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Charles Abrams ’92, CEO of textile lamination company Dela, Inc. and managing principal of Ward Hill Realty Assoc., gave a talk on “From Lafayette to a Small Business” Sept. 23 in the Oechsle Hall auditorium.
Free and open to the public, the talk was the first in the 2003-2004 CIRCLE Entrepreneurship series organized by students and supported by the Hunsicker Fund, which promotes the study of entrepreneurship at Lafayette. Three additional lectures are planned this year, including a talk about running a family business by Richard Yuengling of the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, Pa, on Tuesday, Nov. 11. The two other lectures will be in the spring.
Now in its fourth year, CIRCLE is organized by junior economics and business major Matthew Guadagno of Short Hills, N.J., senior American Studies major Adrienne Stark of Oxford, N.J., junior A.B. engineering major Noah Payne of Brookline, Mass., and junior mathematics and economics major Martin Lawlor of Morristown, N.J. They are advised by Rosie Bukics, Thomas Roy and Lura Forrest Jones Professor of Economics and Business, and Sheila Handy, assistant professor of economics and business.
“We chose Mr. Abrams because of his experience and success in both a large corporate environment and in running a small business,” said Guadagno before the lecture. “Anyone who attends can expect to hear an amazing success story from someone who has only been out of Lafayette for 11 years, as well as great advice on what it takes to be successful in the business world as you leave college.”
Abrams, a government and law graduate, is president and chief executive officer of Dela, Inc., an industry leader in textile laminations for medical, automotive, and industrial needs. He is also the managing principal of Ward Hill Realty Assoc., LLC, a real estate investment trust that owns, manages, and develops commercial real estate.
Previously, he served as assistant vice president of the CIT Group/Business Credit, a commercial lender, where he managed a $200 million portfolio of six borrowers and was in charge of asset-based transactions in a variety of industries, as well as syndicating transactions and developing relationships with other organizations in that sector.
Abrams started his career in 1993 as an investment analyst for GE Capital’s Corporate Finance Group. In 1994 he was promoted to senior analyst and team leader, a position in which he was responsible for managing teams of up to eight analysts, as well as determining the financial status of the organization.
Abrams lives in Chestnut Hill, Mass., with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Sophie and Rebecca.