Tom Lane receives congratulations.

Tom Lane receives congratulations.

CEO of new Fortune 500 Everett company Fortive given award

TULALIP — In less than 60 days, Fortive will be publicly traded for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange.

The new company has announced it will open its headquarters in Everett later this year. With an expected $6 billion in revenues, it will be one of the biggest companies in the state.

On Thursday, Jim Lico, CEO and president for the new company, was honored by Economic Alliance Snohomish County for his business leadership as well as his existing community involvement.

Lico couldn’t attend the event at Tulalip Resort Casino; he’s on the East Coast finalizing details about Fortive’s separation from parent company Danaher Corp.

Instead, Monti Ackerman, chief financial officer for Fluke, the Everett company that will be a part of Foritive, read a statement from Lico.

“We announced last week that trading in our stock, ticker symbol FTV, everybody write that down, will open on July 5th,” the statement said. “I’m so excited to be associated with Fortive and our terrific group of employees. You have our commitment that we will continue to be a strong partner, making Snohomish County a great place to live and work.”

Lico was recognized with the John M. Fluke Sr. Community Leader Award. Ackerman told the crowd of several hundred that Lico sees the award as a great honor since Lico was the president at Fluke for six years and John M. Fluke’s name is “synonymous with charity and community involvement.”

Also Thursday, the Economic Alliance honored Dwayne Lane posthumously with the Henry M. Jackson Citizen of the Year Award. Lane, who was the owner of the Everett auto dealership chain that bears his name, died in March.

“Often times we wait far too long to tell people how much we appreciate them,” said Dom Amor, local government and public policy manager at Puget Sound Energy. “Today’s award is the opportunity to honor Dwayne Lane and how much he has meant to this community.”

His son, Tom Lane, accepted the award on behalf of the family. He said he had hoped to keep it together in front of the crowd and, to lighten things up, he told a story about his father.

“My dad was handling an irate customer who said, ‘Mr. Lane, my car completely died driving down the side of the freeway. What kind of shop are you operating here?’ ” Tom Lane recounted. “My dad looked at him and said, ‘Well, at least we weren’t working on your airplane.’ ”

Others recognized Thursday were Jim Mischel Jr., the founder and CEO of Electric Mirror in Everett; Matt Yerbic, CEO and president of Aviation Technical Services in Everett; and Chris Adams, partner of Adams &Duncan law firm in Everett.

Mischel received The Herald Business Journal’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award for creating Electric Mirror, which makes mirrors with lights, televisions, Bluetooth and other high-tech devices. Electric Mirror is expected to make $60 million in revenue this year, employs 400 and recently opened a new manufacturing plant in Everett. Mischel said he and his family are humbled by the award.

“We indeed started it nearly 20 years ago in our parents’ garage,” Mischel said. “Probably our biggest breakthrough was six years into the business when my mom kicked us out of the garage. Thank you, Mom. She’s still kicking us along every day.”

Yerbic received The Herald Business Journal’s Executive of the Year Award for helping grow and expand Aviation Technical Services, also known as ATS. He’s the CEO and also part owner for the business, which provides maintenance and repair services plus aviation modifications and upgrades to airlines from around the world.

Accepting the award, Yerbic reflected on his grandmother.

“She used to say something to me,” Yerbic said. “She would call me Mattie and she said, ‘Mattie, work hard, do a good job and be nice and opportunities will come your way.’ That was for my first job at the Elk’s Club washing dishes, but it’s true today as well and I couldn’t have been the person I am today without her.”

Adams received the first Emerging Leader Award, also presented by The Herald Business Journal.

“My wife and I had a very intentional conversation about where we would move to raise our family, where I would practice law and where she would become a teacher,” Adams said. “We decided coming back to Snohomish County was the right thing to do because of the legacy of leadership that exists in this community.”

Lico, the CEO for Fortive, was praised for his community involvement with the Edmonds Center for the Arts, Cocoon House and United Way of Snohomish County. Lico lives in Seattle with his wife Maureen and three children.

He will helm a group of 22 companies that are being spun off from Danaher and that will employ 20,000 around the world. Fortive is big enough that it will land on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies in the world.

Fortive will consist of companies that provide professional instrumentation, automation, sensing and transportation technologies. The headquarters will be at Fluke, at 6920 Seaway Blvd., in Everett.

Lico in his message Thursday praised Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, the Economic Alliance and state officials for paving the way for Fortive to come to Everett.

“It was a pleasure to work with you on securing Fortive’s headquarters in Everett at our Fluke site,” Lico’s statement said. “Our best years are ahead of us for Fortive and for Snohomish County.”

Jim Davis: 425-339-3097; jdavis@heraldnet.com.

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