San Fernando Valley Business Journal

Michael Alfred
Position: Sr. VP of Finance and Administration
Firm: PTI Technologies
Location: Oxnard

A plain-talking aerospace lifer, Mike Alfred sees the job of the CFO as simply “putting common sense to the thing.” While other companies may spend millions researching and selling a product with an uncertain market, Alfred believes in making a quality product with demonstrable demand, and backing it with PTI’s reputation for integrity and credibility.

At PTI, Alfred has worked to create long-term business stability in aerospace consumables by ensuring that PTI filtering products and hydraulic module services are an important part of most current and future aircraft platforms. Formerly known by the brand-name “Purolator,” you can find his company’s products on “almost everything Boeing’s ever built,” including both passenger and military aircraft, as well as a number of craft from Northrop and Airbus.

PTI didn’t escape the recession unscathed. Between 2008 and 2009, they were “caught with the same downturn as everyone else.” And they handled it in “textbook style,” through cuts and layoffs. It’s an era he’s not happy about, but it kept the company afloat and positioned it for real expansion and growth today. Alfred’s stewardship has not only increased revenues, but also improved overall efficiencies throughout the company, resulting in dramatically improved returns.

Alfred’s approach centers around reasonable goals based on real data, and he lets his track record speak for itself. In 7 years, PTI has only missed its projections once. He currently expects steady growth and a doubling of company size between 2010 and 2015.

Born in Detroit to a family tied to the automotive industry, Alfred chose an aerospace career very early in life. “I always wanted to work for Howard Hughes,” he explains. After studying Finance at Michigan State (helped out by a golf scholarship), he packed up a trailer and went to work at Allied Signal (now Honeywell), where he quickly rose to the top administrative spot. Since then, he has held important positions at a number of aerospace firms, including Northrop Grumman and Special Devices, Inc.

– Jeremy Matters

Frederic (Fred) T. Boyer
Position: CFO
Firm: DataDirect Networks
Location: Chatsworth

Hit hard by the recession, DataDirect Networks Inc. hired Fred Boyer to turn around a struggling and unprofitable tech manufacturing company. In the two years since, he has led them through a remarkable recovery, putting them consistently in the black since 2009, and paying off $20 million in debt in the process through cost-cutting and streamlining.

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