Doucet Slated as New Surna CEO
BOULDER, Colo. – Trent Doucet will be the new CEO for cultivation-equipment maker Surna Inc., effective June 15.
Surna founder and current CEO Stephen Keen will become director of technology in a leadership change announced early this morning before a conference call on the company’s first-quarter 2016 earnings.
Both Doucet and Keen will remain on Surna’s board of directors.
The change comes as Surna showed a 205% increase in revenue in first-quarter (1Q) 2016 from the first three months of 2015, and also posted positive operating income.
Doucet, an entrepreneur and management consultant in the technology industry since 1999, became Surna’s COO last November, and began consulting with the company in April 2015.
“Having spent over a year with Surna, first as a consultant and then COO, I am ready to lead this talented and dedicated team,” Doucet said. “We have greatly improved operations and are on the path toward consistent operational profitability.
“Focused on execution and continued improvement, our 2016 strategic priorities are expanding sales, demonstrating our hybrid building, capitalizing on the positive market, and, ultimately, creating shareholder value.”
Doucet founded Primus Networks Inc., which grew more than 400% in less than three years under his leadership as CEO. Primus was acquired in 2011 by mindSHIFT Technologies, a leading managed IT service provider, where he became a vice president and managing director.
Keen, who’s served as company CEO since last August, will be returning to a role dealing with product development and innovation. Previously, he served as Surna’s vice president of product development after the company acquired Hydro Innovations LLC in July 2014.
“When I became CEO, it was my intention to get the company back on course and identify the best person to commercialize our products,” Keen said. “We advanced our proprietary technology and products as well as strengthened our infrastructure, evidenced by financial results reported today. In the first quarter 2016, revenue nearly tripled compared to the same quarter a year ago, and we delivered operating income for the first time in the company’s history.
“Now, I will concentrate on my forte, furthering our technological edge, and Trent, who has built very successful companies, will lead our business. I am excited about our future.”
In the first three months of 2016, Surna reported revenues of $2.498 million, up 205% from $819,063 from 1Q 2015. The company’s operating income for this year’s first quarter is $364,979; at the same time last year, it reported an operating loss of $879,546.
Other expenses and losses from continuing operations left Surna with a net loss of $746,214 for 1Q 2016 – but that’s an almost 50% reduction from the net loss of $1.418 million the company recorded for January-March 2015.
Surna Inc. (OTCQB: SRNA) is a technology company that engineers state-of-the art equipment for controlled environment agriculture (CEA) with special expertise in cannabis cultivation. Currently, the company’s revenue stream is based on its main product offerings – supplying industrial technology and products to commercial indoor cannabis grow facilities.
