Catching Up With Jove PCB’s Cameron Burke

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Jove PCB is one of the fastest-growing PCB fabricators on the market today. Founded in 2004, it has reached sales of about $250 million, including recent significant growth in North America. This intrigued me, and I wanted to find out more about this company and how they are achieving such remarkable growth.

Cameron Burke is the North American director of sales, who despite his young age, has been in the PCB business for many years because his grandfather was a New England PCB sales rep who took Cameron under his wing. It’s a good story.

Dan Beaulieu: Please tell us about the company. When was it founded and why?

Cameron Burke: Jove PCB has five manufacturing facilities near Shenzhen, China. We specialize in a variety of technologies and industries, ranging from small-volume quick turns to high-volume production PCBs. We were founded with the purpose of building high-quality PCBs for customers all over the world.

Beaulieu: What is your role with the company?

Burke: I oversee finding new customers for Jove in the industries we specialize in. I also support my existing customers and oversee a network of sales reps. My goal is to service my customers and create the best possible experience in their supply chain.

Beaulieu: Cameron, what is your story? Tell me about your background.

Burke: My story began with my grandfather, who had been in the PCB industry for most of his life. He introduced me to the business as a young kid by bringing me to meet with customers. He taught me how to prospect for new accounts, that my reputation is everything, and to never burn bridges. My goal has always been to go above and beyond for my customers. 

After college, I was selling cars, and I happened to sell a car to the HR director of a PCB company. We talked about my background with PCBs, and I ended up taking an entry-level position with that company doing customer service, quoting, order processing, and existing customer management. After one year, I went into outside sales for the New England area. I did that successfully for about five years and appreciated my time there. However, Jove came calling, and it felt like the next best step in my career, so I decided to take on this position. I’ve been here for two years and have had the opportunity to hire my own team, build a sales rep network, and grow the business from scratch given there was very little North American footprint for Jove at that time. 

Beaulieu: What is special or outstanding about the company?

Burke: Jove has multiple facilities with different capabilities, giving us a broad technology scope to support all industries. We’re at the higher end of technology capabilities when it comes to heavy copper, thermal management, and embedded technology. 

Beaulieu: What are the challenges of selling in North America?

Burke: We don’t have a long-term reputation here like other companies that have been working directly in this market for 20 or 30 years. We have an amazing reputation in Asia and Europe, however, we have only had a North American presence for two years. 

Beaulieu: Who owns the company, and do you have other services?

Burke: Jove has three owners: Wang Lu, CM Wang, and Albert Wong. It is publicly traded company on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Jove is purely a bare board supplier. We offer DFM support to customers, along with general design feedback for higher reliability. . 

Beaulieu: What type of companies do you service, and who are your customers?

Burke: We service companies in the following industries: telecommunications, industrial, medical, automotive, power supply, heavy copper, and EMS providers. 

Beaulieu: Why should a company become your customer?

Burke: Our best customers are ones that focus on technology and high reliability. Jove’s pricing is competitive on all levels, however, our real strengths lie within high tech, higher layer count, heavy copper up to 6-ounce UL, thermal management, and HDI multi lamination cycle PCBs. These companies typically are in the EV segment and power supply companies. We also support a lot of EMS supplier and PCB trading companies that support all market segments, ranging from RF PCBs and industrial controls, to medical, lighting, LED, and automotive. 

Beaulieu: What are your key advantages?

Burke: We own five different PCB factories and each has a slightly different capability. One factory is a small-volume quick turn factory that we can build as quickly as three to five days depending on the technology. We also have a higher tech, high volume factory that has 13485, ITAF certification, and can produce any PCBs aside from mil/aero. Most PCB factories in Asia focus on specific segments whether that’s 2–6-layer high volume, small-volume quick turns, or only high-volume high tech. We’re a one-size-fits-all PCB factory which is why I enjoy working for them so much. We are consistently at over 98% delivery and quality.

Beaulieu: What is your global reach, and what is the reach in North America?

Burke: Jove has a revenue of about $250 million with most of our reach historically being in Asia and Europe. North America has grown significantly in the past two years. I am based on the East Coast with a very strong group of independent sales reps around the country. The sales reps are actively promoting Jove and have customers placing orders with us every day. They’re in many key areas, such as New England, New York, Georgia, Florida, and California. We are looking for more independent reps in Texas, the Midwest, Southwest, and Pacific Northwest. As we grow, Jove also intends to invest in more direct sales. Jove also has a very strong Technical Director, Paul Yang, who visits customers and supports on a high technical level once per quarter. 

Beaulieu: Where do you want to be in three to five years?

Burke: Our five-year goal is to achieve one-third of the company's revenue from the North American market.

Beaulieu: How do you plan to increase sales globally?

Burke: Our plan is to focus on our core strengths from a technology perspective, along with having the right sales, and technical members in the right areas globally. We are building a Thailand factory to have a China +1 option for companies looking to build outside of China but still want the Jove quality, delivery, and pricing standards that have made us so successful. 

Beaulieu: How about in North America?

Burke: Our plan for increasing sales in North America is to have a sales and engineering team that believes in the company's mission to be one of the highest quality, best technology companies in the PCB industry. Jove wants to support its local customers, so they can reach someone from the Jove team, regardless of the time zone they are in. We have spent a lot of time building up a big sales rep network with independent reps and rep companies that may be selling other products into key target accounts that want to rep a high-quality PCB factory. It is still very much a networking industry and people are more likely to trust someone they are already doing business with over cold calls. 

Beaulieu: How are you marketing in North America?

Burke: We have committed to more marketing in the form of trade shows, LinkedIn posts, magazine articles, networking, and cold calling. We want Jove to be known around the industry and start to get name recognition due to our high-quality reputation and high technology capabilities. 

Beaulieu: What are the advantages for a good salesperson to join the company?

Burke: We have very competitive pricing, lead times, and quality. Jove is just taking off in the North American market. If someone wants to be part of the early stages of a company that will have industry wide recognition five years from now, get on the rocket ship. Don’t wait. We have a great team. They all want to be successful and they have the same mission. 

Beaulieu: How do you see the market today?

Burke: I see it as very opportunistic. Many say the industry has slowed down, or that some OEMs have reduced ordering. If you look hard enough, there is opportunity out there. It requires the right timing and being able to meet the needs of the customer. This means there is an element of luck to finding new business but also a lot of hard work in research and prospecting. 

Beaulieu: There is a lot of controversy about China right now. How does that affect your company?

Burke: The controversy regarding China can be challenging for us at times, however, this is why we have invested heavily in a Thailand operation. We will have the same capabilities in Thailand as we do at the China facilities. We’re keeping a close eye on the situation and will make any necessary adjustments. Jove wants to give customers peace of mind that no matter where you place your business within our company you can count on quality and dependability. 

Beaulieu: Do you have any closing thoughts?

Burke: Jove is looking forward to growing the North American market. We are a truly disruptive company that can accomplish a lot in this market. We look forward to supporting all our current customers and welcome any new customers to give us a try. You will not be disappointed.

Beaulieu: Thank you, Cameron.