Language industry veteran joins regulated industry leader to accelerate emergence as a major global LSP
PRESS RELEASE: NEW YORK, NY – Morningside, one of the largest language service providers in North America, announced today that Dennis Dracup — a well-known language industry veteran — has joined the company as Chairman of the Board. Dracup has more than 30 years of operating and board experience in technology-enabled services and most recently served as Chairman & CEO of Language Line Services.
“We are thrilled to have Dennis take the helm as Chairman of our Board of Directors,” said Roland Lessard, Co-CEO and board member. “As a seasoned executive with hands-on experience in our industry, he has a ton to offer in terms of developing best-in-class technology, expanding enterprise customer relationships, and servicing the life sciences and health care markets.”
As Chairman and CEO of Language Line for fifteen years, Dracup helped grow and scale the company into the largest language interpretation company in the world. Under his leadership, Language Line increased its revenue tenfold from $40 million to $400 million – a feat he attributes to “hard work and focusing on the right industries and clients, with the best product out there to win those clients.”
Dracup says his top priority as Morningside’s new Chairman is to support management’s growth strategy. “I am excited to leverage my background and skills to help accomplish that,” says Dracup. “Morningside has grown leaps and bounds in the past five years and now truly has the potential to emerge alongside some of the largest global players.”
Dracup was approached by multiple LSPs and other businesses over the last few years after departing Language Line. “We know that Dennis had a lot of choices in the past eighteen months or so and we’re very proud that he chose to join forces with us. He has already become deeply engaged in our business,” said Tom Klein, Co-CEO and board member.
Dracup says he decided to return to the language services industry because language services are near and dear to his heart. “This industry has gone from being fairly rudimentary, and frankly misunderstood, to a real requirement for businesses and organizations in servicing their customers and growing strategically,” he said. “I think I have a great deal of relevant knowledge to leverage.”
As for the factors that led him to choose Morningside, he explained, “I really like the management team here. Tom and Roland and the senior leadership have the skills and motivation to take this company to great heights. And it’s a lot of fun to watch them bring new thinking to language services and professionalize this industry as operators.”
Dracup is no stranger to regulated industry language service requirements. Approximately ½ of Language Line’s revenue was from the medical and life sciences sector. Dracup sees in Morningside’s client base and verticals the same sorts of stringent quality and accuracy and expertise requirements.
“There is just a ton of technical knowledge required to support intellectual property, legal, and health care customers and those clients have a lot of exposure so we have to make sure we get it right every time. In these regulated areas, translation and localization fold into a broader suite of value-added services that our clients really count on us for.”
About Morningside:
Morningside is the fastest-growing major language service provider in North America and one of the largest intellectual property translation companies in the world. Specializing in patent, life sciences, and legal translations where accuracy and subject matter expertise are paramount, Morningside provides ISO 9001 and 13485-certified translations into more than 150 languages and offers end-to-end technology-enabled translation, localization, and multimedia solutions. Morningside is the trusted partner to thousands of organizations including Fortune 500 companies, Am Law 200 firms, and international regulatory bodies. Headquartered in New York City, Morningside has offices across the globe in San Francisco, Hamburg, London, and Jerusalem. https://www.morningtrans.com
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