by | | 2017 Mid-Market 500, News
The CEO Connection community is vast and growing. Over 17,000 CEOs and companies contribute to our network, drawing benefits from the experience of others and contributing insights to help peers tackle leadership challenges.
We now offer a tool that facilitates these interactions: the CEO Connection Idea Exchange.
Join the Exchange to find answers and share useful information. Here are a few examples of recent posts:
- Former CEO of $250MM building materials company seeks board post.
- Available: Executive with experience in turning around underperforming businesses, primarily in the cement industry. Wide geographical range with large network in US, Europe, Asia-Pac, Latin-America, and Africa.
- CEO of $1.3B company in the healthcare industry is looking for a board seat. Extensive focus in home health, home infusion, pharmacy and hospital administration
- CEO Connection member with strong background in finance and insurance is looking for a board seat with a mid-market public company in the audit committee.
CEO Connection Members who would like to post a question, find a contact, accept or offer a board seat, or resolve an issue can instantly reach peers with relevant information and invaluable experience.
Through the Idea Exchange, CEO Connection provides an easy, efficient way to connect with mid-market peers and make the most of all the community has to offer.
To join the exchange, send a message today:
Premium Members: pcc@ceoconnection.com
Basic Members: membership@ceoconnection.com
by | | 2017 Mid-Market 500, News
CEO Connection® is proud to recognize Restaurant Technologies, led by CEO Jeffrey R. Kiesel, as the winner of the 2018 Mid-Market Company of the Year Award.
This annual award is given to the company that embodies the highest standards of leadership in both business and society.
Restaurant Technologies represents the very best of the mid-market and showcases the most collaborative, strategic, and insightful teams working at the mid-level between industry icons and scrappy newcomers.
Led by CEO Jeffrey R. Kiesel, a seasoned executive with 25 years of leadership experience, Restaurant Technologies has earned its position as an uncontested mid-market leader in food service safety and management solutions.
Protecting workers from injury and owners from financial loss can be a challenging job, but Kiesel and his team are up to the task, and have the 20-year track record to prove it. Oil delivery, containment, transport, and disposal present high-risk challenges in chaotic restaurant environments with limited space and access. Under Kiesel’s leadership, Restaurant Technologies offers beginning-to-end systems for oil transportation, full-service fryer filtration monitoring, and cleaning systems for hoods, flues, and fans.
“We are so pleased to be recognized with the Company of the Year award, especially given the caliber of its past recipients,” said Kiesel. “This acknowledgment is a testament to our team’s passion for making the restaurant workplace safer, smarter and more efficient with our game-changing solutions.”
Company of the Year Award candidates are nominated by the community at large, then are referred to the selection committee that reviews and identifies a short list of finalists. A second committee, comprised of prior award recipients, makes the final award selection. Previous Mid-Market Company of the Year Award Recipients include Key Safety Systems (2017), LinkedIn (2016), and Zulily (2015).
About Jeffrey R. Kiesel
Before joining Restaurant Technologies, Kiesel earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Williams College and an MBA from Purdue University. He then held multiple senior level positions for a variety of companies large and small. Kiesel has left his unique leadership imprint on the C-suites of GE and GE Capital, G&K Services, and VIZTA3D Inc. He now serves on multiple advisory boards, hoping to lead by example and promote company values that put customers and the community first.
Candidates for the Company of the Year Award are nominated by the community at large before being referred to the selection committee that identifies a short list of finalists. A second committee, comprised of prior award recipients, makes the final award selection. Previous Mid-Market Company of the Year Award Recipients include Key Safety Systems (2017), LinkedIn (2016), and Zulily (2015).
Restaurant Technologies will be honored at the 2018 Mid-Market Convention Awards Dinner on September 25, 2018, at the Wharton School. Other recipients—CEO of the Year, Young Leader, and Social Impact Award—will be celebrated at that time. The dinner will be attended by members, sponsors, and guests of CEO Connection.
We proudly lend our support and heartfelt congratulations to Restaurant Technologies, a company that meets the needs of clients and stakeholders by providing custom solutions for keeping restaurant workers safe.
For more information about the awards, go here.
Go here for Awards Dinner details and registration.
by | | 2017 Mid-Market 500, News
As a CEO or company president (or both), you operate in the busy, often unpredictable, rapid-growth realm of the mid-market. You bring your best self to the workplace each day and contribute the the lion’s share of your energy, time, and passion to the organization you care about the most: your own. Given these demands, many company leaders simply feel maxed out, to put it mildly.
So if you’re asked to join the board of a non-profit or corporation, your first response might be, “I wish I could, but it is not not a priority for me right now.” Yet, you have noticed that some of the most respected CEOs with the widest and highest levels of influence often have a long list of board responsibilities reflected in their profiles.
Why do they take on such additional responsibilities?
Here are a few reasons why they do. After reading them, you may rethink your priorities, and perhaps even proactively seek a board seat when an opportunity opens in your network.
Broad Experience Matters
Theodore Roosevelt famously criticized those who dedicate their entire lives to one business endeavor, sacrificing all other forms of curiosity, wisdom, and interdisciplinary engagement. He called such people “dull.” But the reality can be worse—focusing on only one thing for years at a time cuts us off from the world and limits our growth and credibility. Expand your knowledge and you’ll travel farther, both as a CEO and as a person.
Solving New Problems Is Beneficial
Even if you think your responsibilities as a CEO have shown you every imaginable leadership challenge, joining a board exposes you to a wider range of unique personalities, different markets, diverse corners of our culture, and new problems to tackle. Adding fresh air and oxygen to your daily and yearly rounds enhances the depth of your experience, and is good for your company and your employees.
More Exposure Brings More Opportunities Your Way
Board responsibilities add an element of polish to any CEO’s resume. Non-profit and corporate board positions demonstrate your ambition and your values, setting you apart from other business leaders. This exposes your company and your career to new corners of the market.
Expanding Your Network
Joining a board brings you in contact with new people. That’s a given. But making contributions to the growth and direction of the organization can leave a lasting impression. Your board position may not last forever, but while you occupy the role you will have regular opportunities to make a meaningful difference for a community of organization members and stakeholders. Board participation brings connections with others, but more significantly it creates a legacy that will continue to bring you associations with people you otherwise would not have met.
For more on resources to join a board of directors—as well as reasons to consider the option—email us at boardconnection@ceoconnection.com. Our thriving community of CEOs connect with one another during collaborative, high-energy seminars, dinners, and speaking events throughout the year. Be a guest or become member and you will gain access to opportunities that will grow your business and expand your personal portfolio as a mid-market leader.
by | | 2017 Mid-Market 500, News
Strategic Partner of CEO Connection, RSM US LLP, released its Middle Market Business Index Cybersecurity Special Report this week, in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Among other findings, RSM indicates that the number of mid-market companies reporting breaches nearly tripled in the past three years, yet executive confidence in their security measures has risen to a staggering 93% from just 75% three years ago.
In the spirit of our CEO Connection Mid-Market Convention’s theme, where talk leads to action, convention speaker Daimon Geopfert, principal and national leader of security & privacy services with RSM, commented that our mid-market sector “is a major target for data breaches, and organizations need to channel additional resources to understand, detect and protect against a sophisticated evolution of threats.” Join Daimon as he co-presentsCyber Security and Protecting Your Trade Secrets at CEOC’s Mid-Market Convention, September 23-25 at The Wharton School.
Read the full MMBI Cybersecurity Special Report HERE (Link to: https://rsmus.com/economics/rsm-middle-market-business-index-mmbi/rsm-us-middle-market-business-index-cybersecurity-special-report.html)
by | | 2017 Mid-Market 500, News
Mid-market companies must work to serve their clients while also developing a sustainable and socially responsible path toward growth. Without the broad reach of industry giants or the nimble agility of startups, mid-market CEOs often find this challenging.
Those CEOs who meet this challenge are worthy of recognition, which is why CEO Connection® annually presents a Social Impact Award to the mid-market CEO who excels in public service, social enterprise, and philanthropy.
We are proud to announce this year’s recipient: Eric Green, President and CEO of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.
Green oversees and implements West’s priorities of environmental and social accountability and the company’s “culture of giving.” The company provides yearly charitable grants to organizations supporting children, the disabled, healthcare and STEM education, and sponsors an employee-led giving initiative that has collected millions of dollars for charities dedicated to cancer research, education, and local programs for children with special needs. Under Green’s leadership, West also supports the Herman O. West Foundation, which provides scholarships and a matching gift program.
We proudly lend our support and heartfelt congratulations to a CEO whose company works every day to make a difference in so many lives.
“At West, contributing to a healthier world and acting as a good citizen is ingrained in our DNA,” Eric Green said. “We are honored to be a recipient of this Award which is a testament to the commitment our team members around the globe and the considerable volunteering time and resources they give each year to help create a better and healthier world.”
Though Green stepped into his current role in 2015, he began his career years earlier with a degree in Chemistry and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, not knowing he would eventually head one of the world’s leading creators of innovative packaging, containment, and delivery systems for healthcare therapies. Green’s proven leadership now helps West earn the trust of pharmaceutical, biological and medical device companies looking for ways to deliver safe and effective patient care.
Candidates for the Social Impact Award are nominated by the community at large before being referred to the selection committee that reviews and identifies a short list of finalists. A second committee, comprised of all living prior award recipients, makes the final award selection. Previous Social Impact Award Recipients include Raj Mamodia of Brillio (2017), John Replogle of Seventh Generation (2016), Jostein Solheim of Ben and Jerry’s Homemade (2015).
Eric Green will be honored at the 2018 Mid-Market Convention Awards Dinner on September 25, 2018, at the Wharton School. Other recipients—Company of the Year, Young Leader, and Social Impact Award—will be celebrated at that time. The dinner will be attended by members, sponsors, and guests of CEO Connection.
For more information about the awards, go here.
Go here for Awards Dinner details and registration.
by | | 2017 Mid-Market 500, News
In the fast-paced, rapidly evolving world of the mid-market, turnover happens– even at the board level. Growth means change, and agility means staying on your feet as your company faces the unexpected and current board members say goodbye.
If you’re a director or company leader and you need board members to occupy your seats—due to growth, mergers, departures, or anything else—CEO Connection can help. We maintain ties with a vast network of elite business professionals and industry experts. If you need a certain set of qualifications and/or an explicit alignment of values and goals, we can connect you to a seasoned leader with strong interest in the role.
Pay No Recruitment Fee
This is one of the core benefits of CEO Connection membership. You won’t pay a recruitment fee to connect with a network of experienced CEOs who have the skills, time, and knowledge you need. Just contact us, explain what you’re looking for, and we’ll connect you.
CEOs In Search of Board Seats
Meanwhile, CEO Connection members who are actively searching for board seats are invited to participate in our exclusive, interactive How to Get on a Board Workshops in San Francisco (June 26th) and Miami (December 4th). Engage in small group sessions with up to eleven other CEOs and learn how to best position yourself to join a board and thrive in the role. You will leave each session with a personalized plan to identify your goals, pursue open opportunities, and step into your next board position.
Learn more here.
