JACK HOWARTH90 Beech Hill Rd Exeter, NH 03833

jjhowarth@comcast.net
Home 603.580.5851Mobile 847 331-6896
CAREER OBJECTIVE
Information Technology Director VP CIO / Program Project Manager /
Senior Consultant
QUALIFICATION SUMMARY
Proven track record of increasing operational efficiencies,
controlling project costs/schedules and implementing/ maintaining
technology initiatives to support business objectives. Expertise in
systems analysis, business development, project management, product
development, CRM and ERP systems implementation and
consulting.Developed and articulated vision while leading
cross-functional teams to bring technical and business systems into
reality, enhancing bottom-line performance. Outstanding
organizational, motivational, communications, vendor negotiations and
change management skills. Innovative problem solver with ability to
successfully respond to complex organizational changes, including
reorganizations, acquisitions or divestures.
* Strategic Planning & Business Development
* Contract Negotiations & Vendor Management
* Large-Scale Project Management
* Cost Reductions & Productivity Enhancements
* Systems Development & Integrations
* Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
* Security & Disaster Prevention/Recovery
* Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
* Help Desk Development/Management
* Capital & Operating Budget Oversight
* Change Management
* Cross-Functional Leadership & Team Building
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
GreatPoint Energy, Inc., Cambridge, MA 2007 a" Present
Start-up Company engaged in commercializing a coal gasification
process for the production of pipe line quality synthetic natural
gas. Overall winner in the 2009 GoingGreen East 50 Top Private
Companies list, which recognizes exceptional organizations based on
clean technology.
PROJECT MANAGER
Provided leadership and guidance for the fast track construction and
commissioning of the hydromethanation pilot plant facility with
constantly evolving alternate plans, equipment and configurations to
meet the timetables of a startup organization. In the project
development arena, lead PreFEED studies with partner EPC firms for
the first commercial plant and a smaller demonstration plant.
Abington Group, Inc., Portsmouth, NH 2006 - 2007
$30M mechanical contractor providing construction and construction
management services to the process and power industries.
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT/CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING OPERATIONSProvided
project management, support and guidance to ongoing operations while
developing plans for improving process efficiencies. Provided
strategic consultation to senior leadership team in anticipation of
significant growth. Implemented a database driven job cost estimating
system to interface with project accounting and scheduling systems.
Also implemented project websites to encourage collaboration and
sharing of information with owners and sub-suppliers.
Babcock Power Inc., Worcester, MA 1996 a" 2006
$680M provider of equipment and systems for coal, gas and nuclear
power plants globally. Acquired Babcock Borsig Power, Inc. in 2002.
DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Challenged corporate organizations at 5 domestic sites to establish
IT goals, policies and initiatives, and provided cross-functional
leadership, including strategic business planning and development,
vendor selection and management, contract negotiations, project
management, change management, recruitment and retention. Planned and
executed enterprise-wide projects supporting business communications,
information sharing and collaboration, decision support and workflow
improvements. Directed operations of all data systems, ensuring
reliability, availability and security. Supervised 10 staff members
and managed an annual capital budget of $1 to $4M and an operational
budget of $1.5M.
Strategic Initiatives
* Saved $25,000 per year by negotiating extension of WAN contact 15%
below previous contract.* Saved $480,000 per year in avoided costs by
establishing file replication services with remote engineering office.
* Created policy/procedures supporting HIPAA requirements to protect
electronic healthcare information (EPHI).* Improved total cost of
ownership and decreased capital costs 7% by standardizing
configurations through aggregated computer purchases with a single
vendor. * Championed for and established a sole source vendor for
desktop and server hardware since 1999.* Saved $42,000 per year by
replacing a hosted e-commerce site at 1 subsidiary with an internal
website.* Facilitated improvement in revenue projections by
developing exception reports for the CFO to identify and aggregate
vendor payment schedules.* Project Director for Corporate Year 2000
Readiness Project (Y2K), ensuring company entered 2000 with no
business loss. Provided company with comprehensive inventory of
computer assets and disaster recovery plans.* Saved $450,000 over 3
years by negotiating site license with Microsoft for key software.
IT Infrastructure/Systems Initiatives
* Deployed fast-tracked Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP)
for 5 companies, including data conversion from 4 legacy systems.
Completed implementations, conversions and training on schedule with
consulting costs $789,000 under budget. Developed e-commerce site,
integrating it into the ERP system.* Spearheaded implementation of
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Sales Automation
Application, an alternative that enabled company to avoid use of an
on-line application costing $2M/year.* Improved performance and
user satisfaction and reduced costs $98,000 per year by replacing
legacy system with web-based file transfer application.* Designed
corporate web conferencing solution, redesigned corporate website
using open source Content Management System (CMS) to establish
consistency and reduce maintenance efforts and introduced single
corporate e-mail and collaboration platform (Lotus Notes).
Implemented web access to corporate email system.* Improved
productivity across corporation and reduced user complaints regarding
spam by diverting 63% of incoming e-mail from users' mailboxes through
e-mail content scanning system implementation.* Built new enterprise
MS Windows computing and collaboration platform (servers, network and
software applications) and a team supporting platform in the midst of
a complex and rapidly changing environment.* Created and documented
disaster recovery plans.
Operations Management* Assumed IT responsibilities for newly
acquired company on the west coast, correcting performance,
reliability and spending problems. Eventually relocated critical
systems to main office with no down time.* Launched 2 new remote
offices, procuring, installing and configuring all equipment.*
Enabled project teams, including customers and vendors, to
collaborate on ideas, designs and schedules on specific websites by
implementing project collaboration software (Lotus Quickplace).*
Significantly improved productivity and reduced travel expenses by
implementing web conferencing (Lotus Sametime) software to allow
on-line meetings. Realized $40,000 per year savings over similar
hosted applications.* Consistently achieved uptime/availability
metrics for networks/applications, maintained operating costs
significantly below national averages and established high-level of
user/customer satisfaction with IT services.* Established formal help
desk, including dedicated staff, after hours support, tracking and
analytics.* Consolidated computing centers, systems, hardware,
vendors and policies.
DB Riley, Inc., Worcester, MA 1972 a" 1996
$300M designer and manufacturer of environmental and steam generating
equipment for the power generation industry.
Various roles of increasing responsibility and complexity including
project manager, engineering manager and commissioning engineer.
AFFILIATIONS
Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Computer SocietyMember, Project Management Institute (PMI)Member,
Society of Information Managers (SIM)Past Chairman, Deltek New
England Users Group
EDUCATION
MBA, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MABS, Electrical
Engineering, Lowell Technological Institute, University of
Massachusetts, Lowell, MA
Professional Training: Project Management: PMI. Materials Management:
APICS. Multiple sessions on each module of the ERP software: Finance
and Accounting, Payroll, Project Finance, Budgeting and Reporting,
Materials Management, Manufacturing and Human Resources: Deltek.
Quality Training, Certified Auditor: ASQC.
TECHNOLOGY SKILLS
Hardware: Desktops, notebooks, servers and peripherals.Software:
Windows, Linux, Mac OS, MS Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, MS Visio,
MS Access, MySQL, Oracle, MS Project, Primavera, MS Front Page,
Macromedia Dreamweaver, Deltek Costpoint, Cognos Impromptu,
PowerPlay, Lotus Notes, Sametime and QuickPlace.Networks:
TCP/IPLanguages: SQL, HTML and Lotus script.