CEO confident he can lead company to growth

Andrea Deckert//September 13, 2013//

Listen to this article

Burhan Capar is a glass-half-full kind of guy.

While he acknowledges it is not an ideal time to be a U.S.-based manufacturer of bare circuit boards, he is optimistic about growth at his firm, PJC Technologies Inc.

PJC Technologies consists of Rochester-based Metro Circuits as well as Speedy Circuits on the West Coast. Overall, the business employs some 130 workers and has annual sales of roughly $18 million.

Capar, 50, has been with the firm for 23 years and was named president and CEO in 2011.

The company has taken hits to its sales and workforce but is in the midst of a plan to improve the organization and grow the business. Capar says he is up for the fight despite the global challenges.

"We are very serious about taking this company to the next level," he says.

Capar grew up in Turkey. His father, the late Durdu Capar, immigrated to the United States in the late 1960s and worked as a tailor in Rochester.

Burhan Capar stayed in Turkey with his mother, Elif, and his three siblings. His dad traveled back and forth over the years and eventually took a job at Eastman Kodak Co.

Coming to U.S.
Burhan Capar came to the United States in 1980 after graduating from high school. He wanted the chance to attend college and says it was hard to do so in Turkey, where schools are state-funded but extremely competitive.

He began studying engineering at Monroe Community College. It was an odd choice for someone who had been known as a poet and history buff. But classes that focused on numbers were easier for Capar, who was still honing his English skills.

He graduated from MCC in 1985 with an associate of applied science degree in engineering and furthered his studies at SUNY College at New Paltz, earning a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering in 1987.

Capar discovered an interest in marketing while taking classes toward an MBA at Rochester Institute of Technology. He did not complete the degree, but it laid the groundwork for a career, he says.

"For a nerdy engineer, it was a complete mind opener to how the world worked," he says.

After college, Capar took what he calls a few survival jobs. That included one at PJC’s Metro Circuits in inside sales and technical support.

The business makes custom bare, or unpopulated, circuit boards for the defense, medical, radio frequency and semiconductor markets. It has roughly 200 active customers.

The Rochester operation employs 55 workers in a 28,000-square-foot facility. Business is focused on the radio frequency and defense markets, with customers such as Lockheed Martin Corp.

Speedy Circuits-PJC’s facility in Huntington Beach, Calif.-has 75 employees. Workers there focus on the energy exploration market, with customers including Halliburton Co.

Capar rose up the ranks at PJC, receiving one promotion after another. He never sought the advancement, he says.

"I was offered," he says. "They always said I would be a good fit."

In 1993 he was promoted to sales manager, a year later to national sales manager. He was working as director of sales and marketing in 2006 when he became general manager of the local operation, replacing close friend Randy Arnold, who left the company. Capar remained sales leader for the site as well.

In 2010, PJC’s ownership changed to C3 Capital LLC, a private investment firm based in Kansas City, Mo. Capar was named one of the vice presidents of the new organization and given 5 percent ownership in the business.

Taking the reins
A year later, he was promoted to president and CEO.

Arnold, senior test engineering manager for Harris Corp.’s RF Communications division, says Capar has an excellent grasp of the electronics industry and is a visionary.

"This insight enables him to align his company’s capabilities with current and future needs," Arnold says.

Capar’s honesty, humility and exceptional interpersonal skills have made it possible for him to build a strong and effective team within the company and develop long-standing customer relationships, Arnold adds.

"Burhan understands and appreciates the needs of his customers and knows what it takes to gain and keep their loyalty," he says. "He constantly strives to provide the customer with the quality, technology and cost that enables the customer to succeed."

Capar gets to the office around 7:30 a.m. and often is one of the last to leave. He conducts regular check-ins with three executives in California and focuses a chunk of his time on sales and customer contacts. He travels to customer sites as well as PJC’s West Coast office.

He also leads operational excellence efforts, focusing on building and reinventing the organization.

"We have a terrific offering but have done a poor job of finding customers who need them," he says.

Capar says PJC Technologies focuses on production of quick-turnaround prototypes and small volumes.

"I look at our business as a product manufacturer with 2,500 part numbers, except our manufacturing cycle is just a few days and we get no advance notice," he says.

To survive and thrive in the business, the company has to innovate with new technologies, strive for operational excellence and be easy to do business with, Capar notes. The company focuses on niche areas while being global in reach.

Growing competition
Global competition has hurt the domes-tic circuit board manufacturing market.

Last year, the U.S.-based industry had roughly $3.5 billion in sales, down from some $11 billion in 2000, says Capar, citing data from the Illinois-based IPC, a trade association for electronics industries. In 1990, the nation had some 2,000 manufacturers of printed circuit boards. Today there are roughly 200.

The 2008 global recession hurt Metro Circuits. In 2007, the business had more than 70 workers and sales of some $11 million. Today, its annual sales are $7 million to $8 million.

Capar says he believes the industry will turn around in 2013.

PJC Technologies strives to be easy to do business with, and that is something Asian firms traditionally do not excel at, he says.

The United States has lost one of its biggest manufacturing assets to the Chinese, Capar says.

"We were the dominant producer of sensitive technology needed everywhere, and we now rely on others to do it," he says.

There has been some improvement, he notes, including re-shoring and International Traffic in Arms Regulations that control the export and import of defense-related articles.

The Pentagon also has started looking at ways to preserve the technology. Capar is pleased that some progress is being made but says more needs to be done. For example, a major supplier to the U.S. military should not have to depend on China for airplane or missile parts, he says.

"At some point we need to control this."

Company plans
At PJC Technologies, Capar is looking to more fully integrate the two divisions.

The firm recently assigned a vice president of operations from California, Scott Pihl, to lead Rochester operations too. A New England regional sales manager was hired, and additional marketing efforts are underway. Capar also is looking for a vice president of corporate sales and eastern regional sales manager.

The company is committed to growth and is looking to further refine its product offerings and expand the territory it serves, Capar says.

The company has strong financial backing from C3 Capital and is exploring acquisition opportunities, particularly companies that would expand and enhance its capabilities.

Capar most likes the technology development efforts, noting that innovation drives revenues.

The worst part of his job is the ups and downs of the industry. Since PJC Technologies is a relatively small player, it is subject to factors outside its control. For example, when the industry is doing poorly, it can often become a target for a larger competitor.

Still, Capar is optimistic about the firm’s future and believes the local unit can easily hit $15 million in sales over the next three to five years.

"We must plan correctly and effectively," he says.

He finds inspiration from business role models such as Steve Jobs. He calls the founder of Apple Inc. a marketing genius but is quick to note that he does not use Apple products.

"He did a terrific job of getting people to wait in line to buy a product at a ridiculously high price," Capar says.

Another role model is Hamdi Ulukaya, the Kurdish-American businessman behind Chobani Inc. The Greek yogurt business expects to hit $1 billion in sales this year.

Capar describes himself as a leader who empowers those around him. "I want to give the employees room for growth, not pigeonhole them into smaller roles," he says.

Scott Kennedy, applications development manager at Connecticut-based Rogers Corp., has known Capar since 2005. Rogers supplies specialty circuit materials to PJC’s Metro Circuits division.

Kennedy describes Capar as knowledgeable, as well as a good leader and listener who is customer-focused.

"These are all key ingredients for success in today’s business environment," Kennedy says.

"Burhan has a unique ability to recognize trends in the market and take measured risks to enable Metro Circuits to capitalize on those trends," he adds.

Capar lives in Greece. He and his wife, Basak, have two children, daughter Elif, 21, and son Semih, 17.

When not working, Burhan enjoys volunteering and keeping active with volleyball and racquetball.

He is a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team and keeps up with international politics. The latter is an interest that developed when Capar was a boy and listened to reports from around the globe on his father’s shortwave radio.

Capar also believes he inherited from his father the desire and drive to succeed on the job. He uses that drive to fuel growth at PJC Technologies and says he relishes the role.

"I thrive on stress," Capar says. "I couldn’t do a cushy job."

Burhan Capar
Position: president and CEO, PJC Technologies Inc.
Age: 50
Education: AAS in engineering, Monroe Community College, 1985; B.S. in electrical engineering, SUNY College at New Paltz, 1987
Family: Wife Basak; daughter Elif, 21; son Semih, 17
Residence: Greece
Activities: Volleyball, racquetball, following international politics, Los Angeles Lakers fan
Quote: "We are very serious about taking this company to the next level."