Executive Spotlight: Jeffrey D. Hicks, CEO and president of Midnight Sun Technologies Inc.

Jeffrey Hicks brings to Kikiktagruk Iñupiat Corporation’s newest 8(a) subsidiary a proven background in strategic business development. Jeffrey is president and CEO of Midnight Sun Technologies (MST), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kikiktagruk Iñupiat Corporation.

Jeffrey is instrumental in establishing the technological and commercialization roadmap for both federal and commercial markets.

Entrepreneurial-minded, with a clear sense of direction and priorities, Jeffrey has established a clear record of making exceptional decisions in order to lead companies to record levels of performance.  Over the course of his career, Jeffrey has directly or indirectly generated approximately $141.5 million in gross revenue for his two companies, representing an estimated $11.5 million in bottom-line profitability.

Prior to MST, Jeffrey was a founder and former chief executive officer of Persistent Sentinel. Under his leadership since 2011, Persistent Sentinel’s security and surveillance business grew into a robust company with projected cumulative revenue in excess of $1 billion-plus by the end of 2020. While his responsibilities were diverse, Jeffrey focused on formulating strategic business plans, instituting revenue enhancement and cost-education initiatives, updating the business model to ensure the firm’s long-term success, and executing business-development campaigns designed to deliver the best return on investment in order to achieve key financial and growth improvement-objectives.

Prior to forming Persistent Sentinel in 2011, Jeffrey was the chairman and CEO of 21st Century Systems. He joined the firm in 2001 as the chief operating officer following his tenure in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear submarine officer. After rising to president, and recognizing the company’s potential, Jeffrey was able to orchestrate a buyout and acquired full operational control of the firm in 2006. He then dedicated himself to growing a profitable enterprise, as he led 21CSI to one of the leading software R&D businesses in the entire country for eight straight years, as documented by U.S. Innovation.

Jeffrey earned his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering with high honors from Auburn University and has subsequently received two Master of Science degrees in applied physics and astronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. Currently, he has completed 40 study hours towards his Ph.D. in information technology at the University of Nebraska.