KELLY MENDELL, president of Middletown-based MIKEL Inc., is the recipient of the New England Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Ernst & Young. The award honors entrepreneurs who deliver innovation, growth and prosperity for their business. Mendell’s father, Brian Guimond, is the founder of MIKEL, which provides engineering services to the U.S. Navy, including submarine combat systems, with a focus on cybersecurity engineering.
What was your reaction to being selected as the recipient of this year’s New England Entrepreneur of the Year Award? I am honored and humbled to be chosen as the Entrepreneur of the Year New England, but it takes a whole company’s dedication to innovation that really moves it ahead. The credit for this success lies with all the people who contribute at MIKEL. I am continuously reminded and impressed by all our employees’ dedication to trying, thinking creatively and out of the box, and investing in the company instead of their own personal gain.
What inspires you to drive innovation at MIKEL to maintain, grow and evolve the company? The people and the mission inspire me every day. Our employees have a deep and passionate desire to be a part of keeping the people of the USA safe. We do this by working with the U.S. Navy fleet, making the underwater environment safer to operate in by providing improvements to technical capabilities. It is very motivating to know you are making a difference.
What challenges have you faced personally and professionally during the pandemic? Sifting through the information that is available and communicating it well to my employees has been challenging. Continuing to make investments in an economy with so much uncertainty. Having the courage to invest in expansion of our facilities, continue hiring and taking on risk has been tough. Fear is everywhere, but you can’t let it stop you. To me, being entrepreneurial means being undeterred by failure; it means you are unstoppable. I know I need to be out of my comfort zone to grow, so I must be growing a lot. I encourage my family, friends and employees to operate the same way.
Flexibility has been key. Our employees are our greatest asset and supporting them through this pandemic has been a high priority. We have adjusted our work hours, locations and reporting to ensure that we are doing a good job of accommodating their challenges at home.
What do you hope to accomplish or achieve in the future? MIKEL works exceptionally hard to solve the Navy’s toughest problems, create opportunities for its employees and preserve the feeling of family. The MIKEL brand has been built by consistently delivering quality with compelling value while always retaining an entrepreneurial spirit. MIKEL has successfully navigated through the vast changes in the Department of Defense’s funding and technical priorities and now stands at the cusp of delivering the next generation of undersea navigational systems with its evolutionary Submerged Acoustic Navigation Systems technology.
