Sonic Innovations

We design, develop, manufacture and market advanced digital hearing aids that are intended to provide the highest levels of satis-faction for hearing impaired customers. Capitalizing on our advanced understanding of human hearing, we have developed patented digital signal processing (“DSP”) technologies and embedded them in the smallest single-chip DSP platform ever installed in a hearing aid. In the U.S., we sell finished hearing aids principally to hearing care professionals. Outside the U.S., we sell finished hearing aids and hearing aid kits principally to distributors, except in Australia where we sell hearing aids on a retail basis to the hearing impaired consumer. We occasionally sell hearing aid components to other hearing aid manufacturers. We first began shipping product in the fourth quarter of 1998. We completed our initial public offering in May 2000.

Samuel L. Westover

Chairman and CEO

Samuel L. Westover joined Sonic Innovations, Inc. in October 2005 as President and CEO and was appointed Chairman and CEO in May 2008. He had been a director since January 2002, and served as Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Compensation and Governance and Nominating Committees until his appointment as President and CEO in October 2005. From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Westover was President and CEO of CIGNA Dental and President of CIGNA HealthCare's Small Business Segment. Mr. Westover was CEO of two public companies and was the founding Chief Financial Officer of WellPoint, the largest health insurer in the U.S. In connection with the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics, Mr. Westover was Special Assistant to the Governor of Utah and established an independent economic development task force. He also received a gubernatorial appointment to serve as Chairman of the Public Education Job Enhancement Committee, providing scholarships and financial assistance to facilitate advanced education of high school teachers in math and science. Mr. Westover earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Brigham Young University.

Paul R. Wennerholm

President and COO

Paul R. Wennerholm was selected as Sonic Innovations' president and COO in August 2008. Prior to joining Sonic Innovations, he spent 14 years with Patterson Companies, Inc., a $3+ billion dental and rehabilitative health supply company with operations around the world. During his years with Patterson, Wennerholm earned the distinction of becoming the youngest-ever executive/division manager in the company's 130-year history. At Patterson, he held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility beginning as a technology specialist and sales and marketing executive (from 1994 to 1996) followed by promotions to equipment manager (from 1996 to 1999), division manager in Salt Lake City (from 1999 to 2004) and most recently led one of Patterson's most successful divisions in New England (from 2004 to 2008). From 1992 to 1994, he was the Western regional sales manager for PPI Group, a $3.8 million provider of software for medical and dental practices nationwide. Wennerholm received a B.A. degree in political science with minors in economics and Spanish from Brigham Young University in 1992.

Michael Halloran

Vice President and CFO

Michael M. Halloran joined Sonic Innovations in April 1999 as Corporate Controller and was promoted to Vice President in 2002. He was named Vice President and CFO in July 2006. Mr. Halloran began his career at Ernst and Young, where he worked for eight years. From 1994 to 1999, he held various senior positions at C.R. Bard, a large medical device company, based in New Jersey. Mr. Halloran is a CPA and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Accounting, from State University of New York at Oswego.

Brent H. Shimada

Vice President Administration and General Counsel

Brent H. Shimada joined Sonic Innovations in October 2004 as Vice President, Human Resources and Administration and became Vice President Administration and General Counsel in December 2005. From May 1999 to October 2004, he was Human Resources Director for American Express’ Global Travelers Cheque Operations Group. Mr. Shimada served as Senior Corporate Counsel for grocery and drug retail conglomerate American Stores Company from 1996 to 1999. He was Legal Counsel for Alliant Techsystems, Inc. (formerly Hercules Incorporated), a government contractor, from 1985 to 1996. Mr. Shimada earned Bachelor’s (Finance), MBA and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Utah.

Scott Lindeman

Vice President and Corporate Controller

Scott Lindeman joined Sonic Innovations, Inc. in September 2006 as Vice President and Corporate Controller.  Mr. Lindeman was previously with SIRVA, Inc., a global relocation services provider, where he served as Director of Accounting from 2002-2006.  From 1999-2002, Mr. Lindeman worked for Global Crossing LTD, as Director of U.S. Accounting Operations.  Prior to that, he was employed by KPMG, LLP for nine years, where he served as a Senior Manager.  He earned his MBA from the University of Rochester, a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Brigham Young University, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Jerry DaBell

Vice President, Research and Development

Jerry L. DaBell joined Sonic Innovations, Inc. in July 2000 as Vice President, Business Development and became Vice President, Research and Development in July 2005.  He was Senior Vice President of Product Development at IMP, Inc., a semiconductor manufacturer, where he was employed from 1988 to 2000. He earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Brigham Young University.

Christie R. Mitchell

Vice President, Manufacturing Operations

Christie R. Mitchell joined Sonic Innovations in 2000 as Materials Manager, was promoted to Director of Material Logistics in 2003 and became Vice President Manufacturing Operations in December 2005. Ms. Mitchell has been critical in reducing material, supply, manufacturing and product costs and improving inventory efficiencies throughout Sonic’s worldwide operations. From 1981 to 2000, she was with the procurement and materials management organization of the Baker Hughes Company, a provider of drilling products and services to the worldwide oil and gas industry. As Worldwide Materials Director for Baker Hughes, Ms. Mitchell significantly improved quality, cost and shipment efficiencies by developing worldwide alliance agreements with suppliers, implementing quality programs and utilizing enterprise resource planning systems.

Kathy Schofield-Landon

Vice President, Marketing

Kathy Schofield-Landon joined Sonic Innovations in 2000.  Prior to being promoted to Vice President of Marketing in May 2009, she held various positions of increasing responsibility within the company, most recently having been Director of Products and Marketing.  During her tenure with Sonic Innovations, Ms. Schofield-Landon has been integral to the company’s software and hardware product development efforts, and has most recently spearheaded Sonic’s new marketing strategies and initiatives.  Before joining Sonic Innovations, Ms. Schofield-Landon held a number of software and product development positions, having come to the company from Network Multimedia, Inc., a spin-off company of Novell, Inc.

David R. Whittle

Vice President of Worldwide Quality

David R. Whittle joined Sonic Innovations in October 2007 as Vice President of Worldwide Quality. Prior to joining Sonic, Mr. Whittle was Vice President, General Manager of DEI Systems, Inc., a Fiberglass, Odor Control Manufacturing Company, supplying products and systems to municipal and industrial markets. From 1982 to 2000 he held numerous senior management positions including Director of Worldwide Quality, and Director of Operations for Baker Hughes Company, a provider of oil and gas drilling products. Mr. Whittle earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Weber State University and is an ASQC Certified Quality Auditor.

Dale D. Fayerweather

Vice President of Information Systems and Technology

Dale Fayerweather joined Sonic Innovations, Inc. in February 2008 as Vice President of Information Systems and Technology. Prior to joining Sonic, Mr. Fayerweather was Sr. Director of IT Solutions Development at Nu Skin Enterprises, a leading direct-selling company that distributes premium quality personal care and dietary supplement products. He was also an Advanced Technology Specialist for 3M a diversified manufacturing and technology company. Mr. Fayerweather earned a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics from Winona State University in Minnesota.