Two months into the job, Chief Financial Officer Jade Barnwell is setting strategy at Orlando-based Laser Photonics (Nasdaq: LASE). The company she joined makes laser-powered cleaning machines used in a variety of industrial scenarios to remove rust, corrosion and contamination from many surfaces and materials. Barnwell said she believes the company’s products will disrupt the sandblasting industry, and she intends to help that process along.
Primed by financial leadership positions with Mitsubishi Power and Siemens, she has CEO Wayne Tupelo’s vote of confidence: “The experience that new hires bring is invaluable, which is why we are so excited about her joining the team. The addition of Barnwell as chief financial officer leverages her unique experience with financial planning and analysis,” he said in a prepared statement.
Here, Orlando Inno spoke with Barnwell and asked for details about her first C-suite role:
What attracted you to Laser Photonics?
When I consider a job, I look at three things. It has to be something I really enjoy doing. It has to be something I'm really good at. Also, the business needs to contribute to society. This one checks all the boxes.
When it comes to developing the business strategy, what will you contribute?
My background — my strength I am very proud of — is FP&A [financial planning and analysis] on the operations side, understanding what the business is and how to set our strategy. My contribution here is helping our management focus on certain areas — at the right time and in the right place.
Do you see any challenges in front of you?
Because in some ways we’re a startup and this is a very new market, it's very difficult to project our future. Not many people know that laser technology can replace sand blasting. Sandblasting is a very manual process, and because of the particles that are spewed into the air, it’s not healthy for workers’ lungs nor is it good for the environment. Educating the market on the advantages of laser cleaning — which has no negative health or environmental impact and leaves behind no trace — is one of the reasons we went public. We wanted to get the funding right for a marketing strategy. But there’s still a lot of work to do to penetrate the market.
How will you tackle setting strategy?
Each year I do a three-step approach. We analyze a four-month period in terms of the financial plan and the people strategy. Do we have the right resources or need to hire more? We make adjustments based on what we see.
Are you tasked with developing the financial infrastructure for Laser Photonics?
Yes and no. That’s on the horizon, but I don't think of that as the immediate need.
Can you describe the team you're leading on the finance side?
I don’t have many people, and as you’ve probably seen, we are hiring. For starters, we’re looking for a senior financial analyst and senior accountant right now.
How important are U.S. Department of Defense relationships?
Super important. We sold a [Cleantech LPC-3000-CTHD] unit to the Army. The MSRP on that is $300,000. But it’s not about selling that one unit. It will be used at a shipyard, but the military has many shipyards. There’s the potential that we unlock new DoD relationships when they see how well that unit performs.
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