The ASM International Board of Trustees announces the appointment of William T. (Bill) Mahoney as Managing Director effective immediately. The appointment follows an extensive search led by the Board-appointed Executive Search Committee with the assistance of Dise & Co.
Mahoney is formerly the CEO of the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA). He held this post from August 2005 to March 2016. SCRA is a non-stock, tax-exempt applied R&D corporation, which operates under a public charter from the state of South Carolina, but is economically self-sufficient due to its business operations, and receives no state funding.
Under Mahoney’s leadership, SCRA annual revenues from its applied research and commercialization services operations have grown from $74M to over $455M. In this same timeframe, SCRA annual year-end backlog grew from $93M to $1091M, annual net revenues have set company records of up to 7.9%, and total contract value under management grew from $235M to over $5.2B.
SCRA’s financial growth has paralleled its advancing reputation within defense, security, advanced materials, and energy and sustainability market segments as a dynamic, research-based business, uniquely able to rapidly and cost-effectively apply innovative technologies to important government and corporate problem sets. In its vertical markets, SCRA today competes effectively against established entities such as Battelle, SAIC, IBM, CTC, Mitre Corp, and others. Mahoney holds a TS clearance, which was a condition of employment at SCRA.
During his tenure, SCRA received national and international best practices recognition from the defense industry for its Navy Centers of Excellence, and from the State Science and Technology Institute, Southern Growth Policies Conference, International Economic Development Council, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Forbes Magazine for its SC Launch seed capital and support services programs. In 2008, Mahoney was named by Tech Journal South magazine as one of the top 25 technology leaders in the southeastern United States. In 2010, SCRA’s Applied R&D Sector was chosen by The Wall Street Journal as one of America’s Top 15 Winning Workplaces. SCRA was recognized as Non-Profit Corporation of the Year 2011 by the American Business Congress’ “Stevie” Awards, and the same group chose Bill as Non-Profit Executive of the Year in 2012. Mahoney’s peers from other industry segments in this 2012 Executive of the Year selection included Allen Mulally of Ford, and John Lundgren of Stanley Black and Decker. In 2013 and 2014, SCRA was awarded multiple “Stevie’s” for national leadership in technology innovation and corporate responsibility programs.
SCRA invests the net revenues of its applied R&D contracts to effect its public mission, which is the development of the knowledge economy in South Carolina. Since 2006, SCRA investment programs, including R&D infrastructure, startup equity investments, SBIR matches, grants, subcontracts, and sponsorships, have generated and deployed over $380M in cash into the SC knowledge economy. Over $100M of that investment has supported commercialization of university research and technologies. Private add-on investment of over $400M in equity capital has followed SCRA placements, and SCRA has supported or assisted over 700 SC Corporations, ranging from BMW down to over 320 early stage startups. All of these decade-long achievements have occurred without any annual state appropriations.
During the roughly 30 years prior to coming to SCRA, Mahoney led companies small and large, which commercialized ″first-of-a-kind″ solutions in telecommunications, electronic publishing, automatic remote monitoring and other emerging applied systems markets, leading directly to IPO’s or strategic acquisitions. Among these companies was SCT Utility Systems, of Columbia, SC. Between 1995 and 2000, SCT grew from startup to $175M annual revenues, prior to its sale to Indus International (now Ventyx Corp). SCT′s installed base of customer information systems for energy, utility, and communications companies is still one of the largest of its kind in the world.
Mahoney held a non-voting seat as secretary of the SCRA Board, and also served as the chairman of SCRA’s wholly-owned applied R&D affiliate, Advanced Technology International Inc. He currently serves on outside corporate boards as chairman of SCRA-invested tech startups STEM Premier and Carbon Conversions Inc. He also serves on national Boards with the National Defense Industrial Association, the National Energy Marketers Association and the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association. On a state and local level, he serves or has served on the boards of the SC Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Alliance, Midland Technical College Foundation, and SC Economics.
Mahoney is a Harvard graduate and former member of both the Harvard Crew and the U.S. National Rowing Team. He and his wife, Paula, have been married for 37 years and have two adult sons, one a U.S. Navy officer and one a professional baseball player.
