CPA serves meals, Tellabs VP sees Shanghai
When Jody L. Padar isn't counting beans, she's likely serving them.
The Prospect Heights resident, who is CEO of New Vision CPA Group in Arlington Heights, works with her team to help the community in a variety of ways, including serving meals at Hesed House in Aurora.
“It makes you significantly grateful for what you have,” Padar said.
She and other staff members recently spent the day cutting onions and serving salad and other lunch items at the homeless shelter where there were children among the crowd.
“We saw two little boys, maybe about 6 years old, and it breaks your heart,” said Padar, who is married and has two children of her own.
Padar and her team also volunteer to prepare tax returns for families that make less than $30,000 annually. The team usually does this in late January or early February.
“That's just about giving back,” she said.
Padar's community work and advances in her profession were recently noted when she was named to Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People where her advanced knowledge of green initiatives and ecotype tax laws were highlighted. She also was selected as one of the Illinois CPA Society's Women to Watch in 2011 in the “emerging leaders” category.
Born and raised in Park Ridge, Padar joined her father's firm and brought a flair for technology to the otherwise traditional establishment. She's interested in using technology that can help accountants better serve their clients, and she is heavily into social media as another tool to help their practices.
“A lot of CPAs see technology as a threat, but they shouldn't,” Padar said. “It will help your customers see you as a trusted adviser and how to be more strategic.”
Shanghai at sunset
George Stenitzer, vice president of corporate and marketing communications for Naperville-based Tellabs Inc., went to China last week for the first time, met with the Tellabs' team in Shanghai and worked on leadership training. His impression: “Shanghai's a big, bright city full of energetic, smart people. Startling contrasts of old and new,” Stenitzer said. “A beautiful downtown, best seen from a riverboat after sunset.”
It's about the middle initial
Michael J. Fleck, an attorney in Huntley and a former president of the McHenry County Bar Association, isn't affiliated with Michael E. Fleck of Villa Park, who is being sued by the Illinois Attorney General's office. But that hasn't stopped the phone calls. The state filed lawsuits last week against some mortgage rescue companies, including Loan Litigators International LLC — a now-defunct company that operated out of Lombard — and its attorney, Michael E. Fleck. Michael J. Fleck was caught up in the flap, with even a state regulatory agency contacting him. Nope, not him. He said he's not that other guy.
State of the company address
Jeff Drees, U.S. president of Palatine-based Schneider Electric, will host a media event Oct. 12-13 in Chicago. He plans to talk about the economy, energy issues and his company's recent acquisitions of Telvent, Summit Energy and Lee Technologies, and how they fit in. Drees had said the company is in a hiring mode.
FastTrack
Raymond Grady of Arlington Heights has joined the Northwest Community Healthcare board of directors. He's chief administrative officer at Aurora Health Care. ... Joel D. Corush of Crystal Lake just earned the certified fraud examiner credential, after passing an exam administered by the Austin, Texas-based Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
Donald L. Horwitz of Highland Park has launched his own consulting firm focusing on regulatory, compliance and legal information in the financial services and derivatives industries. Next year, he'll become an adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he recently joined the school's compliance advisory board.
Robert T. Isham Jr. of Lake Bluff has been elected to the Baytree National Bank & Trust Co. board of directors. He also has a law practice in Lake Bluff. ... Mike Skarr of Naperville, and CEO of Not-For-Profit Strategies and Solutions, is helping with a fundraiser for Easter Seals on Oct. 8 at the Carillon in Naperville. His granddaughter, Sarah Katherine Skarr, was born with developmental disabilities and has been helped by Easter Seals.
Matt Conlin is the new vice president of sales and Paul Schabow the new vice president of procurement at Lake Forest-based Prolamina Corp., a 1-year-old company started by packaging industry veteran Harold Bevis and Wellspring Capital Management. ... Steve Patterson, a former reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times and Gary Post-Tribune and more recently a spokesman for Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, will start at Res Publica Group in mid-October.
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