Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Mover

Ford veteran Prytash takes over as CFO for battery maker A123

By Bridget Botelho, Special to Mass High Tech

Ford Motor Co. veteran David Prystash took over as chief financial officer at Waltham-based lithium ion battery maker A123 Systems Inc. last month with plans to chart a course for A123 to become “the” battery supplier for the electric vehicle industry.

Prystash joined the company following the departure of previous CFO, Michael Rubino, who joined Boston-based cleantech firm Digital Lumens Inc.

Prystash grew up in Pennsylvania and studied administrative and managerial science with a major in economics, and he earned a master’s degree in industrial administration from Carnegie Mellon University in 1984. Out of college he joined Ford because it had a reputation for churning out impressive financial experts — and because he loves cars.
“The automotive industry is a tough business, but also a fun business if you like cars, as I do,” Prystash said.

He started out in sales and marketing, pricing Ford vehicles for a few years before moving to the business side. He worked in corporate development, in treasury and in Ford’s used vehicle business in South America for a while. Experience in so many different areas at Ford helped him understand the business better, which aided him when he served in senior financial and operational leadership positions.

While at Ford, he also served on the board of directors of Dayton, Ohio-based NewPage Corp., a major coated paper manufacturer that earns $3.6 billion in sales and has 7,300 employees. He was asked several times to join NewPage, but Prystash wasn’t interested in that gig until NewPage doubled in size and was ready to go public.
So, he left Ford in 2008 for the new opportunity and spent two years as CFO of NewPage.

But, the paper industry is shriveling as electronic device use grew, and there simply isn’t much excitement in it, he said. So this year, Prystash moved to A123 Systems, a 10-year-old company that designs, develops, manufactures and sells rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and battery systems. The company uses nanoscale electrode technology that is built on developments from MIT.

By joining A123,  Prystash is again part of the automotive industry, where he spent 20 years of his career, and he’s involved with an advancing technology sector. In fact, lithium ion battery technology advances so fast, A123 may have a very different business mix in a few years time, he said.

“This space has tremendous opportunities not only in the automotive business, with the inevitable electrification of autos, but also in the grid space across the world,” Prystash said. “It’s a market that is taking off and revenues are expected to grow substantially. (A123 Systems) is at the inflection point of significant growth.”

As CFO of the public company, Prystash will help guide A123 in the direction of growth as it delivers its products to new markets. “The fundamental issue we have today is how to execute on orders and deliver on that, and how to move from being a $100 million company to a billion dollar company,” he said. 

The company reported total revenue of $97.3 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010. A123’s list of customers for automotive batteries includes BAE, Eaton Corp., Fisker Automotive, Navistar and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. In April, A123 also announced a supply and distribution agreement to provide lithium-ion battery technology for high-performance motorsports.

Prystash will split his time between Massachusetts and Michigan, where the company’s automotive-related products are manufactured and 800 employees work.

Much of the company’s grid-related business is in Massachusetts, where 250 employees work between the Waltham headquarters and locations in Hopkinton and Westborough. A123 Systems plans to double the number of employees in Massachusetts over the next year.

 

Bridget Botelho is a freelance writer in Warwick, R.I.