Jeff Clarke believes Kodak will transform the market

Jeff Clarke spent the last 10+ years of his career in Silicon Valley, and he felt, "Kodak in many ways is like a start-up." Clake said, "We are creating proprietary technologies which I believe will transform our markets. But it's also a company that has one of the world's most recognised brands, a highly developed supply chain, 25,000 commercial customers around the world, and a world-class research and development operation which continues to invent technologies and solutions in anticipation of the customer needs in Kodak's fast-changing markets."

Clarke added, "Kodak is focused on graphic communications, packaging, and functional printing, with a product portfolio which is unique in its breadth and in the strength of its underlying technologies in material
science, deposition, software, and digital imaging. The portfolio contains some extremely exciting product families, especially Prosper, Sonora, and Flexcel NX. As one example, we expect to nearly double the install base of Prosper this year, driving significant annuity sales, which I believe will benefit the company for years to come. These are the products that position the company with its B-to-B focus for imaging for business."

Clarke added his mandate from the Kodak board of directors is "to deliver growth". He said, "We will invest $90 million in research and development, and $50 million in capital expenditures this year. With the combination of our portfolio and breakthrough products, global reach, powerful brand, and strong customer base, we are positioned to deliver future growth."

Clarke mentioned how on the second day in the office, he went over to the research labs and walked down a hallway of pictures of the inventors at Kodak. He said, "At the end of the hallway there were pictures of two
inventors, each of who had 100 patents. And these aren't patents that you often see from companies that are trying to win patent wars. These are deep patents, incredibly important to material science, to photography and printing. So, when I think of the Kodak brand, I think innovation."

He added, "The second thing is, I think quality. I think a company like Kodak has deep manufacturing processes, it has processes that make sure the products work before they go out there. And that's really important, and that's what I think about the Kodak brand. And I also think about both community and employees. I think everybody will step back and say that there's been very few companies that, over its history, has done as much for their communities and for their employees."