NEWS RELEASE

 

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

 

Statewide Event Features 2011 Idaho Innovation Awards Presented by Stoel Rives and Kickstand

 

BOISE, Idaho -- Innovators who turned ideas into products and projects that changed people's lives worldwide -- English Channel Tunnel chief executive Jack Lemley and sports, energy and information technology leader Steve Hodges -- will be inducted into the Idaho Technology Council Hall of Fame at a gala event Oct. 26 at Boise Centre on the Grove.

 

The induction of Hodges and Lemley will be the centerpiece of a special event in its second year – the ITC Hall of Fame Celebration Featuring the Idaho Innovation Awards Presented by Stoel Rives.

Besides the induction of Hodges and Lemley, video productions featuring the perspectives of 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.

 

"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 world's 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."

 

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

 

The sixth annual Idaho Innovation Awards, Idaho’s premier innovation awards program, is designed to recognize innovative professionals, companies and products. As many as three finalists will be honored in each of the program’s four categories: Commercialized Innovation of the Year; Early-Stage Innovation of the Year; Innovative Company of the Year; and Innovator of the Year. One finalist in each category will be named a winner.

 

In addition to the induction of Hodges and Lemley and recognizing the Idaho Innovation Award honorees, the evening will include video productions featuring the perspectives of global leaders from across business, and a keynote presentation by a noted opinion-leader.

 

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.

 

Lemley 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.

 

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, as well as the interchange of I-90 and I-5 in downtown Seattle;

 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.

 

These assignments earned him recognition from engineering industry media leader ENR as its “Man of the Year” in 1991 and as one the “Top 125 People in 125 Years” in the publication’s 125th-anniversary issue.

 

"Since the queen of the British Empire formally recognized Jack Lemley's exceptional ability, we thought it would be appropriate for the innovators in Jack's home state of Idaho to make him a part of our most distinguished class of leaders -- as a member of the Idaho Technology Council Hall of Fame," said Jay Larsen, founder and president of the Idaho Technology Council. "What a record of accomplishment across the entire world he has created."

 

For 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 hired him 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.

 

"Steve's contribution to the Idaho economy can't be overstated," Larsen said. "His curiosity and his knowledge are the foundation of hundreds of millions in economic development in Idaho in the last 15 years."

 

About Idaho Technology Council (www.idahotechcouncil.org): The Idaho Technology Council's mission is to become the premier member-driven technology association dedicated to fostering the growth of technology companies in the state of Idaho, primarily in the areas of information technology, agriscience, and energy. The ITC provides a valuable forum for industry, research, educators, investors, and government throughout the state. It also advocates for creating a strong technology ecosystem and a high quality, high paid workforce. For more information visit www.idahotechcouncil.org.