When I was in junior high school in Rantoul they had some very interesting industrial arts classes.  My favorite was leatherwork.  Using the basics of a mallet and leather craft tooling dies you could make some really neat stuff.  Belts, wallets all kinds of things that were useful and if you were good at it beautiful and artful too.  Not that I ever got good at it but I have had a love for the craft all my life.  Its a dying art too.  When I was in Dallas-Fort Worth area earlier this year the first thing that I did was go down to the stockyards and then visit some of the saddles shops where you can still buy a hand crafted hand tooled saddle.  It was an amazing experience.  I loved it!  Well for those who follow these things it might not be too surprising but you don't have to travel to Texas to find that kind of art and quality in leather.  Just amble on down to Pard's western wear in Urbana and you will have the same experience that I had to travel 1,000 miles to have.  Quality and Service are the by-words of Pard's Western Shop. At Pards, they are serious about providing quality merchandise and service to horsemen everywhere. Established in the fall of 1968, Pard's has grown from a very small tack store to a corporation with two stores, a catalog division, a mobile operation and a website servicing not only America's horsemen but the horsemen of the world. Over those 30+ years, they have realized that their success would depend upon their customers coming back year after year. When I got back from Texas I got on the horn to get in touch with Mark Butzow.  I really wanted to shine a light on this very unique and interesting company that operates quietly in Urbana but literally sells all over the world.  I hope you can join us because you will learn a lot and you may even find yourself with a hankerin to amble on down to our very own western shop - Pard's Western Wear in Urbana!

Merle Giles has been leading the NCSA's Private Sector Program as its director since 2007.

Giles previously led the Executive MBA program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As the program's director, he led teams of executives on consulting projects for major international companies, including Coca-Cola, Caterpillar, John Deere, EuroDisney, Volkswagen, and Xerox. Giles earlier served as president and chief executive officer of Sheridan Bank of Peoria (later First of America Bank-Peoria) and as chief financial officer of Star Transport, Inc. He also operated a real estate and business brokerage business.

"I'm impressed by the competitive advantages NCSA has provided for corporate partners -- from using supercomputers for drug discovery to mining sales data to spot trends," he said. "I'm looking forward to identifying new challenges that NCSA and our partners can solve together."

Giles earned an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor's degree in accounting and business administration from Illinois State University. He is an alumnus of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Delaware and holds a CPA certificate.

"One of the exciting aspects of this position is that it gives me the opportunity to reach out to industry and work with them to bring NCSA's unique capabilities and resources to bear on their most challenging problems," Giles said.

I hope you can tune in to hear this outstanding interview and learn what is happening with the NCSA another amazing organization doing incredible things right here in Champaign-Urbana!

TO LISTEN TO LAST WEEK'S INTERVIEWS WITH NIAL AND KRITIE CAMPBELL (FIREFLY GRILL) AND DAVE LINE (ALPHA-CARE HEATH PROFESSIONAL) CLICK HERE