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Profile: Finding Success In the New Economy

Finding Success In the New Economy

Running a Small Firm Gives Dave Ness a Unique Outlook On Region’s High-Tech Future





BY MIKE ALLEN

Senior Staff Writer

ave Ness has a bone to pick with the way this country prepares students for careers in high technology.

The president of Hardy Instruments and chairman for the local council for AeA, formerly called American Electronics Association, says while the new economy has created lots of jobs, finding qualified people to fill those positions is getting harder and harder.

“There aren’t enough kids who are pursuing high-tech careers, and that’s becoming a big problem not only here in San Diego, but nationally,” he says.

Pointing to a color chart he drew himself, Ness shows how the percentage of students who are strong in math and sciences in the elementary level gradually diminishes as those students continue in high school and college. By the time they’re ready to start a career, there are fewer potential candidates who have the necessary skills to compete for these positions, he says.

“I think many of them drop out (of math and science programs) because they think it’s too hard,” he says. “We’ve got to do something to help change that perception.”

Ness is doing his part. As AeA chair, he formed an education committee locally made up of other AeA members to speak to influential educators, elected officials and others about the importance of supporting strong math and science programs in the schools.

He’s also become a voice for the industry both in Sacramento and in Washington, D.C., where he serves as chair for the trade association’s 17 councils.

Kevin Carroll, executive director for the San Diego AeA, says Ness has been a dynamo in effectively representing the industry.

“He’s done an incredible job for us, and is an excellent communicator,” Carroll says. “The fact that he doesn’t come from a large company sets a lot of people at ease. “Legislators and decision makers love to hear from small to medium-sized companies, and Dave is perfect.”

A Very Young Tekkie

Ness knows all about the value of a nurturing support system that encouraged his earliest instincts toward a career in technology.

When he was 6 years old, his father would occasionally take him to work on Saturdays at the technology business in which he was a part-owner.

“He’s set me up in front of an oscilloscope or function generator and let me play around with it. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I was having fun.”

In fact, Ness, 43, is one of those lucky people, who was pretty sure what he wanted to do when he grew up.

“I always loved math and science,” he says. “You know those math problems that most people hate. Well, I loved them. I used to have this book, ‘101 Brain Teasers.’ I was a nerd.”

Ness, the middle child of three, was also a hard worker. While in high school, Ness was always working at some part-time job. One summer he was employed as a kitchen helper in a convalescent hospital, cleaning an office on Saturdays, and had a morning paper route.

For a few years, he held a variety of jobs at SeaWorld.

“SeaWorld was a great place to work because they had this great progression program for kids if you wanted to move up.”

Ness aspired to take on greater responsibility, and within his first year, he was promoted to assistant lead in charge of the Japanese Village area of the park.

The experience is also memorable because it’s where Ness met his wife, Karen.

“It was pretty much love at first sight,” he says.

Right after his first year of college, the SeaWorld lovebirds married.

In one of those cosmic coincidences, the couple discovered by accident one day that they were born in the same hospital, and delivered by the same doctor, only two months apart.

“I’m the oldest, and she reminds me of it regularly,” he says.

Growing A Business

After Ness obtained his engineering degree from SDSU in 1981, he worked for about three years at a small company designing special measuring devices. In 1984, he joined his father and three other investors in purchasing Hardy Instruments, a manufacturer of industrial measuring equipment that was founded in 1918.

Ness came on board as an engineering manager but shortly moved to the sales and marketing department, which he ran for about nine years before being named president in 1993.

“We’ve taken Hardy from a small company that was losing money and nobody knew about to one of the top three companies in the country for process-weighing.”

Hardy makes specialized scales that measure weights of materials used in process manufacturing, such as combining ingredients in food processing and in machinery monitoring. Since the company was acquired, revenues increased from $1.8 million to an estimated $18 million this year, Ness said.

While he’s the guy at the top, Ness is the first to admit he doesn’t have all the answers for ways to improve his company’s operations.

Last year, Hardy entered into a competition for a quality supplier award handed out by the U.S. Postal Service to recognize the very best vendors. As part of the competition, a group of auditors from the Postal Service visited the company to investigate every aspect of the business.

Last month, Ness went back to Washington to receive the award, one of only six such given out from a potential field of 1,800 vendors.

After the auditors left, Ness decided to review some aspects of the business to see where things might be improved.

“Especially for a company of our size, we do a lot of things right and we go through some pain to do that.”

Rick Scaramella, Ness’ longtime friend, calls him one of the smartest guys he knows, someone with technical smarts and an innate ability to relate well with all sorts of people.

“He’s outgoing and friendly and has a great sense of humor,” says Scaramella, part of a group of about eight families who get together regularly in the desert to camp and drive their dune buggies and other ATVs.

Ness says the outings have been a great way of raising his children and those of his extended family, and instilling in them the kind of moral values they share.

Whitney MacDougall, the director of corporate affairs for Intuit Inc. and a fellow AeA member, says Ness has bought a lot of leadership to the organization, and has been able to accomplish a lot in the short time he’s been chairman.

“He’s not self-aggrandizing,” she says. “He goes the extra mile to include people in the group and to reach out to members to get them to participate.”

Ken Arnold, president of High Tech Equipment Corp., said Ness “comes across as the guy across the street but if you see the way he runs his company, he’s done a very good job. They’ve created a real family atmosphere there, and there’s a lot of loyalty there.”


Snapshot: Dave Ness

Title: President, Hardy Instruments; chairman, San Diego Council, AeA

Education: Bachelors degree in engineering, SDSU; masters degree in business administration, National University

Age: 43

Birthplace: San Diego

Residence: Point Loma

Family: Wife, Karen; two children: Kevin, 20, and Jennifer, 19

Recreation: Skiing, snowboarding, wakeboarding, riding dune buggies

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