Entrepreneur Of The Year

Calling all cars

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T.J. Chung has always pushed the business envelope, rising from an early software/systems engineering position at Alcatel to become the vice president of strategic planning at Brunswick Corp.

He launched the highly controversial New Technologies Division at Brunswick in 2002 and eventually led the purchase of a part of the Brunswick-owned New Technologies Division to form Navman Wireless Holdings in 2007. That acquisition and Chung’s subsequent business decisions highlight his vision, perseverance and willingness to take risks. Since taking the helm of Navman, he has increased its sales tenfold.

Chung subsequently bought two other New Technologies divisions when Brunswick decided to sell as part of a divestiture of noncore products and services. No one else was interested in the fleet management business, but Chung saw potential.

That potential alone didn’t make the deal happen, however, as Brunswick gave the group four weeks to raise the capital and six weeks to complete the deal. Wisely looking through options for capital, Chung and his partners put the pieces together for the deal.

Chung has also taken other risks. At the time of the acquisition, all Navman products were manufactured in New Zealand. Over the objections of his management team, shareholders and accountants, who argued that the company risked disruption to its supply chain, Chung moved production to Asia, cutting costs 30 percent, aligning Navman with a world-class factory and giving the company a solid presence in Asia.

Chung has capitalized on Navman’s competitive advantage, as well. His system offers the only in-vehicle mobile dispatch unit that incorporates GPS navigation, allowing drivers to get dispatch instructions, send messages back to the office and map the route to their next stop.

For More Information: Navman Wireless Holdings, www.navmanwireless.com