The World Trade Center Institute
Congratulates Quantum Sail’s Larry Leonard on his Recognition as a
Maryland International Business Leadership Award Winner
Baltimore, Maryland, March 24, 2006 – Larry Leonard, founder and managing partner of Quantum Sail Design Group, was selected as a winner of Maryland's 2006 International Business Leadership Awards. This honor is only bestowed upon seven of the over 150,000 Maryland companies doing international business. These Maryland business leaders are chosen for demonstrating an entrepreneurial spirit, determination, creativity and the cultural sensitivity that global business demands.
It’s difficult to decipher where Quantum Sails ends and Leonard begins. Originally a father –son start up called Leonard Sails, Quantum Sail Design Group is a tale of a true American entrepreneur. In 1976, Larry Leonard, fresh out of college, and his father started the sail making business, Leonard Sails. It was a natural step recalls Leonard, “I started sailing at age 10; my parents had a boat, I had a boat and my sister had a boat. My father dabbled in sail making and my mother would sew them together.”
In 1983, Leonard and his father decided to close up their tiny Annapolis loft in order to work for Sobstad. “The big name gave us credibility,” explained Leonard, “some boats that had won the Americas Cup had been using the sails that we made.” After 13 years of working for Sobstad, Leonard decided it was time for a new challenge and formed his own sailmaking company, the first new one in the industry in more than two decades. Quantum Sails was started by Leonard in 1996.
Currently, Quantum Sail Design Group is the number two sail maker in the world; they design, engineer, and manufacture sails for racers and cruisers. Leonard runs his company with a focused business plan and a strong set of family values, “we are a service organization, we operate with a family style and want our clients to become our friends.”
“Quantum's business model is a very unique matrix of family-owned entities, bringing together numerous cultures with a common quality sail product,” described Jim Doub, Principal of Miles and Stockbridge, and member of the WTCI Review Committee.
Quantum employs 25 people at their Annapolis headquarters, with about 500 employees around the globe. The company has 65 facilities worldwide (including franchises and consolidated companies) in places like Spain, the UK, Malaysia and South Africa. Although their international reach is vast, all of the technical training occurs in Annapolis.
Last Spring, Quantum introduced their newest sail technology, FusionM. They replaced their state-of-the-art paneled working sails with the world's first built sails using SmartSail technology. This is described as a unique structural system which moves beyond the load path model utilized by the competition. The cooperation of the Maryland Industrial Program at the University of Maryland was critical in developing this new technology. Together, they also created the first U.S.-based wind tunnel testing facilities for downwind sails, the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel.
Leonard travels 100+ days a year. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University. Leonard is married and has 2 daughters in college. A true “sails man,” when Leonard is not working on developing new sailing products, he enjoys spending time on the water.
Quotes about Larry Leonard:
Nancy Wallace, Director of International Operations DBED
“Larry Leonard is a perfect example of the quality of people born and raised in Maryland. His determination, creativity and adaptability has take a family business through many changes to adapt to a very competitive, global industry. He has used the high technology Maryland has for research and development, corporate management and quality control.”
Marc Durlach – Owner-Skipper of FEARLESS
“Under Larry Leonard's leadership Quantum Sails has quickly grown to become a dominant, worldwide provider of high performance racing and cruising sails. Quantum Sail's well earned international reputation is based on Larry's quest for technical innovation, and his unequaled commitment to providing the best customer support in the sail making industry. Larry's guiding principles attracted me as a customer when Quantum was formed over ten years ago. Since then, my FEARLESS racing program has been exclusively powered by Quantum Sails.”
About WTCI:
Established in Baltimore in 1989 to help connect Maryland to the globe, today the World Trade Center Institute (WTCI) is the region’s premier private sector international business partner. Financed jointly by area businesses and the State of Maryland, WTCI operates as a non-profit membership organization.
More than 2,500 Maryland firms benefit from WTCI’s extensive global network, pragmatic international business programs and customized consulting. WTCI is a member of the World Trade Center Association, along with nearly 300 fellow World Trade Centers operating in major business cities around the world.
About the Event:
Date: Thursday, March 30, 2006
Time: 5:15 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Location: Jim Rouse Visionary Center, a part of the American Visionary Arts Museum, 800 Key Highway, Baltimore, MD 21230
Refreshments/International Buffet/Latin Music Celebration
Cost: $100 WTCI members/$150 Non-members