Voting Open for Goering Center's Rising Leader Award
Region’s Future Generation of Leaders to be Honored at Annual Family & Private Business Awards Event; One “Rising Leader” Chosen out of Nine Nominees
Cincinnati, Ohio – August 1, 2018 (Updated August 31, 2018) – Nine up-and-coming leaders from the Cincinnati region are in the running for one finalist position, one who will receive the “Rising Leader” Award to be given by the University of Cincinnati Goering Center for Family & Private Business this fall.
The award will be announced at the annual Family & Private Business Awards celebration set for Tuesday, Sept. 11, at Jack Casino in downtown Cincinnati. Alongside the Rising Leader Award, six businesses of 75 designated as semi-finalists will receive the top award in their category at the ceremony, along with the recipient of the Greater Cincinnati Family Business Hall of Fame award. The 2018 Keith Baldwin Volunteer Award winner also will be announced at the ceremony.
Help honor the region’s future generation of leaders by casting your vote online by August 15. Voting is now open at goering.uc.edu to help choose the top “Rising Leader.” Here are the semi-finalists for The Rising Leader Award 2018:
- Kelly Backscheider, chief operating officer of BGR, is recognized for advancing the Goering Center's best practice, "Dynamic Business Strategy" at her company. Backscheider has worked for seven years in her family's business. She led efforts in improving BGR's organization and structure, and since she took on her new role as COO, the company experienced more than $104 million in sales.
- Nathan Bare, industrial engineer of Casco Manufacturing Solutions, is being recognized for excelling at "Dynamic Business Strategy" at his company. Bare has been changing the way the company operates by redesigning the production floor to increase productivity and efficiency. He will take charge of the Industrial Engineering Department in 2019.
- Lauren Bunn, chief operating officer of Appro-RX, is recognized as a Rising Leader for her work advancing the best practice of” Business Growth” at her organization. During a time of unprecedented growth, she maintained the daily operations and existing foundations of business during the acquisition of new clients.
- Mike McCullough, president of TRAK Group, has been selected as a Rising Leader by contributing to the best practice of “Giving Back” at TRAK. McCullough has encouraged his team to volunteer by fostering volunteering options during the workday.
- Don Prysi, president of Indy Honeycomb, has been selected as a Rising Leader nominee for his work on his company’s Performance Management System. Prysi researched industry-specific market rate compensation and developed a system of pay rates that worked toward these rates for all employees.
- Eric Scherzinger vice president of sales and marketing at Scherzinger Pest Control, was nominated for contributing to the best practice of “Giving Back” at his company. He has been instrumental in increasing Scherzinger's community involvement and has coordinated employee participation at the "Scherzinger Butterfly Garden" outside of the Krohn Conservatory each year.
- Jay Stautberg, chief financial officer at Home City Ice, was nominated as a Rising Leader for his work on the “Family Council.” He has helped the family business to improve dialogue with one another, thus improving the future decisions of the business.
- Lori Trainor, client services director of Assisting Hands Home Care, is being recognized for her impact on "Business Growth" at her company. Trainor started her new role in early 2017, tasked to manage a 100-plus client base and 200-plus caregivers. She developed new management processes, was a leader in redeveloping a comprehensive training program, and launched an Executive Advisory Panel of caregivers that meet each quarter.
- Valerie Webster, president of USGreentech, has advanced the "Turf Infill Experts" company by planning a Dynamic Business Strategy (one of the Goering Center's listed Best Practices for family and private businesses). US Greentech is an operating division of The Motz Corporation, led by CEO Joe Motz. Motz credits Valerie with revising USGreentech's strategic focus, complete with an in-depth dashboard model with a "strategic business/people plan."