ANDY KOTARBA:
 
ANDY KOTARBA




 
 
 
 
 
President and CEO of Dewpoint in Lansing. During Kotarba’s 25-year career he has looked for ways to streamline organizations, bring out their best, build quality, and turn a profit geared toward investing in the future. Kotarba joined Dewpoint, a technology consulting and integration company, in 1999 as the CFO, transitioning to president, CEO, and majority owner in 2004. Under his leadership, the company has realized five years of growth in revenue and profitability. It has been recognized by Everything Channel as one of North America’s top technology integrators, placing 446th in the 15th annual VAR500 ranking. Dewpoint was also recognized as one of the 2009 “Michigan 50 Companies to Watch,” an awards program sponsored by the Edward Lowe Foundation and presented by Michigan Celebrates Small Business. Before Dewpoint, Kotarba was CFO at automotive supplier Federal Forge, leading the company to a record profit in 1998 and significantly improving cash management systems and vendor relations before taking over as president and COO. Kotarba’s community involvement includes serving as co-chairman of the BEST Initiative; on the ITEC advisory board; on the workforce development board for the Capital Area Michigan Works; and founding member of the Capital Area IT Council. Nationally, in 2008 Kotarba was named vice president of the Sun Microsystems National Advisory Council, where he leverages his expertise to address and improve upon strategic business issues affecting Sun Microsystems and its many partners. He was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Entrepreneurial Awards of Greater Lansing in 2010. Kotarba earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Pennsylvania State University and his MBA at Youngstown State University.


WHERE BORN: "Newcastle, Pa."

MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS: "Career-wise, two individuals. My career before technology was in the automotive sector. Two people really helped to shape the way I thought. One was Bob Ayers, a plant manager for a large supplier, Rockwell Automotive. Second was Ron White, a former Rockwell executive who took a chance on me. I moved to Michigan to become CFO of a small auto supplier, and he was the president. He gave me the opportunity to really get into a senior-level financial career. He still influences the way I think."

LAST BOOK READ: "The Likeability Factor by Tim Sanders."

WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME: "Encourager, entrepreneurial, loves to have fun, ethical, fair, delegator."

WHERE MY FIELD/INDUSTRY IS HEADED: "We’re in the technology field so the one thing I can tell you is that it’s headed for constant change. Technology advancements are constant, so we have to continually adapt and keep up. The way we do business today as a company is not even close to three years ago and will not be the same two to three years from now. We’re constantly reinventing ourselves."

FAVORITE TECHNOLOGICAL GADGET: "My iPod Touch."

FAVORITE PLACE: "Myrtle Beach. We have a family condo there where I’m partners with my brother-in-law and we converge there every summer with the whole family."

FAVORITE HOBBIES: "Golf."

FAVORITE FOOD: "Hot wings."

MY HIDDEN TALENT: "I’m pretty good at giving golf lessons."

HOW I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED: "That I treated people right and professionally, that I always did the right thing and ran an ethical business."


Grant Thornton Website At the annual awards reception in April 2014, one Leader & Innovator from the previous 12 months will be selected as the Grant Thornton Leader & Innovator of the Year.