Second Wind, Inc., announces that Larry Letteney has been named chief executive officer. He succeeds Walter Sass, who was named executive chairman of the board and chief technology officer. The new executive appointments are effective immediately.
Sass, who co-founded Second Wind in 1980, has led the company’s efforts in developing several game-changing technologies for wind resource assessment and wind farm monitoring. Most recently, Second Wind’s Triton™ Sonic Wind Profiler, introduced in 2008, has become the wind industry’s market-leading remote sensing system. “Larry Letteney’s accomplishments as a business leader in rapid growth technology environments make him ideally suited to lead Second Wind,” Sass says. “This is a critical time for Second Wind. The market for remote sensing in the wind industry is growing exponentially, and we’ve established both technological and market leadership globally. Larry’s vision for the potential of our technology and his breadth of experience will help shape Second Wind as we continue to grow and innovate.”
“Walter Sass was one of the first entrepreneurs in the wind industry to recognize the need for advanced wind information technologies,” says Letteney. “Under Walter’s creative and able leadership, Second Wind has made a critical contribution to the way the wind industry uses information, and ultimately to making wind energy feasible. I am delighted to be working with such an excellent team, in service to clean energy and with such enormous business potential.”
Letteney, most recently Second Wind’s COO, assumed the CEO role on February 1, 2010. Prior to working at Second Wind, Letteney held senior posts in software, hardware, and Web services for start-up, mid-stage, and public technology companies. Most recently, Letteney served as president of HubCast, a cloud-based global print service, and helped to transform Creo, an OEM manufacturer, into a global market leader in print automation systems. Creo was acquired by the Eastman Kodak Company for $980 million.
In addition, the company has hired Dan Vitti as vice president of operations. He will focus on expanding the company’s manufacturing capabilities and operating structure to address the rapid market adoption of its newest product, the Triton™ Sonic Wind Profiler. “Second Wind is preparing for tenfold growth over the next few years,” says Letteney. “Dan brings critical leadership experience in hardware, software and services, particularly around the manufacture of complex, high-value hardware.”
Vitti comes to Second Wind with over 20 years of senior management experience in the electronics industry, ranging from start-up organizations to developed firms. Most recently he was vice president of operations and then COO at Sagamore Systems, where he was responsible for the successful launch of Xconnect, a hardware/software platform that provides carriers with the ability to deploy and manage new services across a copper infrastructure. His experience also includes senior management roles at Converged Access, Inc., Axiowave Networks, Lucent Technologies, and Agile Networks.
Second Wind is a leader in wind technology innovation. Founded in 1980, Second Wind advances the use of wind data to make wind energy more profitable for owners, painless for operators, and practical for consumers. For more information call (617) 776-8520 or visit www.secondwind.com.
