Mayor Don Gerard is a new kind of Mayor. He is intimately involved in the life of this city, in the life of its people and in the future of our town. I have been around long enough to observe city leadership for over three decades and I must say that I am very favorably impressed with Don. He is genuine and really does care about this city. Regardless of your politics that has to count. Here are a few excerpts from his web pages personal statement:
I have had the pleasure of living in our community for most of my life and I have shared many of the same experiences as has much of the community.
Since my teens, I have worked for locally-owned businesses, from Record Service to Keck’s Furniture to the “old” Blind Pig to Radio Maria Restaurant. I worked in the sports department at the News-Gazette and wrote columns in the Hub and E3. I attended, and now work for, the University of Illinois. I have played in bands, have been married, had children, established a local retail business, coached and umpired Little League baseball, raised thousands of dollars for Special Olympics and bought a house.
I have also seen – as have so many – struggles along the way as well. I have experienced the passing of friends, endured a divorce, became a single parent and faced financial hardship. I have rented an apartment, worked on my own 30-year-old car, ridden my bike and taken the bus to save money.
The City of Champaign and its community has provided me with what I believe to be a nearly idyllic life for myself and my family. I take great pride in living in a city with so much to offer and would be honored to serve its citizens as the city itself has served me.
Hope you can join us for this outstanding interview!
Eric Bastie of Big Brothers Big Sisters will also be on the show.
For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. As the nation’s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”), ages 6 through 18, in communities across the country. We develop positive relationships that have a direct and lasting effect on the lives of young people.
Hope you can join us!
Alex Ruggieri, CCIM, MBA, serves as a senior advisor for Sperry Van Ness, specializing in the sale of investment properties in Champaign-Urbana and Central Illinois. With over 35 years of commercial real estate industry experience, he has built an array of valuable business, real estate, and banking community contacts that benefit his clients. Ruggieri has secured a career sales volume of over $300 million.
Ruggieri is the executive producer of the popular business TV show “One on One with Alex Ruggieri aired on CBS affiliate WCIA and “Central Illinois Business” broadcast weekly on WDWS NEWSTAL 1400 A.M. radio.
Career highlights include being the recipient of Sperry Van Ness’ Achievers Award for outstanding sales, Partner’s Circle Award (the company’s highest sales award), and authoring commercial real estate articles for regional and national real estate trade publications such as Commercial Investment Real Estate (CCIM) magazine, Units Magazine, Mid-West Real Estate News, and Heartland Real Estate Business.
Ruggieri serves on the national Commercial Committee for NAR and is a Graduate of the REALTOR Institute of the National Association of Realtors. He is also a Certified Commercial Investment Member. Ruggieri also holds a Master of Business Administration degree in business and finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
You can link to Alex Ruggieri's web site to view properties for sale or watch any of his TV interviews with business leaders or listen to previous radio show interviews with up and coming entrepreneurs. To connect to Ruggieri Team
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