Natural Resources >> CEO Interviews >> March 21, 2005

James Binch – Memry Corporation (mry)

JAMES G. BINCH is President and Chief Executive Officer of Memry Corporation. He became head of Memry Corporation in 1992 and since then has devoted his efforts to building the company from the bottom up, starting with fewer than 10 employees in 1993 to the more-than 375 employees today. Among his accomplishments, he has acquired a division of Raychem Corp., purchased a company in Belgium, bought a company in Massachusetts, sold a subsidiary, personally raised over $15 million in private equity and grown the core shape memory business 20-fold. The company, under his leadership, has been named one of the 50 fastest growing companies in Connecticut for seven consecutive years. Now, with the company refocused and broadened with the recent acquisition of Putnam Plastics Corporation, it is ready to make its mark on the medical device industry. Mr. Binch is striving to considerably broaden the company's revenue and material technology base and create significant shareholder value. A graduate Engineer from Princeton University, and with an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Binch started his career as a general management consultant with Cresap, McCormick and Paget (now part of TPF&C) and went on to become Vice President of Planning at Champion Building Products. He spent seven years in senior roles with Combustion Engineering (C-E) including three years as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Engineering Sector of C-E and its principal subsidiary, Lummus-Crest, Inc., with more than 3,000 employees, offices in eight countries and annual contract volumes in excess of $2 billion. Mr. Binch moved into merchant banking by founding Trinity Capital Corporation in 1987. He led a buyout of Trinity Capital's principal investments through the formation of Harbour Holdings LP, of which Harbour Investment Corporation was the sole general partner. It was through investment activity at Trinity Capital, and later Harbour, that his backers became major shareholders and he ultimately became CEO of Memry. He is a Trustee of Trinity College School in Ontario, Canada, and is a Director of 169855 Canada Inc. and Visual Technologies Ltd. He also served previously as a local Red Cross Chapter Chairman. Profile
TWST: Would you begin with an overview of Memry Corp, how you see the

company today?

Mr. Binch: Memry is a specialized technology company whose original

technology was associated with shape