SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR STEVE HODGES, GLOBAL ENGINEERING INNOVATOR JACK LEMLEY TO BE INDUCTED INTO TECH HALL OF FAME

Innovation usually happens far from the public eye:  inside garages, at kitchen tables, in tool sheds and unfinished basements.  Storybook histories like these are exactly what happened at Hewlett-Packard, Micron Technology and other technology titans. 

Magic can happen wherever creative energy is at work.  That’s why members of the Idaho Technology Council are so excited about its two 2011 inductees into the Idaho Technology Council Hall of Fame.

The recognition of the brilliance of serial entrepreneur Steve Hodges and global engineering innovator Jack Lemley will be the centerpiece of Idaho tech professionals’ annual gala Oct. 26 at Boise Centre – the Idaho Technology Council Hall of Fame Celebration Featuring the Idaho Innovation Awards presented by Stoel Rives and Kickstand.  

These two achievers were selected as inductees to the Hall of Fame because of their global impact and their commitment to Idaho.

"Exceptional innovation distinguishes the career work of Steve Hodges and Jack Lemley," said Rich Raimondi, chairman of the Idaho Technology Council.  "They respectively built technology companies here in Idaho and the largest construction projects around the world.  We are privileged to elevate these two leading Idahoans to the Idaho Technology Council Hall of Fame based on the merits of their many accomplishments." 

Aside from the induction of Hodges and Lemley, video productions featuring global leaders from across business and a keynote presentation by a noted opinion-leader are on the agenda of the event. Technology professionals are highly excited by the creative energy represented in the Idaho Innovation Awards. The Hall of Fame will be held at a Gala event on Oct. 26 at the Boise Centre on the Grove.

Tickets are $55 for members or $75 for non-members.  Tickets are available at http://www.idahotechcouncil.org

Lemley established a career record as one of the most noted engineers and constructors in the world, and in 1990 he was pictured on the cover of Fortune Magazine under this headline: “Hunt for the Global Manager.”  The Fortune cover story was in recognition of his role as chief executive officer of the English Channel Tunnel project -- the Chunnel -- which created a high-speed rail link between London and Paris including a tunnel under the English Channel.  It was the largest privately-funded construction project in history.  Lemley was awarded the Order of Merit and named a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth of England for his work on the Chunnel.

Earlier, as a senior vice-president of the former Morrison Knudsen Corporation and president and CEO of Blount, Inc., Lemley managed some of the world's most complex engineering and construction challenges in some of the most challenging logistical locations.  Included in his project leadership were such facilities as:

• Century Freeway in Los Angeles and other major freeway developments across California;
• OK Tedi Gold and Copper Mine Development in Papua, New Guinea;
• The $300-million Trans-Panama Pipeline;
• Colombia’s $1.9-billion Cerrejon coal mine, railroad and Caribbean Sea port facility;
• The $1.3-billion King Khalid Military City project to build from scratch a city for 70,000 people in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the country's rulers.

Jack had more to do in England, too.  The history-making global power selected Lemley as the chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, responsible for facilities preparation for the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London.

For Steve Hodges, ITC's recognition is for innovations from diverse sectors of the U.S. economy:  information technology, energy -- and fishing.  He arrived in Idaho fresh out of the University of Texas, when Hewlett-Packard assigned him to Boise as an electrical engineer in its Disc Memory Division.

After six years at HP, Hodges founded Computrol, which designed and manufactured industrial computer controls and marine electronics products.  The most successful product was a fish finder called The Bottom Line depth sounder.  Computrol was sold in 1987 for $15.5 million to Armstrong International and continues today in Meridian.

Hodges then moved into the energy sector.  In the last decade and a half, he has founded three Boise-based companies that provide products for electric utilities:

• Design Concepts International (DCI), which designed and manufactured power quality reporting systems and automatic meter reading equipment. The company was sold in 1997 to Itron Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI) for $15 million.

• Telemetric, whose design and manufacture of web-to-wireless remote monitoring and control equipment for utilities was sold for $11.7 million to Sensus in 2009.

• M2M Communications, which designed and manufactured web-to-wireless remote monitoring and control products and services for a variety of industrial customers.  By 2010, M2M evolved into an energy management company, remotely controlling equipment at more than 15,000 industrial sites in the U.S. and abroad, primarily to help reduce peak demands for electricity and natural gas.  M2M was sold to EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC) in 2011 for $33.3 million.

Lemley and Hodges join Hewlett-Packard icons Dick Hackborn and Ray Smelek in the ITC Hall of Fame.  They long ago joined the class of American business leaders who have shaped the global economy.

You can reach Jennifer Ellsworth at jellsworth@ft.newyorklife.com or at 208-949-1324

You can reach Valerie Dickerson at vdickers@yahoo.com or at 208-860-6384