Rick Hoffman

Rick Hoffman - Coach and Counselor

One thing you’ll notice when you meet Rick Hoffman, Commercial Sales Manager for Sticklers, is that he is never still. He is a perpetual motion machine — his hands, his eyes, his whole body is always in action. Which may be the reason he has been a star athlete most of his life.

“Our willingness to formulate new products was a big difference.”

Award Winning Performance

True to form, Rick has been working hard since he joined MicroCare in 2016. He started as the Eastern Regional Sales Manager and then moved up to the National Accounts Manager for the fiber group in 2018. Rick enjoyed a productive career in the electronics industry with another company. MicroCare was attractive to him because it was a very stable, privately-held company that was well diversified in its platforms. He has enjoyed much success with MicroCare throughout his tenure and continues to love every minute of it.

A Problem Solver

“I’m a problem-solving guy. I talk to customers, understand their situation and talk about their alternatives,” Rick added, as he thought about his long career. “For customers to buy a new product, a different product, there’s got to be an issue that they want to change. Which means you have to understand what’s going on [in their plant] … You need to make sure the new product really is going to solve the problem and do the job.”

Win-Wins

Rick has had many successes over the years helping customers and creating better methods. Fiber cleaning is an interesting “thing”. Customers know deep down they must clean ferrule endfaces, but they general don’t see microscopic soils . The need for speed is so prevalent and since “you don’t know what you can’t see”, installers often skip a critical step.  Helping management operations maintain speed and clean is the challenge that we have been able to marry.  “It’s like a gift that keeps on saving as the “light” clicks on and installers realize the value of cleaning at start up,” Rick laughed.

Another recent success is at a global company. They needed cleaners and asked Rick for two things: cleaning kits that were (a) truly global and (b) really different. MicroCare is very familiar with the REACH rules in Europe, the GHS standards and international shipping rules, plus MicroCare has warehouses in Belgium, the UK and Singapore. “Our willingness to formulate new products was a big difference,” Rick said. “In total, it was a really creative and complete package, made-to-order to help them.”

Business Education and Baseball

Years ago, Rick attended Bentley University in Waltham, Mass. on a “pretty good baseball scholarship.” An outstanding business school, he studied Business Management and focused on playing center field. As a four year starter, Rick hit his fair share of home runs. But that’s not what lights his rocket: “Hitting a home run is cool, but throwing out a runner at home plate, from center field, is way more gratifying,” he said with a smile.

Coach Hoffman

After college, for 20 seasons Rick coached for local kids' leagues in baseball, soccer and basketball. Finding the local basketball program inadequate, he started a “Learn to Play” program in town for 1st and 2nd graders. “We had an interactive program that was really fun,” Rick recalled. “We taught them skills and got everybody ready for refereed-based basketball games.” The kids he started in the sport in 1st grade ended up winning the championship in their high school.

But Rick did more than just coach. He was running the local soccer league, training the coaches and contributing to the leagues in baseball and basketball through his volunteered years. “Each season, you see the kids’ progress. It’s great to see them develop,” he smiled.

On a Personal Note

Today Rick lives in sunny FL, after moving from Massachusetts. He moved south to stay close to his family but discovered “Resort living is pretty good, and my golf game is much better since I moved next door to a golf pro.”

Rick has been married to Kerry for over 30 years; she’s a publisher / owner of Seminconductor Digest, a semiconductor electronics journal. They have two grown-up children working in the IT industry. 

“We’re on the European bug; we’ve visited Ireland and Italy recently, and plan to visit more countries. Plus, we love to tour wineries,” Rick said. “You’re always in a beautiful place, the grounds and buildings are spectacular, and the wine of course. It’s a combination I really enjoy.”