Mount Prospect executive stays in the forefront
Richard Ruebe of Mount Prospect has been on the cusp of industry waves that have changed the way we live as a society.
After he earned his MBA at the University of Illinois in 1981, he started to work for Zenith Electronics Inc. in Glenview at a time when competition was starting to gear up in the TV industry.
At that time, Zenith was starting to feel some pressure from up-and-coming electronics manufacturers Sony and Panasonic, as well as others. Zenith had operations in various locations, including Melrose Park and the South Side of Chicago. But then it began transferring some work to Mexico, another growing trend among manufacturers. And Ruebe worked his way up the ladder and was at the forefront.
“That's when tubes were replaced with circuit boards and solid states. The evolution to keep up with technology had just exploded,” Ruebe said.
Zenith started selling off parts of its business, including to LG Electronics from South Korea, so Ruebe moved to Boots Pharmaceutical, maker of Synthroid, a medication for thyroid disease, as well as the well-known painkiller ibuprofen. Ruebe oversaw the financials, forecasts and budgets. When Boots was acquired by a New Jersey company, he decided not to move from his then-home in Arlington Heights and, instead, picked up a job as chief financial officer at Interlake Material Handling Inc. That's when big box discounters, like Costco, Home Depot and Walmart were coming into their own during the 1990s.
He later became CEO of Hollinee LLC, a fiberglass manufacturing company with nine manufacturing facilities in Europe and the United States with about 750 employees. But that, too, was eventually sold and just as he was signing those papers in the lawyer's office, someone came in to announce a job opening. GTL Resources in London was looking for a CEO in America. Ruebe said he heard the CEO of that ethanol company was in Chicago and immediately met him for an interview. He was invited to the London office and was hired.The GTL Resources and Illinois River Energy headquarters is in Itasca and a manufacturing plant is in Rochelle, near DeKalb. Now, he's in the forefront of the growing use of ethanol, a product derived from corn, in gasoline as well as other products, he said.He's working with experts to explore using corn for other products, like the food coatings used on candies such as Skittles.#8220;Were investing in technology to committee everything to biorefinery,#8221; he said.Still pumping awards Robert #8220;Bob#8221; Gajda of East Dundee, owner of Gajda Health Plus Network in Palatine and Bannockburn, will be inducted into the Association of Oldtime Barbell Strongmen Hall of Fame at a ceremony today in Newark, N.J. At 71, Gajda is possibly the only one to be named Mr. USA, Mr. America and Mr. Universe all in the same year, which was 1966. And he's also in the World Body Building Guild and the International Fitness' halls of fame. Over the years, he has worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chicago Bears' favorites Jim McMahon and Gary Fencik and tennis greats John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors.Mission in Dominican RepublicGeorge Walker, co-director of clinical operations at Chiro One in Oak Brook, was part of the team of chiropractic doctors who provided free care to villagers in the Dominican Republic a few weeks ago. About $3,500 in donations also was collected to help build the Casa Tesoro de Dios, or Treasure House of God Orphanage, for abandoned children.Young financial planner honored David Grant of Cary has been named Financial Planning magazine's 2011 Industry Contributor of the Year. He received the award for his work in starting and leading Genesis, a networking and peer-mentoring group for young financial planners at the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. Grant works for Vantage Financial Partners Ltd. in Arlington Heights. FastTrackJerry Kehe of Barrington, chairman of KeHE Distributors Inc., received the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award during the Manufacturing Distribution Executive Summit in Rosemont last week. ... Bob Glazik of Gilberts, an assurance director; and Brian Marrano of Fox River Grove, a tax director, both at the Schaumburg office of RSM McGladrey Inc. are being promoted to partner/managing director. ... Russell Martin of Naperville again sees his Russell Martin Carpet and Rugs being named a finalist for the Illinois Family Business of the Year, for the third year in a row.Ed Pacewicz of Long Grove is the new chief financial officer of AEL Financial, an independent technology leasing and services company in Buffalo Grove. ... Jeanne Varwig of Barrington may be sighing with relief after the hard work of organizing the Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital's Red Carpet Ball. The committee helped to raise about $400,000. Proceeds will be used to improve the health and safety of teens, including programs on cardiac arrest prevention and mental health issues. ... Former Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson, now CEO of Magic Johnson Enterprises, was on a panel with diverse suppliers and Allstate senior leaders at the 4th annual Supplier Diversity Exchange last week in Northbrook. Margaret Byrne of Schaumburg is the new long-term care insurance agent with Genworth Life Insurance Co., a division of Genworth Financial. ... Anita Graham, owner and director of the 5-Star Learning Ranch in Batavia hosted the child-care firm's grand opening over the weekend. ... Thomas A. Boyle of Elmhurst is the new dean of post doctoral education at Downers Grove-based Midwestern University. ... Paul Chaundry, owner of Fresh D'Lite Grill in Geneva, just unveiled a new menu.Jon A. Levey of Highland Park and executive vice president and chief lending officer at GreenChoice Bank has been elected as a member of the board at Chicago-based Delta Institute. ... Gary Rappeport, CEO of Northbrook-based Donlen, which provides fleet leasing and management, has been inducted into Automotive Fleet magazine's Fleet Hall of Fame. Donlen is owned by Hertz Corp. #376;There's more to business than just the bottom line. We want to tell you about the people that make business work. Send news about people in business to akukec@dailyherald.com. Follow me on LinkedIn and Facebook and as AMKukec on Twitter.