Technology >> CEO Interviews >> October 16, 2001
PAUL H. RISS is CEO and CFO of eLEC Communications Corp. Mr. Riss
originally served the company in 1995 as an independent member of the
Board of Directors. After joining the company in 1996, he looked to
incubate small high-tech companies. He led eLEC into the
telecommunications industry with the incubation of a Florida-based CLEC,
Access One Communications. Mr. Riss served on the Board of Access One
and helped provide it with the financial resources needed to grow the
business to 60,000 local access lines when Talk.com Inc. acquired it. He
also engineered the purchase of a New York-based CLEC, Essex
Communications, a New Jersey-based CLEC, Telecarrier Services, Inc., and
an internet service provider. These entities form the core operations
that provide integrated telecommunications services under the eLEC brand
name. From 1987 to 1996, Mr. Riss held three Chief Financial Officer
positions, steering a leveraged buyout, a public company and a sequin
manufacturer, where he was responsible for strategic financial planning
and all internal and external reporting. From 1979 to 1987, Mr. Riss
served on the audit staff of Ernst & Young, where he was promoted to the
level of Senior Audit Manager and participated in the audit of several
public companies. Further, Mr. Riss was the 2000'2001 recipient of the
James P. Kelly Award for distinguished public service from the
Westchester Chapter of the New York State Society of Certified Public
Accountants. He was also a finalist in 2001 for Ernst & Young's
Entrepreneur of the Year award for companies in Southern Connecticut and
New York's Hudson Valley. He is a CPA in New York State and earned an
MBA with distinction from the Stern School of Business at New York
University and a magna cum laude BA with distinction from Carleton
College. Profile
eLEC Communications?
Mr. Riss: Our company's origins were not in the telecommunications
industry. We have been public
