Pro-Dex announces new CEO; still no expansion plans for local plant

A Southern California corporation with holdings in Carson City announced Monday that its chief executive officer has resigned, at a time when the company is falling behind in meeting orders.

Pro-Dex president and CEO Patrick Johnson left "to focus his time on new-business acquisition and development and work on the front end of the business," said his interim replacement, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Ritchey.

Johnson is keeping his position on the publicly traded corporation's board of directors and his position as executive vice president and chief business development officer.

Pro-Dex has had engineering and shipping problems with some of its orders, according to the company. The products were expected to be shipped by June, but have been delayed into the first and second quarters of the next fiscal year.

Ritchey, 43, said the board has not yet finalized plans for the potential expansion of its 16,000-square-foot Carson City manufacturing facility.

Pro-Dex, headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif., purchased Astromec Inc. in Carson City for $2.6 million on Jan. 5. The corporation also purchased the 2950 Arrowhead Drive building and 4.4 acres for $2.2 million on March 30.

"We're working on integrating the facility into the rest of the Pro-Dex operations," Ritchey said.

About 25 employees work for Pro-Dex, and he said that could increase to 40.

Pro-Dex (NASDAQ: PDEX) makes miniature rotary-drive systems for the scientific, medical and factory markets. It also has an operation in Beaverton, Ore.

Pro-Dex uses the motors made at Astromec, which manufactures tiny motors and motion-control accessories for the medical device, aerospace and military markets.

The board formed a committee to oversee the search for a successor CEO. It has no plans to make any additional executive leadership changes, according to the company.

As interim CEO, Ritchey said he wants to "make sure we deliver to our customers, share holders and employees the best value we can of the Pro-Dex assets."

Ritchey has worked as CFO for almost four years. Prior to that, he was the worldwide sales controller at Tycom.

For the third quarter, which ended March 31, the company expects to report revenues of about $4.2 million and a profit for the quarter. It expects to report revenues of $15 million to $17 million and earnings per share of $0.11 to $0.13 at the end of the fiscal year. Pro-Dex completed the quarter with an open-order backlog of more than $10 million, including more than $9 million deliverable within the next 12 months.

• Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.