There aren’t many chief executives who worry about soggy sandwiches.
For about a year, the Soggy Sandwich Problem was top of mind for Mark Barrocas and his team of engineers at SharkNinja in Needham. The question: how to make a cooler in which melting ice doesn’t turn sandwiches to mush? The answer, unveiled earlier this year: the $250 Ninja FrostVault, which has a pull-out drawer to protect those sandwiches.
Products like the FrostVault are drawing customers and, in turn, investors. SharkNinja’s shares have risen more than 50 percent since Jan. 1, to $77, vastly outperforming most consumer product stocks as well as the broader market. How strong are sales? SharkNinja recently raised its 2024 outlook to predict revenue will grow up to 14 percent from its $4 billion-plus figure last year.
SharkNinja’s stock has been on a tear since its spinout from JS Global last summer. (The Chinese company’s chief executive, Xuning Wang, remains SharkNinja’s chairman and largest shareholder.) Formerly Euro-Pro, SharkNinja in 2015 adopted the name of its primary brands — Shark vacuums and Ninja kitchen appliances.
As revenue has grown, so has research and development spending on new products. The company’s R&D budget has increased to $70 million in the most recent quarter from $59 million in the same period a year ago.
“I love solving consumer problems,” Barrocas said. “I love the mousetrap of how do you communicate it to a consumer in a way that is compelling and resonates with them.”
Much of that work happens in Needham. The headquarters opened in 2017, putting 400 people under one roof after SharkNinja relocated from three buildings in Newton. Today, at least 1,000 people work at the headquarters, out of a global workforce of about 3,300. This beehive of activity features prototyping machines and kitchens in which to test products (all manufactured by outside suppliers in Asia). There’s space for up to 300 more employees, and the company is hiring aggressively.
Barrocas said Greater Boston, from its universities to its cluster of veteran product engineers, provides an important pipeline of talent.
“I wouldn’t want to compete against SharkNinja and the folks that are here,” Barrocas said. “We’re fortunate to be here. If you look at our type of business, I can’t think of a better place to be in the country than in Boston.”
Climate activists target Hooley at Exxon Mobil
After retiring nearly six years ago, former State Street Corp. chief executive Jay Hooley is back in the spotlight thanks to a coalition of activist investors.
Hooley was targeted by an activist campaign this spring because he leads the governance committee of the board of directors at Exxon Mobil. The campaign followed Exxon’s litigation against North Shore investment firm Arjuna Capital and another shareholder for proposing a nonbinding proxy resolution calling for accelerating a shift away from carbon emissions. Exxon continued with the suit even after Arjuna dropped its proposal.
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility recently took up the cause, along with at least two center members, calling for Exxon shareholders to vote against the reelection of Hooley, who is Exxon’s lead independent director, and chief executive Darren Woods, the board chair. The center gained several allies, including public pension fund managers such as CalSTERS and Norges Bank, and influential proxy adviser Glass Lewis. Last week, the votes were tallied: 87 percent in support of Hooley and 92 percent for Woods.
Exxon’s response: “Our investors sent a powerful message that rules and value-creation matter. Their vote signals a belief that we are on the right track [toward] . . . growing supplies of affordable energy and products and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Despite the margins, interfaith center chief executive Josh Zinner noted that Woods and Hooley scored lower than what is usual in these typically pro forma elections. “The intent here was to express concern about Exxon’s bullying tactics against their own shareholders,” Zinner said. “We think that message was sent pretty clearly.”
Bancels back Camp Harbor View’s income experiment
As the folks at Camp Harbor View prepare for their annual Beach Ball fund-raiser this Saturday, they’ve got one more reason to celebrate.
Moderna chief executive Stéphane Bancel and his wife Brenda Bancel agreed to donate $2.5 million over five years through their foundation Bancel Philanthropies to support CHV’s “guaranteed basic income” program. Camp Harbor View has long since expanded beyond its original role as a summer camp for city middle-schoolers on Long Island, launched in 2007 by philanthropist Jack Connors at the suggestion of then-mayor Thomas M. Menino. It has become a broad antipoverty nonprofit that offers services throughout the year.
Camp Harbor View did a two-year test run of a guaranteed income program in which certain eligible families received nearly $600 a month to help with bills. Now the camp is trying to make the program permanent, with a group of 40 families participating in the latest iteration. This time, the monthly checks will be $650. The Bancels’ gift covers about half of the cost, camp chief executive Sharon McNally said, and they hope it inspires matching donations from others.
In the long run, McNally said she hopes the promising results can inspire similar federal- and state-funded endeavors. “It evens the playing field a little bit,” McNally said. “You can do all you want for the kids, but without a sound family structure it’s hard to have the same kind of impact.”
Spofford has J.Jill on the rebound
Claire Spofford has proven to be a good fit for Quincy-based apparel chain J.Jill.
When she was named chief executive in late 2020, the company proclaimed that Spofford would drive the “next chapter of growth.” It was a tough time, still early in the pandemic, for any new chief executive — let alone someone in the retail business.
Now, with J.Jill’s finances stabilized and much of the debt paid off, that next chapter is about to begin. The company just announced its first-ever quarterly dividend for shareholders, and also plans to add up to 25 new stores in the next three years after many years of being in, per Spofford’s words, “net closure mode.”
Consumers will reap the benefits: On June 11, J.Jill launches its “You Choose” program, in which registered shoppers can get a $100 gift card in return for trading in one gently worn piece of clothing, to be donated to the Bottomless Closet foundation. The temporary promotion is part of J.Jill’s broader “One Wardrobe, No Limits” campaign.
“The campaign . . . is going to do a great job of introducing J.Jill to new potential customers and getting some energy out there,” Spofford said. “[Our] underlying business story is what’s going to enable us to do this.”
Ryan retiring at PwC
Tim Ryan can finally put away that calculator.
From humble beginnings at the Boston office of Price Waterhouse in 1988, to taking over the top US job at the accounting giant, now PwC, Ryan enjoyed a career that he hadn’t envisioned while growing up in Dedham. Last week, Ryan retired as US senior partner; he had already handed over the US chair role. He posted a goodbye message on LinkedIn, saying “nothing has made me prouder than the exceptional work our people provide to our clients, how they give back to the communities and, above all, how much they care.”
Ryan went to college at Babson, with the goal of opening a sub shop. A professor suggested accounting instead.
Most notably, Ryan confronted a potential race-related crisis head on during his first summer as US chair, in 2016, prompting emotional discussions among colleagues. He then encouraged other chief executives to host similar discussions, with a goal of reducing unconscious biases and building empathy. That inspiration led to the creation of the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion initiative, which today includes 2,500-plus employers.
Ryan knew his time as US chair would be finite. Soon after he started, he said “you can be average or you can really try to have an impact.” Ryan can take it easy now knowing he lived up to that maxim.
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.