Content area
Full Text
Mike Long has a knack for fixing things. It's a skill he used to revamp a rundown bar during his college days.
And he is drawing on that talent once again in his current position. As president of Arrow Electronics Inc.'s North American Computer Products Group, which includes midrange distributor Gates/Arrow Distributing Inc., Greenville, S.C., Long is in charge of integrating newly acquired companies.
Long has overseen the integration of a slew of acquisitions by Arrow, including Consan Inc., SupportNet Inc., Arrow Industrial Computer Products and Microtronica. The acquisitions added depth to Gates/Arrow's IBM Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. midrange products and storage offerings.
"Mike's strengths are his goal-setting and integrating---not just businesses, but people," says John Smith, a friend and former Gates/Arrow executive.
"I don't like to let things lie. I like things finished and done," says Long.
As a college student at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, Long went to work for friend Bruce Veum, who had just bought a bar. Dimly lit and dingy, the bar attracted a rough crowd.
"Mike was instrumental in changing the bar immediately," Veum recalls. Drawing on his carpentry experience, Long changed the lighting and the fans. "It was a major project, and Mike was pretty much my technical advisor," Veum says. The bar soon began to draw a college crowd.
"Mike was at a very young age...