Reviving Eagle Computer Refills Executive Ranks

Nearly a year after its executive team was decimated to save money, a reviving Eagle Computer Inc. has replenished its management ranks with the appointment of five vice presidents.

Of the five, three were hired from outside the Garden Grove company and two were promoted from within. Heading the list of new managers is Richard Sergo, the consultant who negotiated Eagle’s new manufacturing agreement with a Korean electronics company. Sergo was hired as executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Before becoming an independent consultant, Sergo was vice president for product development at Columbia Data Products. He also worked at Exxon Office Systems and at Decision Data Computer Corp.

In addition to Sergo, Eagle hired John Harwer as vice president for marketing and Edmund Hornby for the newly created position of vice president for international sales.

Hornby replaces Richard Thunen, who was been promoted to senior vice president for strategic planning.

Finally, Shelley Valk has been named chief financial officer and vice president for finance, positions that had been vacant since Eagle’s brush with bankruptcy last summer.

The company said its recent Korean manufacturing agreement and the refinancing of its remaining $7.5-million debt were the reasons it was able to restore its management team. And, a spokesman said, the appointment of the new executives signals Eagle’s intention to continue its ascent from the depths of its financial depression.

Flexibility Cited

“The agreements gave us the flexibility to add staff and start building this company up again,” said Frank Weikel, Eagle’s director of communications.

President Gary Kappenman said in a prepared statement that the staff additions are “part of our long-term strategy for success in the business computer marketplace.”

Harwer, with more than 15 years’ experience in the computer industry, is the former vice president for marketing and sales at Infotek. Before that, he was vice president for marketing and sales at ABM Computer Systems, a company he founded in 1982.

Hornby is the former director for international sales at Columbia Data Products. A native of England, he was formerly with International Computers Ltd., where he served as marketing manager for small systems.

Valk, the new vice president of finance, was instrumental in negotiating Eagle’s two-part debt refinancing earlier this year.