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CEO Spotlight
Jeans to Genes
President, CEO / Dyadic International
Jupiter
Business: Founded company in 1979 to make ingredients for stone-washing blue jeans. Transitioned Dyadic into biotech company that now uses genetic tools to manufacture specialty enzymes and other biological products for agricultural, chemical, industrial and pharmaceutical industries.
New Vistas: Sequenced the genome of a Russian fungus (known as C1), providing access to 10,000 to 15,000 new genes for mass production of environmentally friendly catalysts.
Markets: Sells liquid and dry enzyme products to textile manufacturers and pulp and paper mills, which use the enzyme for bleaching and de-inking paper, in 50 countries worldwide.
Financial: Net sales of $11.9 million, net loss of $7.9 million for the first nine months of 2005.
Accomplishments: Went public in October 2004 (Amex-DIL). Built well-credentialed board of scientific advisers, including Scripps' President Richard Lerner and Bob Shapiro, former Monsanto board member.
Employees: 110 in Jupiter (plus another 90 contract workers in research and manufacturing). Added 13 high-paying positions in past year.
Recent Ventures: Strong promoter of Scripps Florida. "They have been very helpful to us," he says. "It was hard for a biotech company here to get attention before Scripps came on the scene."
Education: B.A., University of Iowa, where he was a collegiate wrestler.
Family: Wife, Lisa; daughters, Ashley and Hailey.
Hobbies: Golf, boating.
