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 LINDA
P. HUDSON, CEO
Armament & Technical Products Division
General Dynamics Corporation
By: Matt Joyner
John Tabor introduced Linda P. Hudson, Chief Executive Officer of
the Armament and Technical Products Division of General Dynamics
Corporation. Ms. Hudson began her career in 1972 as an R&D Engineer
in satellite systems and in 1999 was named an officer and Vice
President at General Dynamics. In 2003 she led her division’s
relocation to Charlotte of its Burlington, Vermont headquarters and
a Deland, Florida manufacturing facility.
Hudson divided her presentation into four topics: “Who we are,” “Why
we left Vermont,” “Why we selected Charlotte” and “What we think now
that we’re here.”
“Who we are” – “The detection, protection and lethality folks”
Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, General Dynamics is a major
defense contractor that has annual revenues of approximately $16
billion and 65 thousand employees. Its business is divided into
Aerospace (Gulfstream airplanes), Marine (ships and submarines),
Information Systems and Combat Systems. Situated organizationally in
the Combat Systems group, Hudson and her armament and technical
productions division are known as “the detection, protection and
lethality folks.” They produce rapid fire aircraft guns, guided and
unguided missiles, high performance radones and chemical/biological
detection systems. The division has 9 locations in 8 states and
employs 2,500 people.
“Why we left Vermont” – High costs and poor transportation
Hudson noted that Vermont has the third highest personal income tax
in the nation; energy costs 40% higher than the US average and a 14%
higher cost of living than the national norm. The main issue driving
her division’s relocation however was transportation, i.e. the
relative difficulties of flying in and out of Burlington, Vermont.
After 2000, as the division acquired facilities outside of the
Northeast, it needed a more accessible and centrally located
headquarters.
“Why we selected Charlotte” – “A really good airport and a nice
place to live.”
Hudson and her team conducted their relocation research in-house,
focusing on transportation, business environment and availability of
commercial office space. Only after they narrowed the original field
of 12 cities down to two did they visit and begin to interact with
local and state business development authorities. Despite a
disappointing economic incentive package from the State of North
Carolina (“almost a deal breaker for us”), Charlotte won the
competition thanks at least in part to the “tireless” efforts of
Mayor Pat McCrory and the Chamber’s Justin Hunt. Hudson noted that
they were not recruited by Charlotte and never saw an ad or T.V.
commercial regarding Charlotte: “We found Charlotte; they didn’t
find us.”
“What we think now that we’re here” – “All expectations exceeded”
Hudson said that General Dynamics is very happy at this point with
their relocation to Charlotte and that “across the board all
expectations have been exceeded.” She praised the warmth and
receptiveness of the local community as well as the efforts of the
Chamber and the School Board in reaching out to her employees
considering relocating to Charlotte. The result is that General
Dynamics has experienced a relocation acceptance rate of over 90%
from its Vermont employees and 80% of its Florida employees.
Welcome to Charlotte, General Dynamics.
Head Table:
Keith Nowokunski, John Tabor, Brenda
Lea, Tom Robertson, Lee Morris, John Armistead
Visitors and Guests:
Rusty Brink; Visitors & Guests: David
Lewis; Health & Happiness: John Rogers, Song: David Erdman
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Attendance
Record |
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4/06/04 |
4/08/03 |
| visitors &
guests |
7 |
16 |
| club
members |
201 |
211 |
| total
attendance |
208 |
227 |
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Wedding
Anniversaries |
13 Debby & Brian Millhouse
15 Robin and Robert Freeman |
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New Members | Resignations |
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| Roaming
Rotarians |
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Phil Van Hoy, Wilmington, NC | |
| Birthdays and
Birthplaces |
16 Will Barnhardt,
Wilmington, DE
17 William Rikard,
Haywood Co,NC
18 Charlie Pitts, Detroit, MI
18 Bob Story, Asheville, NC
18 Bruce Darden,
Burlington, NC |
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2003-04
RI
Theme
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z Tom
Robertson, Ken Samuelson & son,
David Erdman, Alan Adler &
daughter, and
Charlie Williams represented
Charlotte Rotary at the dedication of the 2004 Habitat House on
April 3, 2004.
z
BIG thanks to
David Norman
for the forty or so Roster pictures he has taken over the last 3
weeks.
z
Registration is still open for those wishing to attend
the District 7680
Conference
April 16-18 in Myrtle Beach.
z
Baby Charles Welton
had emergency open heart surgery last week and is
struggling with an infection. He is expected to remain
hospitalized in PA for another six weeks. Continue to remember
the Welton
family in the coming weeks. You may leave a word of
encouragement or monitor updates on his condition at
http://www.caringbridge.org/nc/charles/
z
The club’s 17 year-old Exchange student from Belgium will be
arriving in August. Anyone interested in hosting this young man
for the next three months should contact Lamar Thomas or Don
Millen. |
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NEW
MEMBER PROFILE
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Alan
Thomas Adler (Alan)
Alan Adler & Associates, Inc.
Classification: Consulting,
Customer Service
21308 Nautique Blvd, Suite 101
Cornelius, NC 28031
704-895-4101
tollfree800@aol.com |
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Alan is an industry expert in customer
relationship management (CRM) and customer service. From 1996 to
the present, he has been president/CEO of Alan Adler &
Associates, Inc., a national marketing and consulting company to
many Fortune 500 companies. For 10 years prior to that he was
founder, Chairman of the Board and COO of Touch Tone Access,
Inc. and Call Processing Solutions Inc., (an 80 employee
company) pioneers implementing CRM initiatives. Alan was an
executive with AT&T at their headquarters in New Jersey for more
than 10 years where he served as a communications advisor to
senior management and marketing manager for the Media,
Publishing and Distribution industries.
Alan’s education includes a bachelor’s degree in Education and
Marketing plus graduate studies in Marketing Communications from
Wayne State University. In addition, he has taught middle school
and college as an Associate Professor of Communications Arts, at
Oakland College in Michigan.
Most recently, Alan was a featured speaker at the Lattenze
Center for Management Education at Loyola College. He has been
recognized for “turn around marketing” and “mass
marketing success stories in the making” by marketing gurus
Booz, Allen & Hamilton and Stan Rapp and Tom Collins, authors of
Maximarketing and The Great Marketing Turnaround.
Alan is a consummate communicator having many published
articles, serving on boards of directors, selected as a company
spokesperson and honored by the International Television
Association award for his video Going The Distance, which
he wrote, directed and produced for AT&T.
Alan has one daughter, Sloane, who is 6 years old and resides in
Cornelius. |
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