Governors
State University
College
of Business Advisory Board for
the
Supply
Chain Innovation Center and Business Incubator
Mission: GSU’s
Supply Chain Innovation Center and Business Incubator (SCICBI), an Illinois
Innovation Network (IIN) hub, will promote innovation and contribute to the
economic and workforce development of Chicago metropolitan area, through
consulting, training and other professional services to businesses and startups
in supply chain/logistics and related sectors.
Board Mission--The
mission of the Advisory Board for GSU’s Supply Chain Innovation Center and
Business Incubator is to provide guidance, advice and support to the Director
and Associate Director, and to help the Center/Incubator achieve its mission.
It will also help the Center/Incubator to secure external funding to support
its operations. Comprised of selected business and professional leaders in
business, government, and not-for-profit organizations from the Greater Chicago
region, the SCICBI Advisory Board will work with the COB Dean, Director and
Associate Director of the SCICBI to ensure that SCICBI programs meet the needs
of businesses and startups it plans to serve in the region. Through the
collective wisdom and expertise of its members, the Board will provide advice,
ideas, and resources to the SCICBI Director, Associate Director, and faculty
participants on a variety of subjects including, but not limited to: strategic
planning, client recruitment, fundraising, and public relations.
Organization—The
SCICBI Advisory Board will be comprised of 7-9 individuals from diverse
backgrounds invited by the Dean of COB.
Board
Membership
Members will be invited
to join the Board because they possess needed skills and abilities. Ample opportunities are
therefore provided to members for contributing
their talents through general Board meetings and other services. Board Membership Members will be invited to join the Board because they
possess needed skills and
abilities. Ample opportunities are therefore provided to members
for contributing their talents
through general Board meetings and other services.
Responsibilities
of Members of the GSU SCICBI Advisory Board
Attendance
- Commitment
to attend at least two quarter meetings of the Board
Influence
- Assist in exploring potential partnerships
and alliances for the SCICBI
to advance its strategic vision.
- Extend
the business relationships of the SCICBI.
Service
- Provide
expert input toward advancing the mission and purpose of the SCICBI. This may take the form of offering advice on
programs, attending special events, and providing assistance to SCICBI
representatives in the identification and cultivation
of potential supporters.
- Provide
advice and assistance for curriculum evaluation
and improvement for the COB and career development for its students.
Benefits
to Members
GSU SCICBI Advisory Board members can expect several advantages to accrue from their
regular participation. This includes the opportunities for:
- Contribution to your community—offer advice to the Supply Chain Innovation
Center and Business Incubator that
will contribute to the economic
and workforce development of its service region
- Intellectual challenge—help guide a dynamic educational institution
through today’s changing
economy.
- Networking and Fellowship—get to know other dynamic leaders in a collaborative setting and grow your own
professional network
SCICBI Advisory Board Members:
- Rick Blasgen,CEO, Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals
- Mollie Dowling, Executive Director, OAI
- Hannah Fernandez, Founder and CEO of ROI Business Funding
- John Greuling, Founder, JEG 360 LLC (Board Co-Chair)
- Edward Hobson, Senior Manager, Production Planning, Amazon (Board Co-Chair)
- Kimberly King, Director, Global Sourcing and Procurement, Elkay Manufacturing
- Philip Resendiz, VP, Midwest Region, XPO Logistics
- Dr. Olumide Ijose, Professor of Management and Division Chair, SCICBI Director
- Craig Schmidt, Executive Director, School of Extended Learning, GSU
Rick D. Blasgen, CEO of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP)
Rick D. Blasgen was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) in Lombard, Illinois, USA. Blasgen began his career with Nabisco, working in a regional customer service center in Chicago, Illinois. While at Nabisco, he held various logistics positions of increasing responsibility in inventory management, order processing, and transportation and distribution center operations management. Mr. Blasgen became vice-president, supply chain, at Nabisco in June 1998, then vice-president supply chain for Kraft in June 2002. He joined ConAgra Foods in August 2003 as senior vice-president integrated logistics.
Mr. Blasgen has devoted much of his time to furthering a number of company’s supply chain management programs and initiatives. This experience has given him a solid foundation for his roles at CSCMP where he has responsibility for the overall business operations and strategic plan of the organization. His efforts support CSCMP’s mission of leading the supply chain management profession through the development and dissemination of supply chain education and research.
Mr. Blasgen was recently designated by the US Department of Commerce to serve as the Chair of the Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness (ACSCC) providing the administration advice and council on issues and concerns that affect the supply chain sector. He is a member of Northwestern University’s Transportation Center Business Advisory Committee and a past chair of the Grocery Manufacturers Association Logistics Committee, and a past president of the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC).
Mr. Blasgen holds a B.A. in finance from Governors State University.
Mollie Dowling, Executive Director, OAI
Mollie holds a MA in Community Development and has a passion for creative social change that has grown over 16 years of experience leading large-scale employment and training programs. Dowling has managed a variety of complex federal, state, and private workforce development initiatives serving employers as well as low-income adults and youth including the successful Calumet Green Manufacturing Partnership. She launched High Bridge, L3C as a social enterprise of OAI, aimed at creating employment opportunities through the installation and maintenance of green infrastructure. She is responsible for all operational oversight including core business and functional disciplines of both OAI and High Bridge. Dowling serves on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Jobs Council, and the Muslim Women’s Resource Center, and Greenprint Communities in addition to the Chicago Wisdom Project.She is a beekeeper, an avid runner, and vegetarian home cook.
Hannah Fernandez, Founder and CEO of ROI Business Funding
Hannah Fernandez is the Founder and CEO of ROI Business
Funding. She is the first woman to become Chair of SCORE Chicago. A graduate of
the University of Chicago, Hannah has over a decade experience in startups, sales, marketing, funding, and management leadership. Hannah advocates for
small businesses who have limited access to capital and networks, andshe
empowers women and minorities to be in positions of leadership and influence in
business. Hannah is the host of SCORE Chicago TV’s “Let’s Talk Business” show.
She is a featured expert columnist in Where Women Create WORK Magazine, the
strategic business funding expert at Women’s Leadership LIVE, and the Financial
Coach at Metropolitan Family Services. Hannah served on the City of Chicago
Mayoral Business Council, and she was the Chair of the National Latino
Education Institute (NLEI) Business Leadership Council for over 3 years. She
was a member of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), Board of Directors at
Mega Partnering and a Community Board Member for Metropolitan Family Services.
Hannah is a member of the Advisory Collective Council for the Illinois State
Comptroller. Hannah moderated and produced the sold-out "Game Changers:
Women's International Day" in collaboration with Women's Leadership LIVE,
Where Women Create WORK Magazines, Chicago Business Affairs & Consumer
Protection, the Chicago White Sox, and HispanicPro. She is a sought-after
speaker and panelist at business events, including: “Unstoppable Confidence:
Women in Leadership”; SCORE and the SBA's “Show Me the Money” workshop; WBDC’s
Latina Entrepreneurial Accelerated Development Program (LEADHer); SCORE and The
Latino Coalition "Power of Mentoring" to name a few. Hannah has
appeared in WCIU-TV's You & Me This Morning, ABC 7, WTTW 11 and has been
featured in USA Today, CBS, The Daily Herald, Yahoo! News, and other publications.
John Greuling, President and CEO, Will County Center for Economic Development
John E. Greuling has over 40 years of experience as a professional economic developer. He is currently the President and CEO of the Will County Center for Economic Development (CED) and Will County Economic Development Foundation—a position he has held since 2001. Among his priorities are business recruitment and retention/expansion, managing the development of the largest Inland Port in North America and the development of the Illiana Expressway and the South Suburban Airport.
Prior to joining the CED he was Chief Operating Officer and Vice President for Business & Economic Development for InterMountain/RKH, a corporate affairs firm based in Denver specializing in government relations, strategic communications and business and economic development. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Economic Development for the Greensboro Area Chamber of Commerce in Greensboro, North Carolina; Executive Director for the Southeast Denver/Douglas County Economic Development Council; Director of the Colorado Office of Business Development; and Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development of the Bloomington-Normal Area.
Greuling, a native of Oak Park, Illinois is a graduate of Illinois State University, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy in 1974, he received his Master of Science in City and Regional Planning from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in 1976. In 2016 he was conferred a Doctor of Humanities Honorary Degree from Lewis University.
Edward Hobson, Senior Manager, Production Planning, Amazon (Board Chair)
Edward Hobson has nearly two decades of experience in various supply chain roles at fortune 500 organizations. He started his career at UPS where he held several leadership roles in operations at their large Chicagoland Area Consolidation Hub. From there he moved on to Anixter International continuing in operations management and after two years moved on to distribution accounting as a Sr. Accountant. After holding that role for 4.5 years, he returned to supply chain operations as an Inventory Control Manager for Office Depot. After holding that role for ten months, he was promoted to Senior Manager of Supply Chain Operations. During that time he was able to lead several transformative initiatives including creating the forecasting methodology for volume for each process path at his site.He also completed his ASQ Certified Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt certifications and utilized this knowledge to make sustainable process improvements and train additional CSSGB leaders.
After five years at Office Depot Edward moved on to Amazon as an Operations Manager in their Inbound Cross Dock network. After assisting in turning around the operation, Edward was promoted to Sr. Operations Manager leading the Joliet, IL IXD night shift operation. With Amazon’s expansion in Illinois Edward moved to the Amazon Robotics customer fulfillment site in Monee, IL in March of 2018. While there, he led the inbound night shift operation and led a turnaround of the ship dock operation in the first half of 2019. Always looking to learn more and take on new challenges, Edward moved to the production planning team in June of 2019. In his current role, he leads a team of Business Intelligence Engineers and is working towards moving the planning process towards full automation.
Edward is a proud alumnus of Governors State University having graduated with a BA in Business Administration/Finance.
Kimberly King, Director, Global Sourcing and Procurement, Elkay Manufacturing
Kim King is Sr. Director of Global Sourcing and Procurement for
Elkay Manufacturing Company located in Downers Grove, IL. She is responsible for the sourcing and
procurement function, including building and maintaining supplier
relationships, risk mitigation, cost savings, and overall procurement and
sourcing strategy for Elkay’s Plumbing division. Kim brings over 20 years of
sourcing/procurement experience between Elkay and Sears. Kim has an undergraduate BBA-Finance degree
from University of Michigan, and an MBA from University of Chicago.
Kim holds a Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM)
certification from ISM organization and is an active member in both ISM and
APICS supply chain organizations.Kim is
a mentor to managers within Elkay, as well as outside of the company and has a
passion for coaching others.
Kim lives in Flossmoor, IL with her husband and has a son and
daughter in college.She enjoys watching
and attending sporting events, especially football and basketball (Go
Blue!).Kim also loves spending time in
the New Buffalo, MI area and spending time on Lake Michigan and lounging on the
beach.
Elkay is a US based, family owned company that produces, sources and delivers exceptional residential and commercial building products and services. Elkay Plumbing has been an innovative provider of stainless steel sinks for residential and commercial use for nearly 100 years. Elkay Plumbing products include sinks, faucets, food service products, water coolers, drinking fountains and rapid bottle filling stations from multiple regionally located manufacturing plants.
Philip Resendiz, VP, Midwest Region, XPO Logistics
Phil Resendiz is Regional Vice President – Operations at XPO Logistics. Phil is a 25 year career transportation and logistics executive who is responsible for a team of more than 7,400 employees in 94 locations in all Canadian provinces and 14 U.S. states. Prior to joining the XPO team, Phil served as Managing Director – Operations at FedEx Freight, where he also chaired veteran recruiting initiatives and held a leadership position on the corporate Inclusion & Diversity council. Phil is a past member of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) Freight Committee.
Phil is a veteran of the U.S. Army, has a B.A. at Eastern Illinois University, and an MBA candidate at University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.
Dr. Olumide Ijose, Professor of Management and Division Chair
Dr. Ijose joined GSU’s College of Business in 2010, and currently serves as the Chair of the Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship Division and Director of the newly created Supply Chain Innovation Center and Business Incubator (SCICBI). Dr. Ijose teaches strategic management and international business at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
As COB’s MBA coordinator, Dr. Ijose led the successful revision of the MBA program in 2016-2017, adding business analytics, finance and leadership as new MBA specializations in addition to supply chain management and general management. He also led the development of GSU’s new MS in Human Resource Management program in 2017-2018, which started enrolling students in Fall 2019.
Dr. Ijose has published in the areas of knowledge transfer and global value chains and has additional research interest in job creation, and economic development models. He is a member of the Academy of International Business and the Industry Studies Association and has prior work experience with Accenture, Royal Dutch Shell and in private equity. He earned his doctorate in Management and Human Resources from the Ohio State University.
Craig Schmidt, Executive Director, School of Extended Learning, Governors State University
Craig Schmidt began his career at Prairie State College (PSC) in 1997 as manager of the Community Instructional Center and then senior director of workforce training and services before leaving PSC in 2005 to lead education and training programs for Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. He returned to PSC in 2014 to serve as vice president of community and economic development.
Currently, Mr. Schmidt is leading workforce development efforts with local businesses, community organizations, state funding agencies, and higher education institutions to increase the talent pipeline of skilled workers in the manufacturing, transportation, supply chain and IT sectors.
Mr. Schmidt serves in leadership positions with numerous organizations in the Chicago Southland area, including Chairman of the Board for The Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce and the board of directors for the Homewood Area Chamber of Commerce. He also is a member of the Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation and the Chicago Southland Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Mr. Schmidt received an associate degree in business administration from Lake Land College. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Eastern Illinois University and his MBA from Governors State University.
Mr. Schmidt lives in Homewood, Ill. and is the proud father of four children.