Winds of change: Lee Enterprises Consulting has new owners, and readies for growth as the bioeconomy expands
News arrives from Massachusetts that new ownership and management team is taking the reins at Lee Enterprises Consulting, the world’s premier bioeconomy consulting group, led by incoming CEO Jason White, and the company is moving headquarters to Cambridge, Massachusetts. LEC authors have contributed more than 100 Thought Leadership columns to The Daily Digest over the years, one has received the William C. Holmberg Award for Lifetime Achievement in the industry, two are members of the Due Diligence Wolfpack, and quite a few have served as speakers or moderators on the ABLC stage. So — it’s big news today blowing from the northeast.
It’s a sign that the industry is moving upwards and onwards, for consultancies go through, as I have observed them over many years, four phases of growth. There’s the Flying Dutchman stage, the lone pioneer who sails the seven seas looking for consulting work, attaches to projects and occasionally project teams, sometimes earns a retainer, eventually might join a client organization. Then, there’s the Marina stage, where groups of consultants might join in a loose federation, often to establish some branding, get better access to project leads, and pool resources for basic services such as email, websites, and promotion. The third stage is the Task Force Stage, where consultants work proactively together to identify complex projects and bring ad-hoc teams together to solve them — often multi-consultant, multi-task, over longer periods of time. Finally, there the Fleet Stage, supporting large clients with best-of-industry inside knowledge, rapid global team building, real-time collaboration, able to tackle multiple projects over time to supplement the needs of large companies with complex needs.
It appears that the bioeconomy has reached the Fleet Stage, where increasing numbers of companies need that complex, on-going and on-demand support. We’ve seen engineering firms establish quite interesting consulting arms — Worley’s Advisian, Burns & McDonnell’s 1898 & Co. come to mind, among others — that reflect the same trend. Countless other firms have come forward with specific technology solutions available for license — Topsoe, Axens, Praj come to mind.
Yet, Lee’s history begins not so much inside an multi-industry engineering practice as from within the bioeconomy itself — driven by the complex markets that have emerges for many molecules, technologies and feedstocks and regions. Just a few years ago, there were three molecules (FAME biodiesel, ethanol and propanediol), three processing technologies, and a handful of feedstocks — together, serving a few hundreds of millions of gallons in a handful of countries. Back in 1995 when Lee was founded, there wasn’t even that much activity. So much has changed. Over the past 28 years, LEC has expanded to become the world’s leading bioeconomy consultancy with over 170 experts. The consulting firm has grown with the industry and has an extensive resume that includes over 700 projects over the past five years.
Quite a bit of that growth occurred because of the arrival of Jason White as a partner in the business a couple of years ago, and he steps forward now with a first-rate management team, a clear sense of direction, streamlined management, and a new HQ that’s closer to the customers. Exactly the kind of strategic decisions that companies like LEC recommend to the clients — another sign that the winds of change are blowing.
The expanding horizons
To address the evolving client, market, and growth needs, the new leadership team will be strengthening its focus in three key areas:
• Strategic Relationships: A key factor in LEC’s success has been the ability to deploy vetted and unbiased resources to augment client’s expertise on key projects. By focusing on a more strategic relationship with its clients, LEC will be positioned to build more bespoke and tailored solutions.
• Global Collaboration Solutions: Building the scalable infrastructure to more global collaboration.
• Moving headquarters to Cambridge, MA: LEC is moving its HQ to not only be closer to clients, but also closer to biotechnology centers of excellence and further expand their team.
The new management team
• Jason White – CEO. Formerly with GE Capital, Jason is a highly experienced executive with extensive global experience building strategy, partnerships, and growing businesses across the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
• Ryan Lee – Managing Partner. Ryan will be focused on enhancing the firm’s capabilities and platform and generating client-focused growth. During his 20+ year career, Ryan has been leading client-focused sales teams and cultivating strategic relationships with many of the world’s largest retailers and Fortune 100 companies.
• JD Creedon – Managing Partner. JD’s 30-year career includes starting and growing IT consulting and software businesses with a focus on early-stage operations, strategy, team building, and sales execution that have resulted in exponential revenue growth.
A tribute to Wayne Lee
Along with word of the new management and ownership team comes the companion news that LEC founder Wayne Lee will be moving into retirement. That’s a loss that Father Time imposes on every industry, in the end, but bittersweet news here at the Daily Digest. Behind the scenes, there have been countless conversations with my friend Wayne, comparing notes, talking about options and opportunities for the bioeconomy, celebrating the successes and mourning the failures. When the phone rings and showed a 501 area code, it was probably Wayne and there is always something interesting to learn. I doubt if my friend will find a way to completely distance himself from an industry he loves and helped to build and the company he founded, but he knows management practice well enough to realize that LEC is in good hands, and to trust those hands. Doesn’t mean he won’t cajole an over-worked consultant to prepare a Thought Leadership column on a hot topic to keep the LEC brand on the easy-to-recall list. But the future of project engagement shifts east by nor’ east to Cambridge. The winds of change are blowing the industry towards its traditional clusters and centers of excellence — almost inevitable, certainly welcome, but I may find myself missing the Arkansas drawl from time to time.
Reaction from the stakeholders
“I would like to thank our clients, members, and partners that have contributed to our growing success,” said Wayne Lee. “By consistently delivering results, we have established a solid client base and loyalty. I am proud to hand over the reins to Jason and the new leadership team and look forward to assisting them through the transition and beyond.”
LEC is currently being led by a highly experienced team, including CEO, Jason White, in addition to Managing Partners Ryan Lee and JD Creedon:
“As the bioeconomy has grown, LEC has expanded and evolved with the changes,” said Jason White. “We are building off a strong foundation. However, our clients face increasingly complex challenges to utilize our planet’s resources. As environmental pressures and the need for solutions become more urgent, the bioeconomy also finds itself with supply chain and scaling challenges that require more strategic and collaborative solutions. Technologies that have previously presented challenges are becoming more accessible but also require more nimble expertise as new solutions are explored,” Jason added. “I am extremely proud of LEC’s accomplishments advancing knowledge and innovative solutions for the bioeconomy while creating hundreds of millions in value for our clients. We are excited to take LEC into the next phase of evolution and growth while building on the exceptional relationships we have developed with our clients, partners, and members.”
After leading LEC for 28 years, this sale marks a new beginning for both the company and me! For the company: I am immensely proud of what we’ve built together and am thrilled about the direction Jason, my son Ryan, and JD are heading. Their vision and dedication assure me that the company’s future is bright. For me, stepping away from ownership and full-time day-to-day operations responsibilities will afford me more time to slow down, travel, and cherish moments with my family while I’m still blessed with good health. I’ll still be working – just not nearly as much!
And, Jim, I plan to still see you at ABLC conferences and to talk frequently.
I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to you for your friendship and support. See YA’LL soon.