Jack Berlekamp is an idea guy. A former marketer, he took knowledge garnered as a contractor for the armed forces, where workers handled specialized electronic instruments out in the field.
Those instruments, which tested or measured equipment on large vehicles or airplanes, were cumbersome and often failed in bad weather. For more than a decade Berlekamp worked to understand how to make life easier for these men and women in uniform. And in 2005, he founded Pallas Systems, LLC, an advanced logistics tool provider.
He started the company out of his Delaware County basement in 2005, with the help of some talented Ohio engineers who could make reality his idea. They created a rugged, multi-functional tool that streamlined tasks.
"Most of the time, when you go out in the field, each instrument has single function, and you have multiple boxes that you take out. We created a ruggedized instrument and its software is programmable. It can change its personality and add function based on what field service is doing," he said.
Berlekamp moved his company from Columbus to Springfield to be near the opportunities afforded by being located near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base . He's currently in Springfield's National Environmental Technology Incubator where he moved the company earlier this year. He has four contract engineers he plans to make full-time employees early next year, with the help of an Ohio Third Frontier Innovation loan.
"Because of the defense focus I recognized I needed to be more involved in the Dayton area. I moved my company to a part of Ohio better able to support the technology," he said. "You have to be a little flexible to be able to tap into those levels of expertise."
Source: Jack Berlekamp, founder Pallas Systems
Writer: Feoshia Henderson