Ben Blanquera

Ben Blanquera

Experienced Technology Exec, Business and Social Entrepreneur

Columbus, Ohio Area

Current
Past
  • Vice President Strategy and Development at MBA FOCUS
  • Director at Columbus Technology Council
  • Director - Marketing /Sales - Integrex Testing Systems at Owens Corning - Integrex

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Education
  • Bowling Green State University
  • Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey-New Brunswick
Recommended
Ben has 17 recommendations 17 people have recommended Ben
Connections
500+ connections
Industry
Management Consulting
Websites

Ben Blanquera’s Summary

High-energy, outcome oriented professional with consistent record of growing top and bottom lines. Entrepreneurial thinker adept at defining strategy, building relationships and developing high performance teams that deliver results. Ability to execute integrated people, process, market, and technical strategies. Broad experience in both product and service industries. Proven expertise in:

Strategic Planning,Program/Project Management,Process Reengineering,Quality Systems,Operations Management,Technology Management,New Business Development,Organizational Development,New Business Startup

Ben Blanquera’s Specialties:

EDUCATION and TRAINING

Master of Organization Development, Bowling Green State University, 2001
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Rutgers College of Engineering, 1986
Six Sigma Champion
Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification

Ben Blanquera’s Experience

  • Founder

    TechLife Columbus

    (Privately Held; Internet industry)

    August 2008 — Present (1 year 4 months)

    One of the key organizers of a grassroots group fostering greater culture and passion for Social Media, Internet, Web and other cutting edge technology, ultimately leading to increased innovation. Columbus Tech Life encourages our tribe to connect, learn and grow by binding existing groups together, creating local online social spaces and organizing in person events.

    Check out our events at http://www.meetup.com/columbustech/
    Website http://techlife.pbwiki.com/

  • Vice President Information Services

    Progressive Medical Inc.

    (Privately Held; Hospital & Health Care industry)

    April 2006 — Present (3 years 8 months)

    Responsible for PMO and all phases of applications and business intelligence management life cycle. Design, development, deployment, maintenance. 4 Direct and 35+ indirect reports in the following functional areas: Project management, Business analysis, Business intelligence, and Applications development.

    Progressive Medical, Inc. is a nationwide, managed care and health care cost containment company. It coordinates care for workers' compensation, auto-no-fault and personal injury protection cases. Progressive Medical is a Inc. 500 Hall of Fame company. (40+% CAGR for the last 12 years)

  • Vice President Strategy and Development

    MBA FOCUS

    (Privately Held; Staffing and Recruiting industry)

    July 2005 — January 2006 (7 months)

    Leadership for business development strategy/execution and delivery of client "ERP" applications. MBA FOCUS is the worldwide leader in providing systems and solutions that enable the recruitment of candidates from the top 50 global MBA programs.
    - Implemented project delivery methodology to cut time and resource by 50%
    - Facilitated the development of 3 year marketing/sales plan to grow business 50% annually

  • Director

    Columbus Technology Council

    (Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)

    February 2002 — August 2005 (3 years 7 months)

    Provide leadership to provide unparalleled membership services and define/execute a Columbus technology industry economic development agenda.
    - Member of due diligence/integration team that engineered merger between between Columbus Technology Council, Business Technology Center, and SciTech to form TechColumbus (www.techcolumbus.org)
    - Let business turnaround, which resulted in record levels of membership and financial growth.
    - Rejuvenated membership offerings by introducing 8 new services/products
    - Founded and published Columbus' premiere online technology community portal - Columbus Techweek
    - Developed and recruited C-Level executive working committees
    - Increased visibility of Columbus Technology community on statewide and national basis by through proactive media relations and participation in industry councils

  • Director - Marketing /Sales - Integrex Testing Systems

    Owens Corning - Integrex

    (Public Company; 501-1000 employees; Management Consulting industry)

    June 2000 — December 2001 (1 year 7 months)

    Responsible for leading marketing and sales efforts for $10 million professional services firm.
    - Energized organization by developing focused strategic growth plan, improving communications, and implementing new sales processes. Improved sales by 30% within three months

  • Director

    Owens Corning - Integrex

    (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Building Materials industry)

    December 1998 — December 2001 (3 years 1 month)

    A $70 million business incubator focused on creating and spinning out new organizations. Chief change agent for CEO in launching multiple, agile, knowledge based, customer focused, service driven businesses.

  • Director - Operations - Integrex Professional Claims Services

    Owens Corning - Integrex

    (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Legal Services industry)

    December 1998 — June 2000 (1 year 7 months)

    Service delivery accountability for $50 million transaction processing, litigation support, and call center operation. Functional leadership for information technology (acting CIO), project management, infrastructure, quality systems, and process improvement teams
    - Drove three-month rapid scale up of operations from 30 associates on one shift at one location to greater than 250 associates in two shifts at two locations.
    - Saved $10 million in annual costs through process reengineering.
    - Led enterprise wide $8 million knowledge management, integrated workflow, and decision support systems implementation initiative.
    - Partnered with human solutions provider to operationalize innovative flexible staffing strategy.
    - Identified and evaluated multiple Merger & Acquisition opportunities.

  • Business Engineering Manager

    Owens Corning

    (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Building Materials industry)

    September 1996 — December 1998 (2 years 4 months)

    Global leadership for all improvements and upgrades of the capital assets supporting multi-billion dollar business unit.
    - Program manager for 500 project, $80 million annual worldwide capital investment plan involving 35 project managers over 25 facilities.
    - Significantly improved financial performance of investments. Turned a $10 million negative variance on open investments into a $2 million positive variance in less than two years while vastly improving margins and ROI’s.

  • Technical Services Manager

    Soltech

    (Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Automotive industry)

    November 1993 — September 1996 (2 years 11 months)

    Established and led 15-person team responsible for technical marketing support, product/process development, manufacturing engineering, and quality systems activities for multi-state, 14-plant business. Plants operated in a multiple shift just-in-time environment.
    - Grew business 30% annually in sales and profitability from $10 to $50 million through product line extensions, new product development, and acquisitions.
    - Served as interim Plant Manager for $7 million fabrication operation while continuing role as Technical Services Manager.
    - Reduced operating costs 5% while doubling annual plant profitability.
    - Led formation of formal ISO 9000 based quality management systems

  • Engineering Manager - Automotive Division

    Manville

    (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Automotive industry)

    January 1990 — October 1993 (3 years 10 months)

    Technical group leader for $75 million automotive supplier. Responsible for program management, marketing support, and product/process development. Managed multiple programs from concept to successful production launch. Total program portfolio represented more than $50 million in annual sales.

Ben Blanquera’s Education

  • Bowling Green State University

    Masters , Organizational Development , 1990 — 2001

  • Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey-New Brunswick

    BS , Mechanical Engineering , 1982 — 1986

    Activities and Societies:
    Cap & Skull

Additional Information

Ben Blanquera’s Websites:

Ben Blanquera’s Interests:

entrepreneurship, community building,startups, marathons, soccer, duathlons

Ben Blanquera’s Groups:

TechColumbus member
Columbus CIO Forum member
Central Ohio PMO Forum facilitator
Advisory Board - COSI
Executive Advisory Council - Groundwork Group
Program committee - CIOhio
Adjunct Faculty - Franklin University - MBA program - leadership and organizational development
Adjunct Faculty - Keller Graduate School - Project Management, CIOhio
TechCorps Ohio - Advisory Board

  •    KIVA
  •    TechColumbus
  •    LinkedColumbus
  •    Kappa Delta Rho Alumni, Omicron Alpha Chapter
  •    Business Builders Club
  •    IT Martini
  •    Owens Corning
  •    Pittsburgh Tech Council
  •    Southwest Ohio Technology Entrepreneurs
  •    Cap and Skull Society of Rutgers University
  •    Technology for Ohio's Tomorrow
  •    Healthcare IT Innovations Summit 11/09/09
  •    Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) - Columbus Chapter
  •    Ohio Network of IT Professionals
  •    Workers Compensation Cost Containment Professional Network
  •    TechLife Columbus
  •    Entrepreneur Columbus
  •    Momentum-MI
  •    Ray & Barney Group Associates/Alumni/Clients/Friends
  •    columbus (social) entrepreneurs
  •    CIO Executive Board Community for CIOs and Emerging Leaders
  •    Non-Profit Board Members of Central Ohio
  •    Technology Infrastructure Leadership
  •    Strengthening Brand America
  •    TECH CORPS Friends
  •    Tech Connect Northwest Ohio
  •    Work Comp Pharmacy & Ancillary Solutions
  •    TechLife
  •    TechLife Ohio
  •    ISSA - Central Ohio Chapter
  •    TechLife Kentucky
  •    TechLife Ann Arbor New Tech
  •    TechLife NEO
  •    PMI Central Ohio Chapter, Inc.
  •    TechLife Lexington

Ben Blanquera’s Honors:

2008 - Innovation Awards finalist - Top Tech Team
2007 - TopCAT winner - Top Service - http://www.techcolumbus.org/en/art/?781
2006 - TopCAT award finalist - Top Tech Team
2007 - Web2.0 Track Chair - CIOhio
2008 - People track chair - CIOhio

Ben Blanquera’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

  • new ventures
  • job inquiries
  • expertise requests
  • business deals
  • reference requests
  • getting back in touch

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