We're lucky enough to get E-mail periodically from Kenny Dennard, who has turned into a business powerhouse lately. We got a press release from him Thursday announcing an innovation by his company, Dennard Rupp Gray & Easterly, LLC. What we didn't realize earlier is that the Gray in that name is former teammate Steve Gray, one of hte more interesting Devils to come along, and also a guy who had absolutely the worst luck of any Duke player we can think of, with the ball bouncing off his foot in one critical game and hitting the opponents rim on a bad pass in another. It's really nice to see him doing so well in his professional life, and we couldn't be happier for him.
With Dennard and Gray doing so well, Scott Goetsch a successful attorney, as are, we think, Bruce Bell and Rob Hardy, Mike Gminski doing TV, Jim Spanarkel doing TV and succeeding as a stockbroker, Harold Morrison an exec at Chubbs the last we heard, Gene Banks coaching women's basketball after a long and successful NBA career, Bob Bender working with the Sixers, Jim Suddath evangelizing somewhere, that group has succeeded as brilliantly as individuals as they did as a team in 1978. But we're particularly pleased to see Gray doing so well. Little known fact: he used to go toe to toe with Tate Armstrong in practice.
Expanding on Its Traditional IR
Counsel(TM), InsideOutlook Is Delivered
Through Senior Equity Analysts Who Have a Thorough Understanding of The
Analytical Requirements Demanded By Wall Street
HOUSTON, June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Dennard
Rupp Gray & Easterly, LLC (DRG&E), a leading provider of
advanced investor relations counsel and innovative services for public
companies, today announced that it has recently expanded its traditional
IR Counsel(TM) by introducing InsideOutlook(TM), a ground- breaking new
service staffed by experienced former sell-side research analysts.
InsideOutlook provides public companies unprecedented 24/7 access to
experienced former sell-side analysts who assist clients in developing
enhanced public disclosures that increase operational and financial
transparency, build management credibility, and help clients effectively
communicate the right message to the investment community. With an
average of 13 years of sell-side and buy-side experience, InsideOutlook
is delivered through senior equity analysts who have a thorough
understanding of the analytical requirements demanded by Wall Street.
DRG&E, formerly named Easterly Investor Relations, is pioneering
this upgrade of investor relations services from the traditional agency
model to a more transparent and compliance-based model created by the
combination of proactive investor relations and superior analytical
services.
"We believe that restoring investor and public trust in the
corporate reporting supply chain will require a spirit of transparency,
a culture of accountability and people of integrity," stated Ken
Dennard, Founder and Managing Partner at DRG&E. "When we
introduced InsideOutlook to our existing IR Counsel client base in late
2002 we were pleased that about half subsequently upgraded to this new
service. To date, New York Stock Exchange- listed clients Carriage
Services (CSV) and Integrated Electrical Services (IES) have published
their respective Company & Investment Profiles as 8-K's with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) utilizing InsideOutlook. These
forward-looking firms have experienced extremely positive feedback from
the investment community for their efforts to provide more transparency
to investors."
Stephen B. Gray, Founder, CEO and Managing Partner of DRG&E,
added, "When reading today's headlines detailing the scandals on
both Main Street and Wall Street, it is clear that the responsibility of
rebuilding investor confidence rests squarely with management teams
inside public companies. Management cannot rely on Wall Street
investment banking firms to do it for them. Clients are utilizing our
integrated services because they believe in taking greater
responsibility and a more proactive and transparent role in
communicating with investors."
Kip A. Rupp, CFA, Founder and Managing Partner of DRG&E heading
up the InsideOutlook practice, said, "Transparency is critical for
public companies to grow and be successful. Combining recently enacted
accounting standards with new compliance laws and additional federal
reporting procedures adds stress to an already over burdened internal
infrastructure for most public companies. Appropriate corporate
transparency requires additional disclosure beyond the traditional GAAP
reporting system, including company-specific and industry-specific
metrics. With InsideOutlook, our analysts support clients with
sophisticated services through unprecedented intellectual capital, which
helps our clients thrive, not just survive, in today's uncertain
times."
Melvin C. Payne, Carriage Services Chairman, President and Chief
Executive Officer, added, "While we have been utilizing DRG&E's
investor relations expertise since early 1999, the process of our
management team, working in tandem with one of DRG&E's Chartered
Financial Analysts to develop our Company & Investment Profile,
sharpened our focus on our operating plans. In my view, this process has
made us a better company because we took a hard look at where we are
going and how we are going to get there. Once we published our Company
& Investment Profile and 8-K, DRG&E's IR Counsel team then
arranged for us to meet with new investors who were a match for our
investment profile, and we were able to tell our story in greater
detail. The result has been exceptional, with trading volume and
liquidity greatly improved, as well as an increase in our investor base
since we began this process."
William W. Reynolds, IES' Executive Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer, stated, "With the support from DRG&E, our
board, auditors and legal counsel, we recently published our Company
& Investment Profile in continuation with our commitment to provide
more disclosure and transparency to the investment community. Given
structural and regulatory changes impacting the brokerage industry,
challenging capital market conditions, as well as reduced sell side
analyst coverage in our industry, it is our intent to take greater
responsibility and a more proactive role in communicating with both
current investors as well as potential new investors."
W. Benjamin Moreland, Chief Financial
Officer and Treasurer of Crown Castle International
Corp., remarked, "We began our relationship with DRG&E
prior to our IPO in 1998, and their team has provided us with highly
constructive investor relations counsel in both favorable and
challenging operating environments. When DRG&E approached us with
their innovative InsideOutlook service, it was a logical and natural
extension to our proactive disclosure and transparency initiatives and
was an ideal solution for the changing regulatory and brokerage industry
environment. We believe utilizing InsideOutlook represents an exciting
opportunity for us to credibly distinguish ourselves and assist the
investment community in analyzing our company."
DRG&E Senior Staff
DRG&E is currently staffed by four senior investor relations
professionals with over 55 years of combined experience in IR, corporate
communications and capital markets and three former Wall Street analysts
with approximately 40 years of combined sell-side and buy-side
experience. They include:
Ken Dennard Managing Partner and co-Founder, with 14 years of senior
IR experienceKip Rupp, CFA Managing Partner and co-Founder, who was former Senior
VP, Equity Research for Wachovia Securities with
10 years combined sell-side and buy-side experienceSteve Gray CEO, Managing Partner and co-Founder, who was a former
CEO of a public company with over 20 years of executive
management experienceCarl Kirst, CFA Partner, who was former Merrill Lynch Senior Natural Gas
Analyst with 10 years of sell-side experienceJack Lascar Partner, who worked 17 years at Tenneco including
11 years of senior IR experienceMel Cody Senior Analyst, who was a former VP, Institutional
Research for Sanders Morris Harris with 20 years of
combined sell-side & buy-side experienceLisa Elliot VP-IR Counsel with over 15 years of IR experience
Karen Roan VP-IR Counsel with 17 years of institutional sales and
IR experience(Additional biographical information at end of this release)
About DRG&E
Dennard Rupp Gray & Easterly, LLC, headquartered in Houston
with an office in Atlanta, provides a full
range of investor relations and analytical services, financial media
communications services and strategic counsel to enhance the visibility,
transparency and credibility of its clients within the investment and
business communities.
Founded in January 1997 as Easterly Investor Relations, DRG&E has
contracted with over 30 companies since inception, and currently
represents over a dozen public companies totaling approximately $9.5
billion in aggregate revenues with an aggregate workforce of
approximately 43,000 employees. Current clients include Houston-based:
Carriage Services; Crown Castle International; Integrated Electrical
Services; InterOil; Men's Wearhouse; Metals USA; Stewart & Stevenson
Services; Quanta Services; Willbros Group; Powell Industries; Sanders Morris
Harris Group; U.S. Concrete; San Antonio- based Pioneer
Drilling Company; and Dallas-based Packaged Ice.
For information regarding DRG&E clients or its services, please
dial 713-529-6600 or visit the website at http://www.drg-e.com
. DRG&E's Houston office is located at
1800 West Loop South, Suite 200, Houston,
Texas 77027. DRG&E's Atlanta office is
located at 640 Glen Iris Drive, Suite 610, Atlanta,
Georgia 30308.
More Biographical Information on DRG&E's Human CapitalFounder and Managing Partner
Ken Dennard is a Founder and Managing
Partner of DRG&E. He is responsible for the overall operations and
development of the IR Counsel and aid in the development of the
InsideOutlook offering.
Dennard has 14 years of senior management investor relations
experience, both in-house and third party representation for public
companies. Dennard is responsible for supervising all investor relations
programs and marketing DRG&E's clients to the investment community
and financial media on a national basis, with a focus on producing
tangible results. He has developed extensive relationships with the
brokerage, analyst and money management communities in multiple industry
segments to include energy, technology, communications, healthcare,
consolidations, environmental, software and industrial, among others.
Prior to founding DRG&E, Dennard was a Founder and Managing
Partner of Easterly Investor Relations from January 1997 to September
2002. Prior to that, he was Director of Marketing at American
Oncology Resources, Inc. from 1995-1996; Senior Vice President of
Investor Relations at Coastal Physician Group from 1993-1995; Assistant
Vice President with Morgen-Walke Associates from 1991-1993, and Director
of Investor Relations at QMS, Inc. from 1989-1991.
Dennard holds a BA from Duke University, where he was a four-year
letterman in men's basketball from 1977-1981. Dennard also played
professional basketball in the NBA from 1981-84.
Founder and Managing Partner
Kip Rupp is a Founder of DRG&E and is
primarily responsible for all initial product offerings of the
InsideOutlook(TM) and the development and expansion of the practice.
Rupp has ten years of combined sell side and buy side experience in the
investment industry and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Prior to
becoming one of the Founders of DRG&E, Rupp was a Senior Vice
President and Equity Research Analyst with Wachovia
Securities, Inc., in Atlanta,
covering the communications infrastructure services sectors.
While at Wachovia Securities, he received research votes from major
institutional clients and was ranked #2 or higher by StarMine for
earnings estimates accuracy over a two year-period for five of eight
companies surveyed. Rupp also served as a frequent speaker at numerous
industry conferences and trade shows. Prior to Wachovia Securities, he
held analyst positions with several other sell side and buy side firms.
Rupp majored in Finance with a concentration in Investments and holds a
BBA from Stetson University.
CEO, Founder and Managing Partner
Steve Gray is responsible for overall
operations of the company. Prior to becoming one of the Founders of DRG&E,
he held various executive management positions at BioNetrix and ION
Networks, Inc., where he had been CEO. During his 5-year tenure,
this turnaround network management and security software company tripled
in revenues, repositioned into a high-growth market, and moved from
Nasdaq small-cap to National Market membership. Prior to joining ION,
Gray was with Siemens Nixdorf (SNI), where he was Vice President and the
executive responsible for their North American business segments
focusing on Consulting and Professional Services as well as
Self-Service. Before joining SNI, Gray held a series of increasingly
responsible marketing positions at IBM. Steve holds a BA from Duke
University, where he was a four-year letterman in men's basketball from
1975-1979.
Founder, Partner and owner of Easterly & Co.
Gary Easterly is a founder of DRG&E
and is the owner of Easterly & Company, a marketing communications
firm founded in 1978 that specializes in producing effective corporate
communications for a current base of more than 40 clients. Easterly's
work has won distinguished awards for annual report creation, corporate
identity programs and advertising campaigns.
Partner
Carl Kirst is a Partner at DRG&E and
leads the firm's energy research effort. Prior to his joining, Mr.
Kirst spent 10 years as a Wall Street sell- side analyst,
principally focused on the natural gas sector. Most recently, Mr.
Kirst was a Director in Merrill Lynch's U.S. equity research
department with senior coverage of the natural gas/pipeline industry.
Prior to Merrill Lynch, Mr. Kirst was Vice
President at Jefferies & Co., where he had senior coverage of the
natural gas group, co-covered the leading electric-gas convergence
companies and was responsible for the North American natural gas
commodity outlook. In his last year at Jefferies he ranked number one in
natural gas sector performance as ranked by Bulldog Research.Com. Mr.
Kirst began covering the natural gas industry in 1993 with the
regional investment bank Rauscher Pierce Refsnes. Over the course of his
career, Mr. Kirst has spoken at several
investing, accounting and energy industry conferences, and has been
routinely sourced in such news media as The Wall Street Journal, USA
Today and Bloomberg News. Mr. Kirst holds a
bachelor of arts in economics and English from Rice University. He is a
Chartered Financial Analyst and is a member of the Houston
Society of Financial Analysts.
Partner
Jack Lascar serves as Partner of DRG&E. He has over 11 years of
senior management experience in investor relations and corporate
communications. Most recently, Mr. Lascar
worked for Terex Corporation from 1998 until
2002 as Vice-President, investor relations and corporate communications.
Prior to joining Terex, Mr. Lascar was
employed at Tenneco Inc, for 17 years in
various positions in the areas of investor relations and business
development. He joined Tenneco's investor relations program in 1990 and
served as their Vice- President of Investor relations from 1994 to 1997.
In his last assignment at Tenneco, he was Vice-President of business
development for Central and Eastern Europe.
Over the course of his IR career, Mr. Lascar
has developed extensive knowledge of several industries including energy
and capital goods, and extensive relationships with the analyst and
money management communities. He holds an MBA and an MA in economics
from the University of Houston and a BA in
economic administration from the University of Grenoble, France.
Mr. Lascar is fluent in French and Spanish.
Senior Analyst, InsideOutlook(TM)
Mel Cody has over twenty years experience
as a securities analyst, portfolio manager and financial executive.
Mel's background includes both buy side money management organizations
and the sell-side, where he worked at Sanders Morris
Harris for approximately 10 years prior to joining DRG&E. Mel
is highly experienced in stock offering/stock valuation process, having
served as lead analyst on twelve IPO's and four secondary stock
offerings. He was also selected as a Wall Street Journal "All
Star." Over the years, he has covered a variety of industries
including emerging growth, technology, consumer products and
environmental/industrial process industries. Coverage included
Browning-Ferris, Eastern Environmental, Waste Management, USA Waste
Services, Consolidated Graphics, Comfort Systems, Donaldson, US Filter, Pall
Corp., i2 Technologies, Manugistics and others. On the buy side
he worked at well-known institutions including USAA Investments and
American General. Mel earned his BBA in the Business Honors Program with
a major in finance, and his MBA, with a major in investments, at the
University of Texas in Austin.
Vice President, IR Counsel
Lisa Elliott has been a Vice President at
DRG&E for over four years and has more than 19 years of experience
in investor relations, corporate communications and public capital
markets. For the five years prior to DRG&E, she worked as an
independent consultant targeting regional public companies. >From
1990 until 1993, Ms. Elliott was Vice
President of Investor Relations for Nuevo Energy, where she established
the investor relations department. From 1988 to 1990, Ms.
Elliott was the Vice President of Investor Relations at Energy
Assets International Corporation, Nuevo's predecessor entity. From 1983
to 1987, Ms. Elliott was a retail securities
broker. She completed the brokerage training program at Dean Witter
Reynolds, receiving series 7 and series 63 securities licenses. In 1985,
she joined a small financial planning firm that specialized in private
placement and equity issues of small growth companies.
Additionally since 1987, Ms. Elliott's IR
experience has involved writing and publishing assignments such as
quarterlies, annual reports, press releases and editorial features for
publications including Financial Planning Magazine and Oil and Gas
Investor. She is an active member of the National Investor Relations
Institute and served as President of the Houston
Chapter during the 1995-96 program year. Ms.
Elliott earned her BS in Criminology from Sam
Houston State University.
Vice President, IR Counsel
Karen Roan has been a Vice President at
DRG&E for over two years and worked in the area of Institutional
Equity Sales for 15 years, most recently as a Vice President at
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where she developed and maintained
relationships with institutional investors, such as mutual funds,
private money managers, banks and insurance companies. While at DLJ, Ms.
Roan was responsible for marketing the firm's research and
capital markets products, including initial public offerings and
follow-on offerings. Prior to her career in Institutional Sales, she was
an Investment Trust Officer and Financial Analyst at Texas Commerce Bank
in Houston. During her investment career,
she earned her Series 7 and Series 63 licenses and passed the Chartered
Financial Analyst Exam 1. Ms. Roan has also
worked as an analyst on independent research projects and worked as a
securities trader. She graduated from the SMU School of Business with a
B.B.A. in Finance.
Contacts: Ken Dennard / 713-529-6600
kdennard@drg-e.com
Kip Rupp, CFA / 404-271-3104
krupp@drg-e.comLJF AssociatesFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Linda Freede / 281-367-3922
lfreede@ljfassoc.comSOURCE Dennard Rupp Gray & Easterly, LLC
-0- 06/05/2003
/CONTACT: Ken Dennard, +1-713-529-6600, or kdennard@drg-e.com , or Kip
Rupp, CFA, +1-404-271-3104, or krupp@drg-e.com , both of Dennard Rupp Gray &
Easterly, LLC; or Linda Freede of LJF Associates, +1-281-367-3922, or
lfreede@ljfassoc.com , for Dennard Rupp Gray & Easterly, LLC/
/Web site: http://www.drg-e.com /CO: Dennard Rupp Gray & Easterly, LLC
ST: Texas
IN: FIN
SU: PDT