October 7, 2005 : (TORONTO, CANADA): Tom Little, VisualSonics’ President and CEO, received Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2005 Ontario Region Health Science Award at a ceremony in Toronto last night.
“We are thrilled with Tom’s selection as Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2005 Ontario Region Health Science section”, said Dr. Stuart Foster, Founder and Chairman of VisualSonics. “Tom is a great leader and has infused VisualSonics with a sense of urgency, customer focus and the drive to build a great company - - and this spirit is shared by all employees alike. These are the attributes of a great entrepreneur and Tom’s leadership and entrepreneurial spirit has been - - and will continue to be a driving force on VisualSonics’ ongoing growth as a company”.
Tom joined VisualSonics in mid-2002 as President and CEO and is responsible for setting the strategic direction of VisualSonics and managing its successful short and long-term operations. Focusing the company on the life sciences market, he led the commercialization of the VisualSonics' in vivo imaging system, drove global sales growth and maintained a high level of customer satisfaction.
Before joining VisualSonics, from 1995 to 1999, Tom was a founder and Executive Vice President of Dicomit Dicom Information Technologies, a technology company for medical imaging device manufacturers worldwide. He hired and motivated a strong and effective team and led the company from startup to sale.
From 1990 to 1999, he was Vice President at OMD, a distributor of medical devices in Canada. From 1986 to 1990, Mr. Little was an Investment Manager and then Partner of VenGrowth Capital Funds responsible for identifying and making equity investments in growth companies.
Tom has an H.B.A. (Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario) and is a Chartered Accountant.
About VisualSonics
VisualSonics Inc. (www.visualsonics.com) is the leading manufacturer of high-resolution in vivo imaging systems for small animal research. VisualSonics’ Vevo 770™ high-resolution imaging system provides real-time visualization and measurement of anatomical and hemodynamic function in small animals down to 30 microns. Because of the non-invasive nature of the technology, longitudinal studies of the same animal can be performed. This high-resolution imaging technology is being successfully applied to phenotypic-based research applications such as developmental biology, cardiovascular research, cancer biology, neurobiology and preclinical drug discovery.
About the Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Awards
The Entrepreneur Of The Year awards honor entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence and extraordinary success in areas such as innovation, risk taking, company development, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Submissions are reviewed by an independent judging panel, which is composed of several distinguished Canadian business leaders and previous award recipients. The Entrepreneur Of The Year program was founded by Ernst & Young to celebrate great entrepreneurs and heighten awareness of the economic impact of entrepreneurial ventures. The program is nationally sponsored by Global Television Network, National Post, La Presse, RDI and Roynat Capital. The Ontario sponsor is Goodman and Carr LLP. To learn more about the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 awards, visit www.eoy.ca.
About Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young, a global leader in professional services, is committed to restoring the public’s trust in professional services firms and in the quality of financial reporting. Its 106,000 people in 140 countries pursue the highest levels of integrity, quality, and professionalism in providing a range of sophisticated services centered on our core competencies of auditing, accounting, tax and transactions. Further information about Ernst & Young and its approach to a variety of business issues can be found at www.ey.com/perspectives. Ernst & Young refers to all the members of the global Ernst & Young organization.
For more information, contact:
VisualSonics Contact:
Tom Little
President and CEO
VisualSonics Inc.
Toronto, Canada
Tel. 416.484.5010
Email tlittle@visualsonics.com