Article

Who's Who: Derek Fretheim

From college history major to kiosk executive, Derek Fretheim's career and life have taken some interesting turns. But the president of kiosk manufacturer CeroView Inc. remains committed to the industry.

February 26, 2002

Some future kiosk executives emerge from college with real-world experience in business. Others enter the profession with the technological tools to understand what goes on behind the kiosk screen.

Not Derek Fretheim. The president of kiosk manufacturer CeroView LLC went to Cal-State Fullerton with a different career path in mind.

"I went to school to get a history degree with a specialty in Chinese history and Pacific Rim studies," the 37-year-old native of Long Beach, Calif., said.

CeroView Inc. president Derek Fretheim is a presence at kiosk trade shows such as the KioskCom Retail show in San Diego in late October.

But with 12 hours left to complete his degree, Fretheim had to jettison college and any research or teaching aspirations. Life became too busy and complicated, and Fretheim found that drawing a paycheck was more important than the esoteric demands placed on a history major.

"I was going to school full time, working full time, and I was married with two kids," he said. "My father had been stricken with cancer and I was doing all this and playing semi-pro hockey. Something had to give. School gave and hockey gave."

Fortunately, Fretheim chose the early 1990s to make this break. It was fortunate because Fretheim had been working as a consultant and manager on various electronic technology projects. He was doing Internet projects before the Internet explosion. And he would find his way to the kiosk industry just as that sector was starting to grow.

"In any new industry, people have their own way of getting involved," Fretheim said of entering the kiosk industry. "Mine kind of fell into my lap."

Getting involved

Fretheim's entry into the kiosk industry came courtesy of a Southern California tradition - the traffic jam. After working as a corporate headhunter - while still attending school - in the late 1980s and consulting on an on-line bulletin board project, Fretheim ended up at the Long Beach Area Transportation Resource Association.

It was there that Fretheim discovered that the California Department of Transportation had developed - then postponed - a kiosk program offering traffic information for motorists.

"They were sitting in the warehouse doing nothing," Fretheim said. "I structured a deal to donate the kiosks (to communities) if we could find people to retro fit them. We found 50 cities willing to retro fit them."

Fretheim's work led him to Ecotek, where he served as director of information technology. There he saw the possibilities of the kiosk industry.

"They decided we should get into the kiosk business and I was asked to start the kiosk division," he said. "We saw exponential growth of 1,600 percent in an 18-month period and I decided this was something I really wanted to do."

On his own

So Fretheim went out on his own in 1999, starting CeroView with his wife, Traci. The two financed the company themselves and still share ownership, but would not reveal startup costs or revenue figures since its launch.

Based in Irvine, Calif., the firm has evolved since its launch into an all-in-one kiosk manufacturer and deployer with 10 staff members.

"The original CeroView model was application development and pure integration," Fretheim said. "Our business model didn't really include manufacturing. CeroView grew into the manufacturing side."

The company has developed kiosks in the entertainment, healthcare, government, and education fields, working with the likes of the NBC television network, American Airlines, and Federal Express.

Staying power appears to be something Fretheim possesses in the kiosk industry, and others are impressed with the work his company has done.

"Being somebody that sells to kiosk manufacturers ourselves, we've seen a lot of people come and a lot of people go. Derek has been in the business for quite some time and the reason he's still here is his commitment to quality," said Kurtis Van Kampen, president of Input Technologies LLC, a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based input manufacturer

"Some people we've seen go out of the industry would skimp on the quality of their components -spend a penny to save a dollar," Van Kampen added. "Derek doesn't do that. He'll tell his clients straight up what they need and don't need."

Mixing family and business

Fretheim lives in Trabuco Canyon, Calif., with Traci and their daughters, 11-year-old Erica and 10-year-old Erin. Traci Fretheim serves as vice president at CeroView. While he primarily oversees company projects, she focuses on sales and marketing issues.

"She has certain talents I don't possess," he said. "She has an accounting background, but also a sales and marketing background. We complement each other. She's a great deal closer."

Technology remains the field where Fretheim makes a living, but he still contemplates one more semester among the ancient Chinese dynasties.

"I'm essentially a second-semester senior and I've been that for nine years," he said. "I intend to go back."

But for right now, the kiosk industry is keeping Fretheim out of the classroom and in the technology field.

"I'll probably end up graduating with my older daughter," he joked.