Coffee with an Executive: Ken Berta

Join Georgia Bio’s Emerging Leaders Network for our Coffee with an Executive series with Ken Berta, Executive Director at the Global Health Crisis Coordination Center.

For the past 10 years, Ken was a senior executive at Philips Healthcare most recently serving as the Global Lead for Strategic Partnerships and Alliances where he was responsible for managing relationships with Electronic Health Record (EHR), technology and application partners that impact the ecosystem of Philips customers and users. 

Mr. Berta is the Co-founder of Cedar Grove Creek, LLC. and a principle in the firm’s consulting arm, MBTC Strategy Consultants.  He has broad experience working with both public partners such as The Air Force Research Labs (AFRL), the Department of Veterans Affairs, FEMA, NATO, the Ohio Department of Development and fortune 100 companies including Philips Healthcare, Siemens Healthcare, Dell Technologies and Hewlett Packard.   Ken has also been a strategic advisor to large healthcare providers such as Ohio Health, The Kettering Health Network, The University of Toledo Health Network and Emory’s Innovation Hub led by 11|ten Innovation Partners.  Cedar Grove Creek is also one of the founding investors of the Ohio Tech Angle Fund, a private/public economic development partnership with the Ohio Department of Development.  

Mr. Berta started his career as a VA researcher, surgical technician and medical device designer.  He quickly rose to the head of Global R&D for Ferno-Washington, one of the worlds largest private manufacturers and distributors of emergency medical products.  After serving as the General Manager of Global Operations for YSI Life Sciences (now Xylem) he turned to public service to found and was the EVP for the non-profit Wright Center of Innovation for Advanced Data Management and Analysis  (renamed daytaOhio).  This state sponsored organization was made up of the AFRL, 5 Universities and 60 companies building Big Data solutions for Medicine, Energy and Defense. 

With over 30 years of healthcare technology, strategic consulting and venture capital experience, Mr. Berta has designed and launched dozens of products, has been awarded 5 international patents, started 7 companies and received an executive appointment (The Order of the Ohio Commodore – The highest honor awarded a citizen) by the Governor of Ohio.  Ken holds a degree in Biomedical Engineering  from Wright State University and an MBA in international business from the Williams School of business at Xavier University.