OUR VISION
Jay Burnette - CEO
Burjess Growth Consultants, LLC is led by Jay Burnette, an executive with over 25 years of leadership experience in industrial businesses. Jay has held several senior leadership roles in private, public and private-equity backed companies and possesses a unique blend of technical, commercial and leadership acumen. Jay has extensive business development experience in both domestic and international markets, having traveled to over 30 countries working with clients or establishing / expanding operations. He was most recently President & Chief Executive Officer of a private equity-backed industrial business in Houston, Texas and prior to that President of a Dover (NYSE: DOV) operating company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jay graduated from Purdue University and earned his MBA from the executive program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
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Having led businesses ranging in size from $40M to over $200M in revenue, Jay has developed an approach that focuses first on "seeking to understand" before "seeking to be understood." Jay is a strong proponent of driving business improvement organically at all levels of the organization and growing a culture that focuses on small, incremental gains. He believes in establishing an environment where individuals are empowered and encouraged to improve their craft every single day, regardless of their role in the organization.
When not engaged with clients, Jay enjoys spending time with his family and supporting organizations and foundations focused on healthcare and higher education.
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At Burjess, our vision is to make businesses better. We take a systems approach to improving operational effectiveness and effienciency by engaging everyone in the organization to strive for an "improved future state" for the benefit of all stakeholders.
ABOUT US
As COO, Kirk Dawson is responsible for successful value creation across the spectrum of all Burjess Growth Consultants client engagements, Kirk has an extensive breadth of hands on experience as a strategic leader proven adept at fostering growth and leading change in a variety of corporate settings, from small start-up companies to mature multi-national organizations operating in stagnant to highly dynamic competitive market environments. Kirk has held strategic planning and commercial leadership roles with two Fortune 500 companies, as well as leading a business unit for a privately held company in which he was a minority equity partner. Having led P&L’s ranging in size from a $14M to most recently a $310M operating company of Dover Corporation, Kirk has a proven track record of progressive impact on revenue and EBITDA. More importantly, he is an accomplished problem solver with the ability to ground and quickly resolve complex business issues through empowered teams by aligning continuous improvement of business processes to customer centric outcomes that result in maximum ROE for investors.
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Kirk graduated from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a certified Six Sigma Blackbelt. He has been a member of several venture capital advisory boards, held industry board positions and is passionate about paying forward the blessings, knowhow, and success he has enjoyed over his career. Outside of Burjess, Kirk is an avid outdoorsman and committed family man, who is thankful to have his three kids off the family payroll.
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Contact Kirk: kdawson@burjess.com
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Kirk Dawson - COO / Executive Consultant