Storage and power supply product manufacturer Qualstar Corp. tapped the chief financial officer of a Colorado company as its new CEO. Lawrence D. Firestone begins in his new position with the Simi Valley company on June 4. He replaces Bill Gervais who retires as chief executive as of June 15. Firestone is currently CFO with Xiotech Corporation, a supplier of enterprise storage systems based in Colorado Springs. He serves on the Qualstar board, a position he will keep even as CEO. Firestone said it was a privilege to be asked to head up the company. “I believe that Qualstar has great technology and I will be working to deliver strong value to shareholders through growth in sales of existing products and through targeted acquisitions,” Firestone said in a prepared statement. Prior to joining Xiotech, Firestone was executive vice president and CFO at Advanced Energy Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of industrial power conversion devices, and senior vice president, chief financial officer, secretary and treasurer at Applied Films Corporation, a publicly held supplier of thin film deposition equipment. Mark R. Madler
