![\"John](\"http:\/\/www.totalengagementconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/John-W-Palmour.jpg\")
<\/a>John Palmour, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Cree, Inc.<\/p><\/div>On May 27th of this year, I attended \u201cMarketplace 2015,\u201d<\/strong><\/a> a biennial regional \u201creverse\u201d trade show event which provides small business like Total Engagement Consulting the opportunity to meet contracting officers from over 50 federal, state and local government agencies and some of their large prime contractors. The event also includes useful workshops on how to pursue government contracts as well as inspirational talks from role model businesses.<\/p>\n One such inspirational address was from the luncheon keynote speaker, John Palmour, Co-founder and now Chief Technology Officer of Cree, Inc.<\/strong><\/a> Cree started as a technology spinoff from a project at North Carolina State University<\/strong><\/a> in 1987 to grow into a $1.6B global business. Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting products, LED components, and semiconductor products for power and radio-frequency applications.<\/p>\n Mr. Palmour, a home-grown product of North Carolina, was a down-to-earth compelling speaker with a story which can inspire any entrepreneur. Two key points he made about Cree\u2019s and his own business success included:<\/p>\n \u2022\tNot buying into that old saying \u201cit cannot be done.\u201d John actually put it as \u201cI was too young and stupid to not believe that it cannot be done,\u201d but honestly, I think that really demonstrates the power of sometimes defying conventional wisdom and going with your own instincts. While most other technology companies were migrating to Silicon Valley in California, John believed he could find the required talent and funds in North Carolina to grow his business. And he did!<\/p>\n \u2022\tCree was successful under John\u2019s leadership to break into the federal contracting business and winning key contracts with the US Military, which helped provide needed business and capital to grow Cree\u2019s business. But then Cree moved beyond the government contacts to diversity and find additional sources of revenue such as the residential product market.<\/p>\n Then John continued into discussing key challenges facing technology businesses in the USA and North Carolina today. These included:<\/p>\n \u2022\tThe ever increasing global competition, especially from Asia. Businesses in the US must stay on the forefront of technology and not get complacent and satisfied with the current status quo.<\/p>\n \u2022\tAssuring that the quality of education in our state and the country advances. We need to continue to build strong technical expertise with a focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)<\/strong><\/a> and the business aspects of building savvy entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n And then John closed with the key message that much of Cree\u2019s success was that they combined building products and offerings using innovative technology with highly-motivated great employees.<\/p>\n NEXT BLOG: In two weeks, I will follow up with a profile of a successful small diverse-owned local business I met at the Marketplace Event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On May 27th of this year, I attended \u201cMarketplace 2015,\u201d a biennial regional \u201creverse\u201d trade show event which provides small business like Total Engagement Consulting the opportunity to meet contracting officers from over 50 federal, state and local government agencies … Continue reading