With natural business acumen and a sixth-sense for reading people, Brad Caron has always had his eye on the big picture. While he spent his boyhood summers making service calls alongside his father- Charlie Caron, Brad's father and SIGNET's founder, had begun SIGNET as a four-man service operation on Boston's South Shore in 1974-it wouldn't be until his junior year in college when he was working full time at SIGNET and attending school, that Brad Caron would entertain the idea of his own future at SIGNET. In 1986, Caron was a junior studying business management at Bryant University in Rhode Island when his father's health scare called him back to the fold. For the duration of Mr. Caron's 60-day hospital stay, Brad Caron made the daily, 120-mile round-trip, simultaneously putting in full days at SIGNET, tending to his father's healthcare needs, and keeping up with his studies. The trying time was pivotal in reshaping Caron's perspective.

"I realized that to create an opportunity for myself in the small, service-focused organization, I had to grow the company," Caron explains. "We needed to become sales-focused." Since joining SIGNET in 1987, Caron has overseen the company's growth from eight to 135 employees, and from $1.8 million in annual revenues to approaching $30 million, making SIGNET the largest privately-held systems integration company in New England.

"We needed to jump into new technologies and create new systems," Caron reflects. "But it was about more than just understanding technology." Caron's key to success is understanding people and having a knack for hiring the right ones. "As SIGNET embarks on new technologies, we hire talented professionals who know those technologies," he explains. "We wouldn't be where we are today without the knowledgeable people who work here." Caron and his hand-picked team of experts have managed to guide the once mom-and-pop business onto the cutting edge of the 21st century, and at the same time, to preserve his father's humble values which still serve as the backbone of the company-honoring relationships with clients and vendors, educating and respecting employees, and supporting the surrounding community.

~ Brad Caron lives in the Boston area with his wife and four children. One of his most treasured memories is a weeklong, chartered Caribbean sailing trip with his family; they greeted each day with no agenda, TVs or cell phones, and shared family time three meals a day, for seven days straight.

 
From In-flight Electronic Technician to Vice President of SIGNET Electronic Systems, Inc., if you find yourself going down mid-flight, you want Daniel J. Chauvin on your crew. His primary areas of focus as Vice President are overseeing the sales and engineering groups, ensuring fiscal and technical wellbeing in all departments, and product line management. Since coming on board with SIGNET in 2001, he has grown the sales department to $22 million in sales. "SIGNET is a fast-paced, dynamic, cutting-edge technology provider," states Chauvin. "And for the past decade, I've reaped the rewards of growing a business, sharing in an executive branch opportunity. I find this business model gratifying."

A native of his hometown on Cape Cod, Chauvin was raised, along with three siblings, in a modest house by a single mom who waited tables to make ends meet. Taking his first job at age nine, the idea of going to college someday was just a dream. At 4:00 a.m. on his 18th birthday, Chauvin's mom dropped him off at the bus stop en route to boot camp. After scoring in the upper 10th percentile on his ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery), Chauvin focused on electronics with flight-crew aspirations, and two years into his five-year naval career, he graduated second in a class of 30 from Memphis State College with an electronics degree. He served for five years in the Navy as an In-flight Electronic Technician, until he jumped ship in 1986 to rejoin the private sector.

While working as a technician at Simplex Time Recorder Company in Providence, Rhode Island, Chauvin went to school nights at Quincy College where he completed a degree in business management and was recognized for academic excellence. "I was told I had the gift of the gab," he recalls, "and so I decided to pursue sales." He enjoyed a 15 year run in sales management at Simplex where he rose through the ranks to become Electronic Systems Business Manager, number one is sales at the company, and number two in North America. In 1997, he received the Simplex Vice President 100% Club Award. Chauvin identifies with the underdog who fights his way to the top. "I came from nothing and did well," he says. "I refuse to lose, and I never give up. I'll keep fighting until I'm 100 percent confident."

~ Chauvin has chosen to live in his native Cape Cod. During his life, he has worked for two companies and had one romance; he and his wife were high school sweethearts, and they have two teenage sons. He is a committed golfer, boater, and football coach for 12- to 15-year old boys.

 
Directing day-to-day operations for the largest privately-held system integrations company in New England is not a simple occupation, but multitalented, Dawn M. Mello, does a seamless job. In August of 2011, Mello passed her 13-year milestone at SIGNET. Since 2002, she has served in her current role, establishing and managing processes and procedures, as well as overseeing project management and administrative, warehouse, network, design and engineering support functions. In addition to resolving operating challenges and strategizing workflow, Mello embraces with open arms her significant role in staffing and supervising. “Building a team is part of my job, and I am so proud to work with a remarkably talented group of professionals every day,” she states. “It’s very fulfilling.”

It’s not surprising that this well-rounded taskmaster is able to juggle so many balls without dropping one. Mello is a self-confessed “math and science geek,” who, as a child, had aspirations of becoming a chemical engineer, and then went on to major in Russian language studies at the University of Massachusetts. Following university, she worked from 1987 to 1998 for New England Distribution Company, Inc. (formerly National Energy Industries, Inc.), starting as a purchasing agent, working her way up to purchasing manager, and eventually to a seven-year stint as general manager. In 1998, Mello came on board as general manager for SIGNET, managing the daily functions of network administration and accounting among other duties, and ensuring an effective workflow in general. She was promoted to VP of Operations in 2002.

By her own admission, Mello goes a bit beyond the ordinary in both work and play. “I’ve been told I can be a little intense,” she laughs. She relishes having many irons in the fire and is always striving to take things to the next level. This high-octane performer is a source of warmth both in her productivity at work and her inviting, approachable personality and sense of humor. “My key to success,” says Mello, “is finding good people and empowering them to make an impact on the business while helping them grow their careers.”

~ Dawn M. Mello lives in the woods in Southeastern Massachusetts with her husband and daughter. She delights in skiing, beachcombing and attending sporting events with her family. If she had an alternate life, she would be a chef somewhere. “I love everything about the kitchen and the grill experience,” she exclaims. “I’ll use any heat source I have.”

 
As Vice President of Engineering at SIGNET Electronic Systems, Inc., Greg S. Hussey relies on his head to get to the heart of the matter. Chief among his tasks are managing the project engineering staff, ensuring and documenting the technical and financial accuracy of projects, staying abreast of the latest product offerings in the industry marketplace, and managing SIGNET's bid calendar. At the end of the day, Hussey is responsible for creating accurate cost estimates in order to secure new projects for the company. In his 18th year with SIGNET, Hussey's enthusiasm continues. "Every day, we do something different," he says about the company's diversified services. "It's always a different need from a different client, and it's a different widget that's available to fill the need." It's that dynamism and technological savvy that keeps Hussey interested. "We go out and research to find the best solution for our clients. Our competitors cannot compete with what we're doing-it's state of the art," he says.

Hussey earned a music degree from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 1990. Thankfully, he fortified his aspirations to become a professional musician-he played trombone and guitar-with a back-up plan; his music degree had an emphasis on sound recording and technology. Prior to joining SIGNET's sales team in 1993, Hussey worked as a sales engineer for DJM Pro Audio System, an audio engineering company. "I've always been drawn to equipment and knowing how things work," states Hussey. "But it's more than just knowing what something does-it's knowing what it does for the customer." His inquiring mind, coupled with his practical application and sense of customer service, makes him successful at what he does.

Often times, Hussey only has one to two hours to read 100 pages of specifications before making a call about a project. He relies on his ability to process large amounts of very technical information, assimilate it quickly, and synthesize it in order to make crucial, real-world decisions. "For me, it's like a game, and I want to win," he says. But it's about more than winning the next big project. "As life moves forward, my desire to be part of something bigger, part of a winning team, has become very important to me," Hussey elaborates. "Being part of a group of people who I can mentor and having an opportunity to grow a business-that is what drives me today."

~ Greg S. Hussey is married with four children. He describes himself first and foremost as "Father and Parent," and he still plays guitar, piano, and sings for pleasure.

 
As with the glossy, red corvettes he collects and works on in his spare time, Marc E. Bronstein has a talent for taking complex systems and packaging them into a well-equipped, polished presentation.  Electronic technician turned sales engineer, Bronstein brings more to the negotiating table than meets the eye. As VP of SIGNET’s Healthcare Communications Division, he is responsible not only for driving the sales process, but for managing a $5 million dollar per year business group specializing in the sales, service and installation of healthcare communications systems for the hospital and nursing home marketplaces. Under his supervision, Bronstein’s team has taken SIGNET from a hospital customer base of under five facilities to over 102 facilities within a 15-year period, making SIGNET the largest provider of nurse call systems in New England. “My job is exciting because technology is constantly evolving every year,” states Bronstein. “At SIGNET, we are fortunate to have the tools and personnel to embrace these new, evolving technologies.”

From the time he was 14-years-old, Bronstein would tear apart televisions and put them back together and work on old cars for fun. After soaking up a technical education at Boston’s Wentworth Institution of Technology, Bronstein began his career backstage as an electronic technician. “You don’t study this industry,” he says. “You learn on the job.” And that’s exactly what he did; he spent six years as a technician for manufacturers of the systems that he now sells. “I knew the equipment because I built it,” he explains. Bronstein parlayed that knowledge into selling and spent the next seven years increasing territory for manufacturers and training the distributors of their products: 1984-1986 for Contel Executone of Boston, Inc.; 1986-1988 for N.E. Sound and Communications, Inc.; and 1988-1991 for Rauland-Borg Corporation. When he got tired of living out of hotels, he came to work for SIGNET in 1991, where he has flourished for 20 years.

In 2005, SIGNET received the Pinnacle Award for being the largest Rauland-Borg healthcare distributor worldwide, an honor of which Bronstein is proud. When it comes to philosophy, he borrows his creed from the military—“Improvise, adapt, and overcome,” he states. “That’s what I do, and that’s how I drive our sales team. I encourage them, instead of driving down the road in a straight line, to adapt to situations that are thrown at them in order to be more effective at selling.”

~ Marc E. Bronstein is a born and bred Bostonian who lives with his wife and their two high-school aged sons. To pass the time, he plays tennis, and his burning passion is car collecting. He is partial to new, red corvettes.