Micro D Inc. Names New Chairman-Chief Executive
Just days after its planned merger with First Software Inc. fell through, Micro D Inc. has named a new chairman and chief executive to take over from the partners who have been trying to leave the computer products wholesaling company they started six years ago.
Linwood (Chip) Lacy Jr., most recently a senior vice president of marketing for Best Products in Virginia, was named Thursday to replace Geza Csige as chairman and Lorraine Mecca as chief executive of the Santa Ana company, which had $114 million in sales last year.
In addition, Harold Clark was promoted from chief operating officer to president, and Godfred Otuteye was elevated from chief financial officer to senior vice president.
Mecca and Csige, the husband-and-wife team who opened Micro D in Fountain Valley in 1979 and presided over the firm as it grew into one of the nation’s largest computer products wholesalers, are leaving the company to pursue new business ventures from their home in Hawaii.
“I’m an entrepreneur,” Mecca, 36, said in an earlier interview. “But Micro D has grown beyond that style.”
Before joining Best Products, Lacy, 40, served as Micro D’s senior vice president and chief operating officer from March, 1982, to January, 1983--the period of Micro D’s greatest growth. He was Mecca’s first choice as a successor when she was ready to step down. However, when Lacy left the company, Mecca was forced to change her plans.
Earlier this year, Micro D sought a merger partner as a way of turning over daily business operations to new management as well as creating a larger company that would be better able to survive the current computer sales slump. But the planned merger with First Software of Lawrence, Mass., was canceled earlier this week because of potential tax problems.
“If you can’t get strong management one way, you get it another way,” Mecca said of Lacy’s appointment.
Mecca said she plans to sell her 51% interest in Micro D, shares valued at about $13.5 million, to finance her new ventures.
