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George Mulhern is CEO and chairman of the board at Cradlepoint, a Boise company that provides a platform for wireless WAN networking.
Mulhern spent 20 years at Hewlett Packard, ending as a senior vice president in charge of the company's laserjet global business unit. He was also a partner with Highway 12 Ventures, a Boise-based venture capital fund.
When Mulhern arrived at Cradlepoint in 2011, the company had about 95 employees. Now it has around 330, 85 percent of them in Boise, and recently consolidated most of its workers from six different buildings into larger quarters in the Boise Cascade building in downtown Boise. Mulhern expects to hire another 150 people in the next 12 to 18 months.
Cradlepoint has an office outside London and is in the process of opening one in Sydney. The company entered Europe, the Middle East and Africa a year ago. Idaho Business Review sat down with Mulhern to learn about Cradlepoint and the company's role in Boise. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You were talking at one point about putting up a building in downtown Boise. Is that still in the plans?
To build was a last resort for us. We had grown so much we were in six different buildings, and we wanted to get into one. Then the Boise Plaza opened up and it has turned out to be perfect for us.
And then you'll be all set?
We will probably hire another 150 people in the next 12 to 18 months. The plan is to build the team here in Boise, and so far we haven't hit a wall in terms...