Think Globally. Act Locally.

One of the highlights of InterGrowth is the opportunity to congratulate and celebrate the extraordinary results of our chapters and put the spotlight on some of the volunteers that were instrumental in making it happen. I find it hard to believe our members having the inclination or the ability to sit through an awards program – it would have to have pretty high production values and TV-quality awardees and presenters. Realizing this challenge, Jim Tucker asked Nancy Halwig to chair a special committee with a mandate to consider relevancy, level of participation and how to gain additional value from the effort. In addition to Nancy, Bill Haynes, Sid Jaffe, Rob Shuler, Ray Daly, Rob Rubin, Paul Stewart, Bill Padnos, Jeri Harman, Joe Conte, Jason Sparaga, John Bodell, Ardelle St.George, Guy Fabe, Jeanie Heller, Judy Iacuzzi and several others added valuable insights. Their report was presented to our chapter presidents and the ACG board of directors, and if this year’s participation and quality of submissions are any indication, we made great strides in this area. ACG Atlanta was named “Chapter of the Year” not only for its outstanding Capital Connection, but also for its performance on numerous other metrics. In addition, ACG St. Louis received the 2005 Outstanding Corporate Focus Award. ACG Cleveland won the 2005 Outstanding Program Award for its “Deal Makers Night.” ACG Dallas/Fort Worth received the 2005 Membership Growth Award for chapters with more than 150 members. ACG Austin received the 2005 Membership Growth Award for chapters with fewer than 150 members. ACG Chicago won the 2005 Membership Retention Award for chapters with more than 150 members. ACG Minnesota received the 2005 Membership Retention Award for chapters with fewer than 150 members. We are pleased to honor these outstanding ACG chapters for their hard work, innovative programs, and strong growth and retention. The ACG boards and members in these chapters should take great pride in the significant value they deliver to the corporate, private equity, investment banking, commercial banking and service professionals in their areas. Their success in creating innovative educational and networking programs, featuring world-class speakers, has led to strong member growth and retention. ACG InterGrowth was also an opportunity to present three individuals with our prestigious Meritorious Service Award. This year’s recipients are: Sidney A. Jaffe, CEO, Advantage Consulting, Inc., based in Annandale, Va., a business development and management-consulting firm serving Federal Government contactor companies and government agencies; George J. Stevenson, President of Stevenson & Company of Evanston, Ill., a highly respected Chicago-based merger and acquisition firm; and Dennis J. White, Partner-in-Charge of the Boston Corporate Department of McDermott, Will & Emery, the 14th largest global law firm. Sid Jaffe joined ACG National Capital in 1992 and has consistently been an active and contributing member to ACG. He has served as VP-Membership and President of ACG National Capital, where he oversaw strong chapter growth and was instrumental in significantly expanding the scope of what is now a vibrant regional M&A conference. Sid also served as a vital member of the ACG branding committee. Sid’s wealth of experiences in business development and management consulting allowed him to continually offer innovative solutions to ACG. Equally important, he was adept at building a consensus to implement our strategic plan and was willing to roll up his sleeves to get it done. His ideas, questions and passionate advocacy continue to serve ACG well. George Stevenson recently served with distinction as ACG Treasurer and is a member of ACG Chicago, where he has held the positions of President, Executive Vice President and Treasurer. George has been an active member of the merger and acquisitions community in Chicago. He was instrumental in a statewide effort to positively address merger and acquisition legislation. His efforts also formed a brokers’ association for professionals working with firms that are smaller than the typical ACG corporate member or client size. George is an excellent example of the highest commitment and attention to detail that make up ACG’s membership. George put significant effort into the treasurer’s job and was instrumental in the improvement of our transparency and the use of our budget as a management tool. He understood the trends and nuances from the numbers and brought solid viewpoints on the finances and the important role of intermediaries in ACG. Den White has been on the ACG Boston board of directors for nine years, serving as ACG Boston President and Chairman, as well as on the nominations committee, Spring M&A conference planning committee, technology conference committee, economic conference committee, and newsletter committee. In addition to being a top-flight corporate lawyer, Den is a consummate gentleman, who has offered sage counsel, leadership and friendship to members of the business community in Boston and beyond. During his years on the ACG Boston board, the chapter has grown from fewer than 200 members to more than 900 members and has developed one of the most broad-ranging programs of any ACG chapters. Den’s leadership demonstrates how attention to recruiting additional volunteers can transform a chapter. Congratulations again for these wonderful accomplishments! Let’s keep up the momentum. Copyright 2005 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.majournal.com