NH High Tech Council to honor Entrepreneur of the Year on June 13

Finalists include executives at RAPID Manufacturing, Siege Technologies and Avitide Inc.

Four New Hampshire entrepreneurs have been selected as finalists for the NH High Tech Council’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The winner will be announced at the council’s annual event on Tuesday, June 13 at 5:30 p.m., taking place at Southern New Hampshire University in Hooksett.

The list of finalists includes executives Jay Jacobs, owner/CEO of RAPID Manufacturing in Nashua; Jason Syversen, founder & CEO of Siege Technologies in Manchester; and Kevin Isett and Warren Kett, CEO and CSO, respectively, of Avitide Inc. in Lebanon.

“The contributions that these individuals make to New Hampshire’s technology and business community are incredibly impressive and pave the way for future innovation,” said Matt Cookson, executive director of the Council. “Each has uniquely disrupted his industry, while setting the example for future entrepreneurs that with hard work, determination and drive, anything is possible.”

Jason Syversen, founder & CEO of Siege Technologies

RAPID Manufacturing is one of the world’s largest prototype part manufacturers, specializing in quick-turn prototype and short-run production custom parts. Jacobs founded the company in 2001 and uses a disruptive technology approach with state-of-the art machines to produce parts specific to each customer, tracking each order and its status for the day on a  real-time basis via TV screens throughout the manufacturing facilities. RAPID has developed unique software (eRAPID) that its customers utilize for real time and reactive quoting of prices, design feedback, and part ordering; a competitive market advantage. RAPID’s core services include sheet metal fabrication, CNC machining, wire harnesses, cable assemblies, and electro-mechanical box build assembly services. 

Siege Technologies, a company focused on advancing computer security technologies, services the government, entertainment, enterprise and insurance industries among others. Syversen founded Siege in 2009, and recently exited through a multi-million dollar acquisition. Previously Syversen was a program manager within the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency where he was responsible for overseeing a portfolio of over $80M in cyber programs and growing DARPA’s contracting base by 82 percent.

Kevin Isett, CEO of Avitide Inc.

Avitide Inc. rapidly and reliably develops high-performance affinity purification solutions for the manufacture of life-saving therapeutics, including enzymes, novel scaffolds, multi-specific antibodies, gene therapies and vaccines. By solving complex protein purification challenges that currently require multiple chromatography steps, Avitide enables its partners to achieve faster bioprocess development timelines, reduced program risk, improved drug performance, more predictable commercial scalability, and lower cost of manufacturing. Isett’s expertise in biopharmaceutical discovery, clinical assay development and bioprocess development and manufacturing combined with Kett’s extensive expertise in the field of biomolecule separations, analysis and purification of biomolecules, have enabled Avitide to discover, develop, manufacture and supply their technologies in three months compared to its nearest competitor, which averages one to two years. 

Warren Kett, CSO of Avitide Inc.

The event will also feature a distinguished panel of spotlight speakers who will provide insight about the tech landscape from their own unique industry perspectives. Speakers are: Peter Antoinette of Nanocomp Technologies, Inc. who will address advanced manufacturing; Tom Bollenbach of the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) who will focus on biotech/medtech; David Carrigg of Game Assembly who will discuss the gaming industry; and Sarah Hodges of Autodesk who will discuss AR/VR. 

Tickets are $80 for council members, $100 for not-yet-members and $30 for students and are available here. The event includes networking with more than 250 leaders of tech-based companies, tabletop presentations from promising tech start-up companies, dinner, and a cash bar. To learn more about this event contact michelline@cooksonstrategies.com.