Advisory Board

Tim is the current Board Chair.  He retired in December 2016 as VP, Supply Chain - Global Product Flow and Fulfillment, after a 36 year career with VF Corporation. VF Corp is the world’s largest publicly held Apparel and Footwear Company with $13 B in Revenue, 160 % growth since 2005 and a reputation as strong disciplined financial managers. VF is a portfolio of 33 Brands including Lee & Wrangler Jeans, The North Face, Vans, Timberland, Nautica, JanSport, and Reef. It services a Multi-Channel market including Wholesale to the largest retailers, and its own Direct-to- Consumer business with owned stores and e-commerce. His responsibilities included overseeing the global Logistics and Distribution organizations, providing leadership and guidance on the VF Global Network Strategy and expansion. He served on the Advisory Board of the Haslam School of Business, University of Tennessee, and is currently serving as Chair of the Angell Snyder Business School Advisory Board, Ottawa University.

Tim held a variety of Supply Chain positions across VF during his career. In 1980 he joined the Lee Company in Kansas City where he held positions in Quality Control, Product Development, Production Planning, Material Control, Purchasing, Distribution and Manufacturing. Ultimately he was named VP, Operations and led the Lee supply chain. He joined the VF Jeanswear Coalition in Greensboro, NC in 1997 as VP, Merchandising Services where he helped consolidate the Lee and Wrangler supply chains. In 2000 he joined the VF Imagewear Coalition in Nashville, TN as VP, Supply Chain consolidating the Workwear and Knitwear Coalitions. In 2005, he was named VP, VF Distribution - North America and was a charter member of VF’s first centralized Supply Chain organization. In this role, he directed the implementation of a network optimization strategy as a part of VF’s Fuel the Growth initiative. In 2014 he assumed his last role as the leader of the VF Global network. He provided strategic direction for a global network optimization managing capacity to support VF’s growth and expanding Direct-to-Consumer businesses. The network consisted of a $700 M spend for 33 Distribution Centers, and all transportation movements from product supply to customer shipments.

Tim is a native of Chicago, Ill. He received his BA degree in Business Management from Ottawa University in 1980. He, and his wife Karla, have two daughters. They currently split time in two residences, Summerfield, NC and Seven Devils in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

Peter is a results-oriented executive with expertise in the areas of Sales, Service Management and Leadership with a long record of success, particularly in the technology startup space.  As a founding member of Jobing.com, he was instrumental in helping to build the company into an "Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Company in America" for three consecutive years – one of only 14 companies in the U.S. to do so at the time.

After his departure from Jobing.com, Peter served in various sales capacities at TTEC (formerly TeleTech) and CEB (Corporate Executive Board) honing his enterprise selling and service skills.  Peter later led the reinvigoration and turn-around of a leading B2B social networking site, bringing startup energy and attitude to the organization, resulting in a successful acquisition of this business unit.  He was also the head of sales at a leading automotive parts SaaS (Software as a Service) startup, where he led the doubling of sales in just two quarters. 

Currently, Peter serves as the General Manager for the Arizona market of Scottsdale-based Paradox, which is the leading human resources artificial intelligence company.  Paradox's flagship recruiting solution (Olivia by Paradox) is revolutionizing how recruiting operations work.

Peter is a six-year veteran of the United States Navy where he served as a nuclear engineer on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) through two Persian Gulf deployments in support of Operation Southern Watch.  He earned his undergraduate degree in Management from Ottawa University, studied at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and is a certified Sales Management Professional from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. 

Peter has lived in the West Valley for most of his life and is a resident of Surprise, AZ where he lives with his wife Katie and their four children.

Valerie served 30 years in the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserves with deployments to Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, retiring in 2016 as a lieutenant colonel.  She served three tours as a company commander leading over 4,000 Marines and Sailors with diverse and complex duties, and led the integration and unity of effort in support of the larger military mission.  Additionally, she served as a project and program manager for several large military projects ranging from several million to half a billion dollars, some reportable to Congress.  She currently serves as the Community Partnerships Director at Luke Air Force base where she leads the strategic development and negotiation of innovative partnerships, and manages the portfolio of major private-public/public-public partnership projects and programs.  Her undergraduate degree is in nutrition science from University of California at Davis, and her master’s degree is in leadership from Oklahoma University.  She is a certified Project Management Professional and Program Management Professional from the Project Management Institute.

In her personal life, Valerie enjoys engaging with young adults in their personal growth and leadership development.  She authored two books on leadership (Polish Your Star – Three Minute Daily Lessons to Become an Extraordinary Leader, Volumes 1 and 2), and gives presentations and keynote speeches to university students, non-profit organizations, and places of worship specializing in the neuroscience of leadership.  She stays fit by hiking the local hills and practicing the art of Kung Fu.  Valerie lives in Phoenix with her husband, Brian, and their golden retriever.

James D. Gwartney holds the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair at Florida State University, where he directs the Stavros Center for the Advancement of Free Enterprise and Economic Education. He is the coauthor of Economics: Private and Public Choice, (South-Western Cengage Learning, 2014), a widely used principles of economics text that is now in its 15th edition. He is also the co-author of Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Wealth and Prosperity (St. Martin's Press, 2010), a primer on economics and personal finance designed for the interested layperson. Throughout his career, he has published more than 100 scholarly articles. His publications have appeared in the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Southern Economic Journal, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics and the Journal of Economic Education and popular media such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Economic education has been a focal point of his career. In recent years, he has worked with a team to develop an exciting Economics for Life course that uses videos, interactive exercises, online readings, and PowerPoint slides to make economics come alive for even students with little initial interest in the subject. His Ph.D. in economics is from the University of Washington.

His research has focused on the measurement and determination of factors that influence cross-country differences in income levels and growth rates. In this regard, he is the co-author of the annual report, Economic Freedom of the World, which provides information on the consistency of institutions and policies with economic freedom for more than 150 countries. This data set, published by a worldwide network of institutes in 80 countries, is widely used by scholars investigating topics ranging from economic growth to peaceful relations among nations. During 1999-2000, he served as Chief Economist of the Joint Economic Committee of the U. S. Congress. He was invited by the incoming Putin Administration in March 2000 to make presentations and have discussions with leading Russian economists concerning the future of the Russian economy. In 2004 he was the recipient of the Adam Smith Award of the Association of Private Enterprise Education for his contribution to the advancement of free market ideals. In 2008, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Social Science from Francisco Marroquin University, Guatemala. He is a past president of the Southern Economic Association and the Association of Private Enterprise Education.

Dave is the Chairman of The David C. Owen Leadership Institute. The Institute was founded by Dave and his wife Laura to inspire servant leaders in 2010.

Dave has had an interesting career that included public service as State Senator and Lt. Governor of the State of Kansas. Dave was Campaign Manager for Senator Bob Dole’s U.S. Senate campaigns from 1968-1986, and in Senator Dole’s run for Vice President in 1976, and served as Senator Dole’s National Finance Chairman in his subsequent runs for President of the United States in 1980 and 1988. Dave served as Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party 1984-1986, and was a delegate to two Republican National Conventions (1976 and 1984).

He served as Chairman, CEO and owner of two banks in the Kansas City Area, one of which he chartered. Dave was also the Founder and CEO of ICOP, a company that engineered and marketed mobile-video dash cams, worldwide (NASDAQ: ICOP). Dave spent several years as Regional Manager for Stephens Inc., the largest investment bank off-Wall Street, headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Stephens led many of the most interesting IPOs in US history, including Wal-Mart and JB Hunt Trucking; and Stephens financed the Tyson Foods acquisition of Holly Farms, and the New Orleans Superdome.

Dave served on the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Fellowship of Christian Athletes for 16 years; and was Chairman of their annual banquet and golf tournament, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to send disadvantaged youth to FCA summer camps.

Dave was responsible for bringing the NAIA “Champions of Character” program to Ottawa University when he served on the Kansas City Advisory Committee of the NAIA. He is a member and past President of the Braves Athletic Hall of Fame. As President, he established the Braves Athletic Hall of Fame (BAHOF) scholarship program that awards scholarships to outstanding student athletes at the BAHOF annual banquet. He currently serves as the BAHOF Scholarship Chairman.

Biography TBA.

After several decades in the consumer products industry, Chet has become a proponent and expert in the principles of Conscious Capitalism.  After building a reputation as an accomplished sales executive with Design House, Inc. and Cuisinart, he spent nearly twenty-one years, fourteen as President, at IRIS USA, Inc., part of a multi-billion-dollar global consumer products company.  He led the U.S. subsidiary of this family owned Japan based enterprise into one of the most trusted and admired providers of storage and organization products in the retail industry.  While building the business through strong relationships with many of the biggest and most respected retailers in the world, he excelled in developing strategies built on core values that delivered best-in-class products and services on a consistent basis.

IRIS USA launched the business in the US in 1992.  Chet joined the company in 1997, and quickly became a trusted senior executive, serving as Vice President of Sales, and then Executive Vice President of the company.  During these years, he led the company to tremendous growth and prominence, and was promoted to President in 2003.  He was the first non-Japanese executive to be promoted to this level of management.  At that time, he was also entrusted with mentoring the owner’s son for nearly six years, working here in the US.  In 2018, the son replaced his father as President, and assumed the top management role for the entire global enterprise.  Chet retired from the company that same year.     

With a strong ability to bridge the cultural gap between IRIS Japan and IRIS USA, Chet added a new dimension to the corporate business philosophy in the U.S. by inspiring employees to develop a “purpose-driven” culture, rather than focusing solely on making a profit.  The shared purpose was “to create great quality, innovation and value, with products and services to enhance and delight everyday living”.  This transformed the company’s culture, driving better results in every facet of the business.  Many outside stakeholders adopted this “Higher Purpose” as well.  The improvement in sales revenue necessitated the expansion of two existing manufacturing facilities in Wisconsin and Texas, as well as the addition of a brand-new facility and U.S. corporate headquarters in Surprise, Arizona, which opened in 2016.  Upon completion of the new Arizona facility, Chet set into motion the plans for a fourth facility in Pennsylvania, which will open in 2020.

Chet is currently working with local government, education and business communities, to teach and inspire stakeholders to evolve into a “Force for Good”.  He serves as the Executive in Residence at the Surprise, AZ campus of Ottawa University’s Angell Snyder School of Business.  He also serves as an Executive Board member on the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, and is a member of the AZ TechCelerator Advisory Board.

Chet and his wife Donna have four children and nine grandchildren. They were life-long Wisconsin residents until relocating to Surprise, Arizona three years ago.

An accomplished educator and corporate executive, Dr. Frank Trocki, has over 20 years of secondary and post-secondary experience, seven years as president of Elexon Ltd., a 135 person manufacturing firm, and years of corporate consulting and industrial development training.

Dr. Trocki, who retired as Chancellor of Montana State University Northern, currently is a Senior Partner in Uplink Education, LLC which provides visioning, strategic planning and productivity, financial growth, and  defining innovative opportunities that allows industry and business to support collaboration and linkage with higher education. He works collegially with executive staffs of universities, business, and industries on a world-wide basis. 

As Chancellor of MSUN, Dr. Trocki provided leadership to a comprehensive regional university which offers programs of professional preparation emphasizing discipline mastery, critical inquiry, and social responsibility in: teacher preparation; mechanical and engineering technologies including computer aided design and modeling; business and computer information systems; and nursing and arts and science. MSUN offered programs from the certificate to master's level. 

While serving as Vice President of Business Development for Lincoln Educational Services, he collaborated with the Vice Chairman to implement vision and strategy in launching educational and corporate initiatives and in developing partnerships with major industries, associations, and research organizations, including Bechtel Corporation, The Shaw Group, Fluor Corporation, Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc, Best Buy, Home Depot, Sears, Wal-Mart, and Ingersol-Rand. 

Previously he was Chief Academic Officer for Lincoln College of Technology in Indianapolis where he was  responsible for providing leadership for all academic programs, facilities, new program initiatives, and fiscal control and management.  Dr. Trocki supervised almost 100 full-time faculty and 2,100 full-time students with an annual budget of 30 million dollars. 

Dr. Trocki’s first international assignment was with the University College of the Caribbean where he served as Interim CEO and President. At UCC he gained a significant opportunity to work with a diverse group of people and programs in an international setting through managing all aspects of day-to-day operations. He also worked with the VP of Finance to implement financial policies, developed and monitored the College's marketing plan, steered direction for a five-year strategic plan, led fund raising efforts, forecasted student population, developed annual budget, and facilitated the development of new programs. 

While at College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California he served as Dean of Professional and Technical Programs and provided leadership for five departments: Applied Technology, Applied Science, Health Occupations, Criminal Justice, and Information Sciences. He also directed the Center for Historic Preservation Technology, CR’s Sustainable Agriculture Farm and the Center for Applied Design and Manufacturing. Over 100 faculty and support staff serves approximately 1,500 FTE’s each semester in PTP programs on three campuses. Four departments either received recertification or were accredited under his supervision. Funding significantly rose to over $1 million in grants and partnership activities.

Prior to CR, Frank served as Professor and Department Head of Industrial Technology, and Graduate Director of the Engineering and Technology Program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette from 1997 to 2000. He provided leadership for a 20-member department housed within the College of Engineering, which served more than 500 majors each semester and prepared students to focus on technical/managerial areas of the Industrial Technologies. 

At Elexon Ltd, Frank had the opportunity to create a new manufacturing company to produce state-of-the art screen process printing technology, infuse digital imaging technology into screen printing process, and develop OEM sales for distributors, dealers and agents worldwide. Dr. Trocki had direct oversight of fiscal accountability and strategic planning.  He initially saw development of a 75,000 square foot facility that included manufacturing, warehousing, research and design, service, shipping and receiving, showroom and office space.

Residing in Marshfield, MA, Dr. Trocki is married to Joan who has dedicated her professional talents by serving as a teacher of children with multiple disabilities for over 25 years.