You may have noticed a few things changing with the EFBC lately, and the truth is that one more change is on it’s way.

As some of you know, the current EFBC Executive Director and my friend Judy Hogel will soon be stepping down from her role and retiring from EFBC, fully handing over the Executive Director responsibilities to Liz Fidanovski. Judy has been instrumental in the transitional process. She has been mentoring Liz for over eight years, and I can tell you Liz is great at running the show! Judy has charted a course for long term success for the EFBC with her results-driven approach. She is always looking ahead and dreaming what is next for the EFBC and its members. Let’s take a look at those EFBC dreams turned into reality over Judy’s years as the Executive Director:

Membership has grown from 66 member companies to 99 member companies.

Peer to Peer Forum groups have grown from 10 to 16.

Educational opportunities have grown from 6 programs to 35 programs.

EFBC staff has grown from 2 to 5 full time employees.

Outreach and collaboration with many business associations.

Financial health of EFBC has greatly improved.

Years of mentoring staff and interns.

Cementing great relationships with DePaul University.

Well over 110,000 hugs given to everyone involved in the EFBC over her 11 years as the Executive Director (the math breaks down as follows: 100 member companies x 1,000 hugs per year = 10,000 hugs x 11 years = 110,000 hugs). For those who know Judy, this is likely a low estimate.

Judy personifies what is greatest about the EFBC, and it has been an honor to work with her and become her friend.

Judy will continue to be a member of her Forum group and our community. We’ve decided to honor her at the big event this Thursday: Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast. We will celebrate Judy and the years of hard work and passion she’s poured into the EFBC to get where we are today. The keynote will be from a futurist named Jim Carroll who will share what small businesses should be preparing for in the next decade - A fitting event to honor Judy as we are laying the path for the future of EFBC!

It’s been exciting to serve as President and on the Executive Committee through these transformations. All of it is part of our overarching strategic plan we developed last year with the hopes of setting the organization up for sustainability and success so that Judy could move on to this next chapter.

I hope to see you on Thursday for a great event!

“You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one.” – John Lennon

Cheers,

Mark Wesa
MKD Electric
EFBC President 2019-2020

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