Culture Shift at Allen Systems Group
This interview with Ernie Scheidermann explains the recent changes at Allen Systems Group (ASG), the company which employs me, in a very crisp and clear way. Not everybody will be interested in this, but the changes open up a whole new, exciting world for the company and its employees.
The interview is published in the
Business Observer – Florida’s Newspaper for the C-Suite
New systems
BY: JEAN GRUSS | EDITOR/LEE-COLLIER
May 29, 2015
Ernest Scheidemann is the Allen Systems Group executive vice president and chief financial officer who helped shepherd the company through reorganization. Photo by Brian Tietz
Executive Summary
Company: ASG
Industry: Technology
Key: If you must restructure the balance sheet, do it quickly to save the business.
To understand the culture shift happening at Allen Systems Group today, consider Ernest Scheidemann’s wardrobe.
On a recent visit to the company’s headquarters in Naples, the executive vice president and chief financial officer greets you in jeans and an open-collared shirt. It’s a small detail that would never be noticed in Silicon Valley, but at Allen Systems, where formal suits once were the dress code, it signals change is afoot.
Better known by its initials, ASG is somewhat of an anomaly in Naples, a retirement and vacation haven. It’s a high-tech software company that helps giant corporations such as American Express, Coca-Cola and General Electric manage mountains of data. Its founder was Arthur Allen, who retired to Naples in 1981 when he was 34 years old after he sold his first software company for $18 million.
But following years of rapid growth, the recent recession combined with mounting debt took its toll. ASG recently made a quick two-month dash through Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, and Allen resigned. The reorganization in Delaware bankruptcy court registered only whispers in Naples, where Allen has been a big benefactor to various charitable causes and a champion for economic diversification.
See the full article at: http://www.businessobserverfl.com/section/detail/new-systems/
