Our Gateway CEO students are fortunate to see many different speakers in the course of their school year. Some newer business owners, some leaders that have been in their industry and grown tremendously, some entrepreneurs with decades of experience. Vern Hamm is a friend to CEO, a Mentor for the last several years and though technically retired, he is still a passionate entrepreneur with a heart to share with our next generation. He started in the business world years ago and always chose to do something with his life that might impact others. While he was a consultant for years, today, he is very involved with several CEO communities and other civic activities that help grow our communities. Same enthusiasm, but slightly shift at this point in life.

Vern partnered with a leader and started his own consulting business over 40 years ago. He shared that it took 6 months to find their first client. There was a lot of faith, a lot of learning and little money as they dove in head first. Vern's predominate business was within manufacturing and focus on energy savings for Fortune 500 companies. Here are some of the true nuggets of wisdom that he left with our students -
- Focus on repeat business. Can make up almost 85% of your business portfolio. Work hard. Take care of customers and always have them coming back.
- Be open minded in your strategies. There are no benches on the road to success.
- You have to respect others - no matter who they are. You can learn something from everyone.
- Profit is not a bad word. It's ok to provide excellent service and also make good money while doing it.

Thank you Vern for your ongoing support and encouraging our students to have vision and keep moving forward towards their dreams!