People

 

Paul J. Wagner CEO/Chairman	Tom R. Ashenbrenner Manager of Defense Application
Bob Roberts Sales Engineer	Randy L. Milbert Chief Technology Officer

 

Paul J. Wagner, CEO/President

Mr. Wagner is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Minnesota Wire and Cable Co. (MWCC).   He has been with the St. Paul based custom development and manufacturing firm since 1985, when he joined the sales department.  Before coming to MWCC, Mr. Wagner worked for Northstar Financial Corporation, and the Metropolitan Sports Center.

He became president of MWCC in 1992, and was named CEO in 2000.  During that time, Mr. Wagner greatly expanded the company’s market exposure which now includes the medical, defense, industrial and commercial sectors; and he has provided strategic direction to evolve the business into a high technology development house primarily through federal research and development grants.  The company has a nearly 50 percent capture rate on federal grant applications, compared with a 10 percent national average.

Mr. Wagner developed MWCC’s subsidiary MINNESOTA MED-EQUIP, the Minnesota Defense division, a joint venture with Primordial, Inc., and was a founding member of the state’s Manufacturers Alliance and Leaders Alliance. 

In 2004, Mr. Wagner founded the Defense Alliance of Minnesota, the region’s defense and homeland security industry network that is the first of its kind nationally.  A collaborative among businesses, organizations, federal agencies and state and national political delegations, the Defense Alliance is having a positive impact on businesses securing federal research dollars and government contracts, and thereby developing the high technology infrastructure of the state.  The Alliance is also involved with service member support, and lobby efforts to make Minnesota more “Veteran friendly.”  Mr. Wagner and the staff of the Defense Alliance were awarded the Small Business Administration’s Veteran Business Champion of the Year Award for the state of Minnesota for 2006.  In 2007, the Defense Alliance was selected by the Defense Sustainment Consortium to be a Center of Excellence for the Midwest.

Mr. Wagner was the President of the General John W. Vessey Jr. Chapter of the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) from 2005 to 2007, significantly expanding its corporate and individual membership levels, and leading it to two consecutive “Best Chapter” awards during that time.  In 2006, he was selected to be on the national Defense Advisory Board of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), which advises the Secretary of Defense on ESGR initiatives.

Additionally, Mr. Wagner is a member of the board of Minnesota Bramstedt Surgical and the St. Joseph’s School.  He supports the Downs Syndrome Association of Minnesota, and coaches softball, soccer, and basketball for youth teams.  He also created a charitable giving program called "Charity Park.”

Mr. Wagner has traveled internationally to over 24 countries throughout Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe, including with Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson’s trade delegation to Asia.  In 1999 he was honored with the Governor's International Trade Award. 

Mr. Wagner holds a Bachelor's degree in business with an emphasis in management from the University of Saint Thomas.  He and his wife Cindy reside in Eagan, Minnesota with their five children.

Bob Roberts, Sales Engineer

Mr. Roberts is the dedicated Sales Engineer for Minnesota Defense.  Mr. Roberts has served as a Sales Engineer for Minnesota Wire & Cable Company since 1998 and is now using his engineering and technical expertise for both MWCC and Minnesota Defense.  Mr. Roberts earned his Electrical Engineering degree from DeVry Technical Institute and has over 30 years of experience in electrical engineering and technical sales, as well as 9 years in outsource utilization and development.  In addition, Mr. Roberts served in the United States Air Force from 1961-1967 in a number of diverse areas including the Air Force Security Service and a Quick Ready Force Unit.

You can reach Mr. Roberts at broberts@mndefense.com.

Tom R. Ashenbrenner, Manager of Defense Applications

In 2001, Mr. Ashenbrenner joined Minnesota Wire & Cable Company (MWCC) as its New Business Development Manager. Mr. Ashenbrenner now has profit and loss responsibilities for the company's Minnesota Defense division. As a result, he is focused on assessing new business opportunities and leveraging Minnesota Defense's success on the United States Army's Land Warrior project.

Previously, Mr. Ashenbrenner worked for Garrett-Callahan Chemical Company. In addition, he served as the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce's Membership Development Director for seven years.

Mr. Ashenbrenner received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Saint Cloud University.

You can reach Mr. Ashenbrenner at tashenbrenner@mndefense.com.

Randy L. Milbert, Chief Technology Officer

Mr. Milbert leads Minnesota Defense's advanced technology initiatives. He is spearheading the company's efforts to leverage nanotechnology in producing wearable, rugged cables with unmatched EMI/RFI protection. He joined Minnesota Defense in Aug 03.

Mr. Milbert attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering with a minor in Economics in Jun 00.

In Feb 98, Mr. Milbert joined MolecularWare. As the company's first employee and manager of software engineering, he led development of a bioinformatics platform for tracking samples in high-throughput biological experiments. He helped the company win the MIT $50K Entrepreneurship Competition, secure accounts with Packard BioScience and Riken Genomic Sciences, and raise $1.5 million from investors.

In Mar 00, Mr. Milbert co-founded FireSpout. As the company's vice president of engineering, he led development of natural language processing software, co-invented two information extraction systems, and helped the company secure $5 million from investors.

In May 02, Mr. Milbert founded Milbert Engineering. As the company's president, he developed soldier vision systems. He invented systems for identifying friendly and enemy units in a soldier's head-mounted display and routing troops around obstacles on the battlefield. The company formed a joint venture with Minnesota Defense in Aug 03.

You can reach Mr. Milbert at rmilbert@mndefense.com.