CTI & Provision Foundation

This week Terry Douglass spoke to us about CTI and Provision Foundation. One of the first things he stated about himself was the passion for entrepreneurship. "Once and entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur," he says.

He started CTI with a focus on the PET process as a whole. Their mission was to make clinical PET a reality. They established a track record with strong momentum in the beginning, but their beginning of big success was in1997, when the FDA legislation passed. In 2000, CTI introduced PET/ct.

Later, as the company grew, they decided to take it public in 2002. One thing Terry stated about public companies was that when you take a company public, you must think quarter to quarter, not long term. This was very different from the long-term, where-do-we-want-to-be-in-five-years approach CTI had currently operated on. Because of this, their stock dropped significantly for the next two years. Soon, though, as they learned how to work the public market, their stock began to rise again. Eventually, they sold to Siemens for $20.50 a share. They had entered the market at $17.00 a share, so they made a good profit.

Another lesson learned in going public was that having outsiders on the board of directors isn't necessarily the most desirable option. The outsiders aren't necessarily in agreement with the long-term goal of the company, as they want to meet quarterly deadlines and projections. In the end, though, Terry says that the experience was worth the effort he put into it.

Provision Foundation works mostly with the East Tennessee Health Center (ETHC). They are a comprehensive company and work with the cancer center as well as the proton therapy center, where precise targeting spares healthy tissue in operations.

One current project is HaitiServe, Inc. Provision has been working with Haiti for a year now, and it has been a blessing to Terry to be able to help Haitians through old times and current difficulties and earthquake aftermath. Terry says that there is always an opportunity to serve, and we all have gifts to give.

He desires that Provision serves, connects, and mobilizes. He thinks his most productive life years are his 60s, and next will be his 70s. He looks forward to continuing to work and see the company grow.