Mike Fern started at Baxter Healthcare as a chemist, then got an MBA, but saw no clear path to the type of jobs he wanted. So he responded to a newspaper ad – this was 1990 after all – and became the first employee at Eichrom Technologies, which was commercializing some Argonne National Lab discoveries in an Evanston, Illinois incubator. Fifteen years later Mike was named President. Today Eichrom has a staggering 90+% share of the global purified isotope chemistry market, and serves customers in nuclear medicine, environmental cleanup and other industries. Eichrom has about 40 employees. It got its initial funding from Arch Venture Partners, and in 1998 was acquired for an undisclosed price by GCI, the family office of Land’s End founder Gary Comer.

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