “RedPrairie remains positioned for growth, allowing us to attract the best industry professionals. Jeff has been an integral financial leader for a number of successful companies, most recently for Orbitz. He will be a valuable addition to our team.”

When Red Prairie added former JD Edwards CFO Richard Allen as a director last March, Jazwiec said:

Comments John Jazwiec, RedPrairie Company Leader, “Acquiring another talented industry business leader like Rick Allen as a member of our Board of Directors represents a major triumph for this company. We are excited to leverage his industry expertise and guidance. As RedPrairie continues to expand its global presence, penetrate new markets and achieve its financial objectives, Allen’s contributions will be indispensable to our future success.”

When RedPrairie added Carey Zimmerman, formerly of JohnsonDiversey, as Global Marketing Leader, in 2004 Jazwiec said:

RedPrairie Company Leader John Jazwiec says, “RedPrairie requires a concentrated marketing focus as we serve current customers and seek to penetrate new markets. Carey’s distinguished global marketing background and branding experience make him the ideal person to help us achieve our ambitious communications and sales goals.

When RedPrairie added former Intrepa CEO Tim Conroy as a sales manager in 2003, Jazwiec said:

Comments John Jazwiec, RedPrairie Company Results Leader, “My strategy for success has always been to surround myself with the best management talent possible and then provide them with an environment where they can best use their experience and leadership skills to help grow the company. As RedPrairie continues its rapid expansion, it is essential that we have leaders like Tim capable of growing their portion of our business and taking on new responsibilities as they arise.”

And, of course, when RedPrairie was named "in the leaders quadrant in Gartner, Inc.’s 2006 WMS Magic Quadrant report," Jazwiec said:

“As the fastest growing supply chain company in the world, with revenues growing from $60 million in 2001 to $170 million in 2006, we are proud of our position in the Magic Quadrant and other industry analysis. We have a worldwide presence in 23 locations and are able to leverage over 30 years of helping customers optimize their supply chains. Our growth over the past five years has its roots in continued solution enhancement helping us to position RedPrairie as a provider of end-to-end supply chain systems,” comments John Jazwiec, RedPrairie’s Company Leader.

A question: Was Jazwiec lying when he brought these people on or is he lying now when he says he can't find talented people? (And, given he sees such a bright future for the company with an IPO taking place within 24 months, why the hell would he have trouble attracting people?)

Another question: How could a bunch of ignorant hicks place RedPrairie in that Gartner quadrant?

Another question: How can he have trouble finding homegrown talent given there's a pretty decent university in Madison and a couple two three in Chicago, ninety miles to the south?

Another question: How many employees does he plan to lose if he moves to wildy expensive locales such as Boston, Austin, SoCal or the DC area? What kind of disruption will that create?

Another question: Are competitors taking Jazwiec's crazy quotes to potential clients? Are local recruiters going after the dissed-by-implication employees of RedPrairie?

Another question: The Midwest is a hub of distributing and manufacturing companies. Why doesn't that represent a sufficient talent pool?

Another question: Is it Jazwiec or the VC money talking about the move?

Another question: What has RedPrairie ever done in terms of local investment to foster the kind of Brave New World Jazwiec would like to see?

And: Why does anyone take John Jazwiec seriously?

The Brawler is with XOff: We'd love you to stay. But if Wisconsin ain't good enough for you, don't let the door hit you in the ass, John.

Comments

[kr]

I know of one place where libertarian policies like the ones advocated at this meeting were tried flat out, no holds barred -- Iraq.

[Gerald K. Flakas]

I sent the following letter to the MJS on Sept. 17 (we'll see if they print it):

I really don't understand why you continue to give coverage in your paper to comments by John Jazwiec of RedPraire. His company is only a small player on the greater Milwaukee and Wisconsin scene, and I think you give his commentary far more attention that it deserves. He constantly whines that taxes are too high for him, and his threats to take his little company out of Wisconsin remind me of a company malcontent at the water cooler rather than a "top executive". He states that this area is a "barren technology sector in the area", yet GE Healthcare, Rockwell Automation, and other premier companies in the area are doing well in attracting technology talent, and UW-M, UW-Madison, MSOE, and Marquette all have top-notch engineering schools. Maybe he should look inward to his own practices to explain his inability to attract talent. Then he calls for "the eventual elimination of taxes", while in the same paragraph calling for the elevation of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee "into one of the nations elite schools". How does propose this should be funded, by an endowment from Santa Claus? If he thinks zero taxes are the answer, then maybe he should take his company to Las Vegas, where the state operations are funded by gambling revenues rather than personal taxes; does he think he and his employees would prefer that quality of life to ours? If so, good luck and good riddance!