Highlights of February 13 Meeting

To celebrate Valentine's Day a day early, President Jim Schmidt opened the meeting by asking the women in the room to come to the front to be serenaded by the men in the room led by Ray Smith in singing Let Me Call You Sweetheart.  Darl Andersen offered the Invocation and Lola McClane led the Pledge of Allegiance.  President Jim thanked Polly Schumacher and Shelly Romine for serving as a greeting team making members and guest feel welcome as they arrived.

 

Tom Palazon and Bud Knox were introduced as visiting Rotarians from Columbia Center, Washington.  Scott Ramsey from the Salvation Army was introduced as a very likely potential new member.  Melodie Jackson introduced Konrad Milde of the Rotary Club of Dubai.  President Jim took time to exchange club banners with Konrad.  Last, but not least, John Pennypacker introduced District Governor David Simmer.

 

After three attempts to draw a token with the badge number of a Rotarian who was present at the meeting, it was announced the $5 prize would roll over to February 20 when it could pay $10 to attend Rotary.

 

Chuck Flint announced that the holder of the weekly raffle ticket drawn would win $30 and have a chance to draw the Ace of Clubs which would win the big prize of $1,011.  Ron Thompson and Greg Okonowski were joint owners of the ticket drawn.  They split the weekly winnings, but they were not lucky enough to draw the Ace of Clubs, so the big prize will continue to grow.

 

Dan Coons is coordinating the new tradition of having a Rotary Minute to educate members each week about something about Rotary that fascinates the presenter.  He said there is a wealth of information available on the RI and District websites.  He had a sign-up sheet which he handed off to be circulated at the meeting.  Dan chose to use his minute to share some facts about the Rotary Wheel.

 

 

President Jim chose not to tell a joke about accountants since our speaker for the meeting was a member of that profession and he did not want to offend him.  Instead, he shared the greatest law-firm names:

Chuck Flint had a happy buck for the activity he enjoyed when he was absent from the February 6 meeting.  He had the opportunity to see some of the world's finest retrievers in action at an event in the desert.  He also contributed a sad buck for the loss of a close friend.  Pam Cohen was happy to announce she would be leaving Friday morning to go on a Polio Immunization trip to Caborca, Mexico.  She said Melodie Jackson and Chuck Flint were also going.  Don LaBarge said that his wife Chris had been named Impact Chair of the Year in her Sorority, and that it was going to cost him big bucks for her to wear a fine new outfit for her portrait which would appear in their national magazine.  He also contributed for his good fortune the week prior when he had dinner with Rod Daniels.  Don won $500.  The Sgt noted that Don did not contribute anywhere near that much.  DG David Simmer was happy Valentine's Day would be celebrated on Friday, but sad that he would not get to celebrate the day with his wife.  Darl Andersen was honored to have DG David Simmer at their table and noted that Daryl Bethea had to sit at a different table.  Dick Myren contributed his traditional dollar for Rod Daniels being "happy to be a member of Mesa West," and a sad dollar because he would have to leave early because of tax season.  Penny May said those going to Caborca would enjoy a fabulous time, but they should make sure their livers were in good shape.  She was planning to attend an upcoming hockey game between the University of Alaska  and Arizona State University.  She may not be so happy when she reports on the game at the November 20 meeting.  Just sayin'.  Wendell Jones was happy for the wonderful program "Busting Myths about Hospice" at the February 6 meeting.  It has already proved to be a blessing in their lives.

 

Don Boucher introduced Wayne Lorgus as a friend and business associate  Wayne is with B2B CFO.  He is a cash flow expert and strategic adviser to business owners who want to increase their cash flow and grow their company.  He has managed twenty-five mergers and acquisitions.  Following 9-11, Wayne became a part of the USAF Auxiliary.

 

He is a graduate of William and Mary and received his MBA at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  He has had an interesting and diverse career ranging from being a gemologist to his work with the USAF.  One of the thinks he is now involved with is Flights for Life where platelets are delivered to locations where they are needed at an affordable price.

 

In his primary focus of helping business owners who are thinking about selling their business.  It would pay to utilize their service if annual revenue is $4,000,000 or more with twenty or more employees.  One of the first things they do is evaluate cash flow using peers in the industry as a benchmark.  They do similar comparisons of working capital, profitability, capital intensity and financial leverage (debt).  They evaluate whether growth is sustainable.  A good time to get started is at least two years before the owners think they want to sell.  Business owners generally have an idea what they think their business is worth.  The real question is "How much will a buyer pay?"  It is not like E-Bay.  A good consultant will spend a great deal of time working to improve the value to a buyer - closing the value gap.

 

They use a systematic approach identifying what to work on to improve the value and helping the owner evaluate how much they actually need.

 

After all the prep work, a plan is developed on how to find potential buyer(s).

 

He said there are two groups:

 

Less than $1,500,000 earnings - utilize a business broker

Greater than $1,500,000 earnings - need an investment banker

 

He also said the private equity firs get involved with larger companies. CLICK HERE for more information on our speaker on the B2B CFO Website