John J. "Jack" Kalagher, Executive Advisor
(301) 602-1285
Mr. Kalagher is the Executive Advisor in residence at the National Capital Companies, LLC. He is also the Chairman Emeritus of The Riderwood Group, Inc. Just prior to joining Riderwood, he was the Chief Operating Officer of National Capital Companies LLC, where he worked closely with clients advising them on mergers and acquisitions, business development, corporate strategic planning and partnering, organizational development, and marketing strategies.
Mr. Kalagher has extensive, proven experience in structuring and operating high technology and professional services business enterprises, both as an executive and consultant. In addition to founding a multi-million dollar software and systems consulting company, which he served as its CEO for ten years, he co-founded and brought public a company operating in advanced areas of information storage and retrieval. Mr. Kalagher has also held senior executive positions in industry and government, including positions at Sperry and Burroughs (now UNISYS), Honeywell, Inc. and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
A notable executive experience was as a Corporate Officer in charge of systems development at Sallie Mae, a nation wide secondary marketer and servicer of guaranteed student loans. In this position, he directed the reengineering of Sallie Mae’s automated system for the annual origination of more than $ 400 million of loans utilizing the most demanding and sophisticated of technology products. Mr. Kalagher was called upon to execute a turnaround. His management and technical skills led to the successful installation of the first industrial strength client-server application at Sallie Mae.
Previously, as Senior Vice President at ANADAC, Inc., Mr. Kalagher led the corporation’s initiatives to provide information and facilities engineering services to commercial clients and government agencies. Prior to that, He was Founder, CEO and Chairman of Software Products, Inc. (aka The Corporation for Applied Systems, TCASY) a multi-million dollar firm that engaged in the design, development and implementation of custom computer software and systems for government and industry, including complex and sophisticated systems for the US Air Force, Beatrice Foods, the Allied Corporation, the US Navy, Bull, the State of Arizona, the Coast Guard and the Veterans Administration. While CEO of SPI, Mr. Kalagher’s staff developed and distributed software productivity (CASE) tools to more than 75 users of IBM mid range systems. Earlier, he was appointed to a professional executive position as a Director at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development where he was responsible for management and operations research support for major Department programs and research projects.
For over three decades, Mr. Kalagher has consulted in the management of high technology for various clients, including SallieMae and Sentinel Systems, Inc. He successfully managed a number of technology financing and M & A projects. Clients included Sweet Traditions, the largest franchisee of Krispy Kreme; Conquest Petroleum Incorporated, an exploration and production Oil and Gas developer; De La Rue, plc (UK), Applied Systems Institute, Inc., ANADAC, Inc. and Systems Dynamics, Inc.
Mr. Kalagher received an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business where he was elected to Beta Gamma Sigma, the national honor fraternity of commerce. Mr. Kalagher is also a cum laude graduate of the College of the Holy Cross with a BA in Economics; at graduation, he was commissioned an officer in the United States Air Force. With the FINancial Regulatory Authority (FINRA), he holds a license as a General Securities Representative, Series 7 and 79.
He served on the Board of Directors of Faraday National Corporation prior to its acquisition by De La Rue, plc and as a member of several United States Government Information Technology Advisory Boards. Formerly, he was Vice Chairman of the Board and Treasurer of SIGMA International Holdings, Inc.
