GreenPages Names New CEO

Dupler replaces 68-year-old Charles Hefford, who will remain on the GreenPages board of directors, but is stepping down as president and CEO of the Kittery, Maine, solution provider.

Dupler was CEO of Merrimack, N.H.-based Amherst during the technology boom from 1997 to 2001 when the integrator's sales soared 600 percent to $398 million. After that, Dupler took the CEO post at Bizi International, a Tyngsboro, Mass. seller of used IT equipment.

Although Bizi was growing sales at a 40 percent rate this year, Dupler said he was attracted by the strong IT solutions sales vision of GreenPages.

Dupler said he is not looking at making any dramatic shifts in GreenPages' strategic direction. He said he aims to continue to build on the company's professional services business with a goal of doubling it to about 25 percent to 30 percent services, up from the current 15 percent mark.

"Our objective is to continue to drive services as a percentage of overall sales," he said. "It has been going up fairly consistently over the last couple of years."

"One thing I can assure you is we are going to be listening to our clients, talking to them extensively about their strategic IT needs and adapting to their needs, doing what we need to do to deliver great solutions," said Dupler. "I was having a good run at Bizi, but this was an opportunity to get back in the solution provider space. There is a lot of runway in that space, and that is where I grew up. I look forward to working with a great team of people and having some fun."

Dupler said he does not foresee in the short term growing GreenPages via acquisition.

Hefford said Dupler's strong sales orientation was one of the reasons for bringing him on board. "Ron is a sales guy and we are a sales organization, first and foremost," he said. "He's the right guy for the job. Nothing happens without a sale. That [sales expertise] was our first criteria [for the CEO job]. Beyond that he knows our industry, our product line, our distribution partners. There is no appreciable amount of uptime required for him to get going."

Hefford said 12-year-old GreenPages is positioned for sales growth. "This game is all about sales and service," he said. "As long as we maintain that focus we will be in good shape."