Monday, November 6, 2006

All-Stars: Packer keeps Zoll's pulse strong

By David Price

Plain-spoken and modest almost to a fault, Richard Packer nonetheless predicts big things are ahead for Zoll Medical Corp.

As chief executive at the Chelmsford-based manufacturer of cardiac defibrillators and other resuscitation devices, 49-year-old Packer has kept the company firmly on a growth trajectory throughout his tenure. Revenue grew nearly 170 percent during his first six years as CEO, and Zoll was on pace for about $240 million in sales during the fiscal year that ended in September, according to analysts.

But now, following the company's 2004 purchase of Revivant Corp. and other recent strategic moves, Packer says Zoll finally has the complete offering of tools to treat sudden heart-failure, which kills about 460,000 Americans each year.

All that work, including spending more than $55 million for research and development over the past three years, also is positioning the company to take on much bigger companies such as Medtronic, GE Medical Systems and Royal Phillips Electronics. In fact, to hear Packer tell it, it's the competition now scrambling to keep up with Zoll.

"More and more, it's little old Zoll that's providing the leadership in this industry," he said. "We're doing things and it's the other guys who are now responding to us. The ability to set the agenda is really exciting."

Packer said handling the sheer size of Zoll -- its work force has grown to nearly 1,000 employees, up from around 100 when he joined the company in December 1992 -- and expanding its operations across the United States and into nine other countries can be daunting.

"I'd say I'm highly involved in the company, that's always been my style," he said. "When I came here, I could walk the halls and know just about everyone I met. That's not the case anymore as we've gotten bigger."

Packer arrived at Zoll 14 years ago, a few months after its initial public offering of stock. He originally was the company's head of operations, overseeing a rapid expansion of Zoll's manufacturing capabilities, later taking on duties as chief financial officer and company president as well.

He was promoted to CEO after longtime chief executive Rolf Stutz died from cancer in November 1999. Packer had been well-groomed for the job, but the transition still was tough in many ways, given the close ties between the two executives.

"Rolf was my mentor. There wasn't a part of the business that we didn't talk about several times a day," Packer said. "He was completely knowledgeable and comfortable in his job, and one of the big lessons he taught me was to not sweat the ancillary things."

Packer also is quick to credit Charlie Stott, his former boss at the Whistler Electronics unit of the Arkansas-based electronics firm The Whistler Group Inc., for teaching him the "people side of the business" and for giving him the professional freedom to work in nearly all aspects of the company.

"I was really fortunate to earn his trust early on," Packer said.

Today, nearly two decades removed from his early days at Whistler, Packer extends that same level of trust to the employees at Zoll. They are encouraged to take on new duties and take reasonable risks, comfortable in the knowledge that management is behind them.

"Zoll is a company that will allow its people to fail," he explained. "People won't lose their jobs here because they try big things and come up a little short."

David Price is a freelance writer in Boston.