Michael Kennedy

One thing that cannot be said about Michael Kennedy is that he’s no rocket scientist. On the contrary, Kennedy began his career out of college as an engineer for the National Missile Defense Program working in rocket science.
After that, Kennedy moved to Arkansas and started working with Advanced Cabling Systems in 1999 as business development manager. In 2002, he was promoted to head the North Little Rock firm.
One of the big challenges that Kennedy had to overcome was transforming Advanced Cabling from a small, family-owned operation into a larger company while maintaining the personal touch of a family-owned business.
Kennedy said his first secret to success was never losing focus on the importance of taking care of the clients and giving them more than they expect. Secondly, he always hires people who are smarter than he is, he said.
Kennedy said his management philosophy was to trust, yet verify. He added that empowering employees while providing guidance and leadership when needed had served him well.
“I believe that given the chance, people can achieve more than one could ever imagine,” he said.
Kennedy serves on several boards of directors, including UAMS Family Home, Our House, the Downtown Partnership and the American Subcontractors Association.
Kennedy earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Alabama at Huntsville.
Kennedy considers his greatest professional accomplishment to be growing a fledgling company into a $9 million operation in less than 10 years.
And he’s not done yet. Kennedy intends to grow though acquisitions in 2010.
He also plans to hire five to 10 employees in 2010. Kennedy said the one thing he looked for in an employee was a positive attitude. All the rest, he said, is teachable.

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