After helping V-ONE raise capital as a consultant, Grayson joined the company, restructuring it over a period of six years and leading it through a merger that took place in June 2005. Although a leader in the design and development of security software, its cyber-security technology was well ahead of its time, delaying large-scale adoption by its target market. ![]() The firm’s Board of Directors contacted her because of her experience with financing, requesting her expertise to lead a turnaround for this “distressed property.” According to Grayson, V-ONE’s financial problems were the result of going public too early. Most recently, Grayson accepted the position of CFO for V-ONE, a company that was experiencing financial difficulties. In both cases, she supervised day-to-day financial accounting as well as dealt with investment bankers, road shows and other responsibilities associated with going public. The laboratory space was allocated in a public/private partnership between NASA and several pharmaceutical and other private industry partners that wanted to do microgravity research. SPACEHAB is a private company that entered into a contract with NASA to build and resource a freestanding research laboratory that was transported into space in the Space Shuttle. Subsequently she became the CFO of SPACEHAB, Inc to raise private equity capital and public equity capital following its IPO. Grayson feels her most significant work in that arena has been as chief financial officer for two companies: She was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the Initial Public Offering (IPO) for CD Radio, which is now Sirius Satellite Radio. Over the next 20 years, Grayson applied that learning by helping to develop business plans and identify funding sources for small and mid-sized companies, raising early stage capital for them if they were privately held and then taking them public “if that’s where they wanted to go.” I also learned what happens during mergers and acquisitions and how to raise capital for a company.” She says the whole process taught her “that I absolutely love business and how it functions. The new owners wanted to retain Grayson and offered to pay for her to obtain an MBA. We had to wear many hats to support engineering, production and financial reporting to top managements as the accounting department shrunk. ![]() “The company got smaller, with fewer projects and employees. ![]() “With each change of ownership,” she explains. The ’80s were a time of significant merger and acquisition activity and Honeywell and then two subsequent owners purchased the manufacturing facility she was employed by. “I managed the cost accounting function for about 30 different plant projects for this $100 million dollar operation,” she says. Grayson began work with Honeywell in Tampa, gaining experience on very large federal projects to greatly expand her understanding of cost accounting. Relocation to Florida allowed her to pursue career prospects there. “Buffalo was going through an economic downturn at the time, and as graduating students, we became aware that we might have to search beyond Western New York for a job,” she says.Īfter Grayson graduated, she and her husband franchised their restaurant business and sold it to employees through an earn-out program. Perhaps more important, Grayson’s time at UB expanded her understanding of business and her thinking about career opportunities.
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