Motorola exec has no trouble with traveling
If you travel a lot for business, would you like to spend your weekends on the road, too? Motorola Solutions’ Bob Schassler of North Barrington does that — voluntarily.
Bob Schassler travels the world as senior vice president of the Radio Solutions unit of Schaumburg-based Motorola Solutions. Malaysia, Israel and the United Kingdom are on his regular routes.
Budapest, Hungary, and Krakow, Poland, were recently on tap. Then it was Washington, D.C., to discuss spectrum needs for government agencies using radio communications, especially during emergencies.
When the father of five comes home to North Barrington, his travels aren’t as glamorous, but he’s busy with yet another team. He’s on the road again as a coach for his son’s traveling baseball team, the Lake Zurich Cougars. Hello, Wisconsin and Indiana.
After 25 years in the electronic communications industry, Schassler has seen the evolution of wireless communications, including noise-reduction devices and the latest long-term evolution broadband, high-speed network.
He focuses on the government market and providing equipment and other solutions for law enforcement, firefighters and emergency management services worldwide.
He’s also involved with the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Governors Association.
Still, he tries to balance the hectic road warrior life with family.
“Then there’s the time changes and the jet lag, but we try to squeeze inasmuch as we can,” he said.
Tag, he’s it
Rob Seitz, of Buffalo Grove and owner of Kolbi Pipe Markers, can’t say producing identification tags for pipes is a sexy business. But it certainly has become profitable — especially when some of his clients have included McCormick Place, major universities, hospitals and even the Pentagon. His business, previously based in Wheeling, recently expanded to bigger facilities off Campus Drive in Arlington Heights. Kolbi was started more than 30 years ago by John Kolbias in his basement. Seitz bought the business about 11 years ago and transformed it from $100,000 in annual sales to about $2.5 million. ... Seitz also is a longtime season ticket holder for the Chicago Bears, ever since his father first got tickets from George Halas’ chauffeur.
Gambling kinda woman
Elaine Hodgson of Kildeer, CEO of Arlington Heights-based Incredible Technologies, is now taking the pay-to-play video game company into the high-stakes world of casino gaming. Her new Magic Touch line includes video slots, poker and keno, all with 3-D graphics and intuitive controls. All this after cutting her teeth as a chemist at a NASA research lab in the 1970s.
Making the rounds
Libertyville-based Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha will be making some announcements with Sprint in New York on June 9 ... while Greg Brown, CEO of Motorola Solutions in Schaumburg, will travel to New York to speak at the Sanford C. Bernstein 27th annual Strategic Decisions Conference on June 3.
Fast track
Jordan Lamm of Palatine has been appointed national leader of valuation services in the tax practice unit of KPMG LLP in Chicago. ... Calvin B. Thelin, a Batavia man who’s 81 and still a practicing attorney with Dickson & Hasenblag in Aurora, has been recognized as a 50-year Lions Club member. ... Astellas Pharma U.S. Inc. in Deerfield has hired Mark Reisenauer as vice president of sales and marketing for oncology. ... Certified Executive Chef David Miller of Naperville saw his company, Chef By Request, awarded the Business-to-Consumer Award for Small Business of the Year and Overall 2011 Small Business of the Year from the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. ... Victor Gallego of Naperville has been hired as sales manager at Des Plaines Office Equipment. ... James K Pool III of Frisco, Texas, has been named president of TurboChef, a cooking oven brand and a division of Elgin-based Middleby Corp.
Ÿ There’s more to business than just the bottom line. We want to tell you about the people that make business work. I’m Anna Marie Kukec and I’d like to hear from you. Send news about people in business to akukec@dailyherald.com. Follow me on LinkedIn and Facebook and as AMKukec on Twitter.