St. Charles CEO aims to help young athletes excel
St. Charles resident Shaon Berry is helping to provide advantages to young football athletes who might not otherwise get the chance to be recognized on a national scale.
The CEO of St. Charles-based JuniorRank Sports has partnered with the U.S. Marine Corps to host the inaugural Semper Fidelis all-American Bowl in Phoenix Tuesday on CBS. The game includes 100 of the top high school football players who compete with each other and get a chance for national exposure and to be seen by college recruiters.
An additional 300 athletes will participate in the Proving Ground National Combine today, and also be televised on CBS Sports. Student athletes in grades 6-8 were selected to play in the Junior Academic all-American Game also today, according to the website, SemperFidelisBowl.com.
Berry has worked diligently with the Marine's Office of Diversity and with partner Tom Lemming, CBS Sports MaxPreps recruiting analyst, he said.
The event culminates about two years of work since the former running back of the University of Pittsburgh formed JuniorRank in 2009.
“I wanted to make sure that young athletes, including my kids, didn't make the same mistakes I did,” said Berry.
That's why he designed the organization to offer programs for discipline, commitment and vital skills to help young athletes excel, he said.
“I was just average and didn't work hard enough in school. I didn't have the skill sets to push myself,” Berry said.
The former human resources executive wants other kids to have advantages to become better athletes and students to help shape a better future. That's why he started JuniorRank, which works with both student athletes and their parents by providing tools to work hard and reinforce the importance of character and academic excellence. They also have a chance to participate in events around the country and get recognized by recruiters.
Berry spent all last week in Phoenix dealing with the logistics of the event. The time also was spent allowing the high school athletes a chance to show off their talents to college recruiters.
Depending on how the televised football event is received, it could expand by adding other sports over the next couple of years, Berry said.
“This is an opportunity to celebrate all athletes, especially those who don't ordinarily get a chance on a national platform.”
Music to his ears
Naperville resident Ken Overbey, owner of Sounds Abound, said the DJ and entertainment business has expanded to twice its size at a new location in Naperville. Its 22nd year will be marked this week as well, during a grand opening Wednesday at 1701 Quincy Ave. While recent news reports said the marriage rate is dropping, his business has picked up because he offers more than DJs for wedding receptions. He expanded to private, community and business events, and provides a wedding shop and other services. So did he and wife JoAnn have a traditional wedding reception when they married 24 years ago? “We flew to Vegas,” he said, laughing.
Alexian leader on board
Crystal Lake resident Mark Frey is the new president and CEO under the newly merged Alexian Brothers Health Systems and Ascension Health, now the largest nonprofit and Catholic health system in the nation. Working with the Brothers, he led the two-year initiative for a Catholic health care partner that could help Alexian sustain its 800-year history in health care. He selected and brought Ascension to the table and led the transition. Frey will continue to operate the system from Arlington Heights.
‘Weed Man' honored
Brandon Burns, owner of Weed Man of Arlington Heights, garnered the 2011 Green & Yellow Award for Weed Man at the company's national conference. He was selected from more than 100 franchise owners. The award recognizes the franchisee who outwardly expresses enthusiasm for the role as a Weed Man franchisee and fully embraces the system. Weed Man specializes in providing environmentally responsible fertilization, weed control and integrated pest management services, and the company has been expanding.
FastTrack
Geneva resident George Spengler has been named senior vice president of operations at Oak Brook-based Access Media 3 and will lead the company's customer service and operational agenda, including the customer call center, project management and field operations. AM3 provides bundled Internet/TV/voice services to multiunit properties, serving over 50,000 subscribers in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Janet Viane, vice president of marketing services for Hoffman Estates-based Sears Holdings Corp. has joined the board of the Retail Advertising & Marketing Association in Washington, D.C. ... John Skeffington of Oak Park is the new recruiting manager at Addison-based B2B Computer Products LLC.
Sales associates with Century 21 Kreuser & Seiler in Libertyville were named among the Century 21 system's top 100 producing sales associates for the Chicago, suburban and Northwest Indiana region. Here they are, along with their rankings: Jeff Matheson (2), Dan Timm (4), Peg Styler (9), Elizabeth Bryant (15), Kathy Regel (19), Pat Bell (22), Chris Wegren (23), Liz Anderson (39) Marilynn MacKinney (54), Sara Farrington (86), Elena Ford (94) and Val Dunn (97), all Libertyville residents. Also Cheryl Henning of Antioch (26), Patty Kreuser of Lake Bluff (51), Chuck Shattuck (58) and Judy Stark (84) both of Hawthorn Woods, Laura Reilly of Gurnee (62), Melissa Rigoni of Grayslake (70), and Renee Devedjian of Deerfield (88).
President and CEO LeRoy T. Carlson Jr. of Chicago-based Telephone and Data Systems Inc., parent of U.S. Cellular, will be in San Francisco on Jan. 4 to speak at the Citi 2012 Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference, along with the company's Chief Financial Officer Kenneth R. Meyers and Investor Relations Manager Julie D. Mathews. Then Carlson hops to Dana Point, Calif., to speak at the Stifel Nicolaus Technology & Telecom Conference on Feb. 7.
Mother/daughter owners Jocelyn and Samantha Tobias have the grand opening of their Defining Moments store in Evanston on Jan. 12. The store was recently featured on “Your Chicago” on CBS.
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