“All the support in the world doesn’t matter if you can’t support yourself.”
~ David Binswanger – December 21, 2011
At the final luncheon event of 2011, the Jewish Business Network (JBN) welcomed David Binswanger, President and CEO of Binswanger Companies, on Wednesday, December 21 at Noon at Temple University’s Center City location (1515 Market Street) – and the menu featured the scrumptious catering of Mama’s Vegetarian.
As the December 21 date coincided with the first night of Hanukkah, Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, Executive Director of Jewish Heritage Programs, outlined some holiday practices from the past and compared them to the present. In particular, he spoke of the lighting of the menorah. Traditionally, there were seven branches all seven of which were lit every day during the daylight hours, and the menorah was located inside a structure. Today’s tradition is that the menorah is lit during the evening hours and located outside, perhaps in a courtyard, with the branches being lit one at a time increasingly each day. Rabbi Schmidt’s Hanukkah message outlined that each one of us is like a candle in helping to light the darkness and encouraged us to increasingly do better in our own lives each day.
Next, as part of the luncheon format, Harris Gubin, Lead Ambassador of JBN and Account Executive at First Contact HR, led the monthly tradition of having guests introduce themselves. After that, remarks were made regarding the benefits of joining JBN and the details of the 8th Night Hanukkah Party on Tuesday December 27 at Mission Grill were announced.
After being introduced by Gubin, the guest of honor – David Binswanger – took the podium, joking that Gubin had “given three-quarters of his speech” with the introduction, going on to say that Binswanger was surprised to be invited to speak on the first day of Hanukkah noting that well at least “everything goes up from here.” He got a good chuckle out of the luncheon attendees with those opening remarks!
Binswanger Companies was founded by Binswanger’s grandfather Frank Sr. during the Great Depression (1931), and David has held his current position since 1997. The ownership is with his cousin in overseeing 33 offices in the United States, noting that they did business in 42 states last year. They are considered the “eyes and ears” of real estate regarding building, buying, valuing and strategizing – to name a few.
Locally Binswanger noted working with such projects as Comcast and the Philadelphia Media Group (Inquirer/Daily News) and the potential Gallery expansion and Convention Center connector.
But, let’s get back to Grandfather Binswanger who “back in the day” was appointed by then Governor of Pennsylvania (at the time of the repeal of Prohibition), to select future sites for liquor stores in the eastern half of the state – making him a “very popular person” according to David. As there were many vacant bank buildings due to the economic fallout at that time, Grandfather Binswanger selected those locales, among others, as they already had the vaults to safely store the liquor.
David also noted that his Grandfather had helped to develop the site we were all occupying for the luncheon event (1515 Market Street) – the Penn Center properties along Market Street.
Moving through the decades of the business, and citing a variety of ventures and industries, David expanded on a story from the ’80s regarding a partnership with Japan in moving automobile inventory across the United States. As part of their token of thanks to their Japanese counterparts they brought mini- replica Liberty Bells (60 in total) to Japan for an event they were attending only to discover upon arrival that there were going to be 1,000 guests in attendance – a shortage of “only” 940 mini-replica Liberty Bells. “We spent all night getting the bells… [and did so]…thanks to Fed Ex,” stated Binswanger.
Celebrating their 80th year in business in 2011, Binswanger cited “family, community and business,” as the basis of the organization, while noting that success can be attributed to “building a network of professionals.”
Binswanger’s thoughts on business in today’s economic climate included “corporations can’t continue to do noting,” and “technology has changed the world.” He cited that manufacturing is coming back to the United States (vs. overseas), and the changes in distribution channels are more direct than before.
Before breaking for questions from the audience, Binswanger disclosed to the crowd that he has the ability to change a light bulb in one continuous circular motion (demonstrating his mechanical hand and wrist). He lost his right arm 16 years ago in a boating accident while snorkeling in the Galapagos Islands (a boat ran over him), and said he “would not trade the experience in a million years.” He furthered he is happy to be alive and feels he has the ability to humanize any situation making things more approachable, adding “all the support in the world doesn’t matter if you can’t support yourself.”
Binswanger concluded with “We have a great city [Philadelphia].”
We couldn’t agree more Mr. Binswanger.
Here’s to a healthy, happy and prosperous 2012!
Liz Galantino, Senior Associate
Metrospective Communications
Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communication
The Jewish Business Network (JBN) kicked-off the post-summer season with their September luncheon on Wednesday the 21st at Noon at Temple University’s Center City location (1515 Market St.) featuring the catering of Mama’s Vegetarian. The topic was “Going Green: A Sustainability Panel,” with Gerald Furgione, Executive Director of PhillyCarShare, Sunny Nastase, Vice President of Customer Solutions at UPS and Don Smolenski, COO for Philadelphia Eagles.
After a robust round of networking, attendee introductions, hearing from event sponsors American Express and Orange Energy Solutions and about the new JBN membership initiatives, Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, Executive Director of Jewish Heritage Programs, highlighted that with the event topic and the approach of Rosh Hashanah we should all strive to sustain things in a healthy way to make the world a better place and he sounded a mini shofar wishing everyone a “happy, healthy and sweet New Year.”
The panelists were introduced by panel moderator Jonathan Kanze of Marvin E. Kanze, Inc., one of the oldest family owned and operating heating and air conditioning companies in the region, and he started things off by asking the panelists to spend a few minutes highlighting some initiatives each of their respective organizations are doing to be sustainable.
Jerry Furgione of PhillyCarShare (PCS) announced that their recent acquisition by the Enterprise Holdings organization resulted in switching out their entire 250-car fleet with brand new vehicles (including the standard hybrids), and that by Thanksgiving they expect to launch the first electric vehicle micro-community, citing that there are currently 33 electric car charging stations in the Philadelphia area, with 20 electric-powered vehicles in conjunction with a program being implemented by the Mayor’s Office.
The Eagles’ Don Smolenski talked about the breadth of the overall energy-efficiency activity at The Linc including the use of solar panels which has helped to reduce the kilowatt usage by half at the stadium, as well as having servers pour beer into cups from aluminum bottles (vs. glass), the collecting of unused food for composting, and using the trash chutes for recycling as that has surpassed the amount of trash collected nowadays.
Sunny Nastase of UPS said there were various activities that have provided a layering effect for the company including using environmentally-friendly paint on their new fleet of energy-efficient planes which reduced their weight by 500 pounds each saving approximately 22 million gallons of fuel, as well as using recycled cloth bags (vs. plastic) in their sorting centers to hold the packages that come and go daily as the cloth can be reused.
Audience members, of note Cheryl Pliskin of Jest Notes & Baskets, had some great questions for the panel including finding out if UPS drivers can only make right hand turns (vs. left) – and Sunny said “yes, it’s true.” As well, JBN member Anna Skale of Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors liked Don’s statement that after each Eagles game two representatives, along with their supply of Red Bull, cruise the stadium turning off all non-essential lighting. The panel wrapped up with some final thoughts of the panelists about sustainability practices overall and PCS’s Jerry said in a nutshell: “…keep it up… for our kids and grandkids.”
The luncheon ended with Harris Gubin, Lead Ambassador of JBN and Account Executive at First Contact HR, announcing the October 19th luncheon date which will feature John A. Fry the President of Drexel University, whereby someone in the audience resonated “Go Dragons!”
Liz Galantino, Senior Associate
Metrospective Communications – Philadelphia
Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communication
There were close to 80 attendees on hand Wednesday, June 29, 2011 for the monthly Jewish Business Network (JBN) luncheon at Temple University’s Center City location (1515 Market Street). The presentation topic was LinkedIn featuring Brynne Tillman, President and COO of Business Development University (BDU), and the menu featured a variety of tasty sandwiches and salads.
After a thank you to luncheon sponsor American Express by Harris Gubin, Lead Ambassador of JBN and Account Executive at First Contact HR, and an announcement regarding a JBN membership committee meeting taking place on Monday, July 18 in Conshohocken, Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, Executive Director of Jewish Heritage Programs, began the program noting that writings on technology have been around for centuries citing one through the author of the Zohar who predicted an explosion of knowledge world-wide, which has since been identified as taking place around the 1830s (Industrial Revolution). Schmidt added “all knowledge is here to be used for a holy purpose,” adding that it encourages [us to] “do more acts of goodness and kindness.”
Upon taking the podium for the featured presentation, Tillman posed two hypothetical questions to the audience centered around finding out “how to leverage a core market,” and “how do we know who knows who we want to know?” With that in mind, she went on to outline some LinkedIn tactics which can potentially help to bring about some answers, and results, to those questions.
One tactic is the importance of having the Profile Page “in good order,” including posting a professional photograph, having a catch phrase and keywords along with a job title, giving a strong powerful summary, including both an email and phone number under contact settings, as well as website(s) and Twitter links as “Google loves Twitter,” said Tillman.
She went on to give tips on leveraging update status (of every five, only one should be self-promoting), creating distribution groups, organizing contacts as well as utilizing the “more” link when sending messages (vs. InMail) and asking for recommendations.
After answering a series of questions from audience members, Tillman assigned “homework” encouraging everyone to set-up and save company searches (utilizing the 2nd contact feature), and she asked event attendees to fill-out the presentation evaluations forms which had been placed at each table. She also noted that BDU is having a more in-depth presentation “LinkedIn for Business Development,” on July 21 from 1:30 pm to 5 pm, at DeVry University in Fort Washington, PA, for only $99 (reg. $199) when using “JBN” as the discount code if registered by July 8.
And, congratulations are in order for Harris Gubin and his bride who were married over the July 4th holiday weekend – best wishes to them!
Liz Galantino, Senior Associate
Metrospective Communications
Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communication
On Thursday, June 23, 2011, “An Evening with Jewish Heritage Programs” was held at Hall of Flags in Houston Hall on the University of Pennsylvania campus honoring Jewish Heritage Programs (JHP) Mentor of the Year: David Adelman, President & CEO of Campus Apartments; Jewish Business Network (JBN) Leadership Honoree: Marc Pruzan, Senior Mortgage Consultant at Firstrust Bank; and JHP Young Professional Network Honoree: Scott Solomon of The Montgomery Benefits Group.
The event welcomed hundreds of attendees who took part in the live jazz music, sushi and carving stations, dessert, scotch & beer tastings, photo booth and raffle prizes, as well as the live and silent auction items.
As part of the early festivities of the evening, NBC-TV’s Lu Ann Cahn announced the first raffle item, of which there were five in total, a free one-year membership to JBN and it was won by honoree Marc Pruzan. What a way to kick things off – you’ll see the coincidence as you continue to read along!
After the welcome reception and lots of mingling, guests were escorted to the Bodek Lounge for the awards presentation and subsequent live auction hosted by Harris Gubin, Lead Ambassador of JBN.
The program began with Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, Executive Director of JHP, thanking sponsors, students and staff for making the event a success, and he went on to say how JHP, which was founded in 1993, illuminates our environment, ignites friendships, reaches and helps people share the light. “Tonight we are honoring three amazing lamp lighters,” Rabbi Schmidt went on to say, adding, “… you are the light to those around you.”
Student Speaker Brian Engel, intern for JHP, University of Pennsylvania Class of 2014, remarked how the benefits of JHP are “endless” and how the organization has helped him and his friends remain committed to their heritage while away from their families at school.
The first honoree of the evening was David Adelman, President and CEO of Campus Apartments, the largest privately held student housing company in the country. Adelman was presented with the JHP Mentor of the Year award. He took the podium saying he was honored to be there and, of course, his Jewish mother was there too. He thanked Alan Horowitz for being his mentor, and looks forward to the fall 2011 opening of the new Perelman Center for Jewish Life - Lubavitch House at Penn. “The pleasure has been all mine,” Adelman stated.
Marc Pruzan, Senior Mortgage Consultant at Firstrust Bank, was the second honoree of the evening and was given the JBN Leadership Honoree award. During his remarks he spoke of the first time he attended a JBN event citing, “How bad could it be? They were Jewish, I am Jewish. They were in business, I am in business.” The speaker at that particular JBN event was a man who is President of a $2 billion bank who spoke about how his grandfather went door to door in South Philadelphia to raise $8,000 to get a Federal Bank Charter. Little did Pruzan know that the banker, Richard Green, would one day be signing his pay checks as Firstrust Bank is the one that was started by Green’s grandfather. Pruzan added, “It did not take me long to realize that this business organization [JBN] was able to attract top movers and shakers in Philadelphia.” (Note the coincidence of Pruzan winning the one-year free membership to JBN earlier on in the evening.)
The next honoree was JHP Young Professional Network Honoree: Scott Solomon of The Montgomery Benefits Group. Solomon was born and raised in Elkins Park, PA and sits on numerous boards and organizes various social and networking events as well as raise funds for the Jewish community in both Philadelphia and Israel. Upon taking the podium Solomon said, “Wow! This is like my Bar Mitzvah all over again!” He went on to say, “Without the support of my peers, my family and my friends, the belief in Young Philanthropy would not exist. Through all of the JHP related activities and the events orchestrated with the help of Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, I have been inspired to reignite my Jewish identity,” adding, “From the bottom of my heart, I am truly honored.”
Coffee and dessert was next on the evening’s agenda while Gubin announced the four remaining raffle winners and took his position as the featured auctioneer for the event’s live auction which saw eight items including one titled, “How to be a Rock Star–a once-in-a-lifetime experience with Aron Magner from Disco Biscuits.”
The event wrapped-up with another round of thanks and applause for all of the honorees, sponsors, staff, participants and guests.
Liz Galantino, Senior Associate
Metrospective Communications
Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communication
On Wednesday, May 18, 2011, the Jewish Business Network (JBN) hosted their monthly luncheon at Temple University’s Center City location (1515 Market St.) featuring guest speaker Bill Mills, Regional President of PNC Bank for Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey (and, of note, Mills is on the Board of Trustees at Temple and stated he was happy to be visiting the Center City campus for the first time). Also, returning for the second month in a row was the catering of Mama’s Vegetarian.
To begin the program, Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, Executive Director of Jewish Heritage Programs, spoke about the day’s date being Second Passover (Pesach Sheni) for this year, and that was the reason there was matzah on each luncheon table – which all attendees were encouraged to enjoy. According to an online source: “Pesach Sheni reveals to those in Covenant with the Almighty God, that there is ‘always a second chance’, ‘never a lost case’, ‘nothing is impossible’ and ‘God is never too late’.” For more information about Pesach Sheni click here.
After being introduced by Harris Gubin, Lead Ambassador of JBN and Account Executive at First Contact HR, Mills took to the microphone and spoke about his Pennsylvania roots, his Ohio State schooling (and how he got his fellow Calculus classmates “rock star” seats at a football game he was playing in), and his career path, which brought him to his current position with PNC (and not becoming the Math teacher and coach he originally thought), while noting that the past 3 years in the banking industry have been the most challenging that he’s been a part of – more so than in his entire career.
“I measure my life on the day Lehman Brothers failed, and the day after,” stated Mills as he expanded on the state of things in recent years, adding that he believes “Paulson and Bernake should be knighted.”
PNC became the 5th largest bank in the United States after taking over the National City chain in 2008, making it the third largest merger to date where expenditures to just change the signs alone were $53 million dollars prompting Mills to say for those in the audience who were possibly looking for a career change, “signs is the way to go.”
Mills went on to speak about the community involvement PNC is immersed in including the PNC Foundation, PNC Arts Alive and Grow Up Great programs, and took part in a Q & A session with luncheon attendees, but was not able to make an official comment from a lone question regarding the future of the Philadelphia Orchestra (which Mills sits on the board of), simply saying that the Orchestra is an important part of the City and a model has to be found to make it work.
Liz Galantino, Senior Associate
Metrospective Communications
Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communication
On Wednesday, April 27 the Jewish Business Network (JBN) hosted two great Philadelphia-institution Presidents and CEOs, Laura Foster of The Please Touch Museum and Vikram Dewan of The Philadelphia Zoo.
Before the panel began, luncheon guests took in a variety of vegetarian fare showcased by Mama’s Vegetarian, and many in attendance were heard commenting on the nicety of the variation in the menu at the monthly event.
The theme of the panel, which was moderated by JBN member Kenneth R. Gilberg of Flaster/Greenberg, P.C., was the “Centennial District,” and began with an overview from Foster and Dewan of how The Please Touch Museum and The Zoo, along with the surrounding neighborhoods, The Mann Music Center and Fairmount Park itself, make-up the district. For more specific information on the Centennial District Master Plan, which is slated to be completed by 2026 to coincide with the 250-anniversary of America’s Independence, please visit The Fairmount Park Conservancy website at: http://www.fairmountparkconservancy.org/project/centennial.php.
As the panel continued, Foster, who is a brand new grandmother this month, spoke of her 19-year tenure with The Please Touch Museum. She declared, “It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” after taking a leap career-wise when she started in the Marketing Department almost two decades ago. The “power” of a museum is bonding she further stated, mentioning how she and her father found a commonality when they visited museums together when she was growing-up in her native Chicago.
When talking of The Philadelphia Zoo’s interactive programming being a big hit when visiting his grandchildren at their schools, Dewan stated, “Who would not want to be the coolest grandparent in the Delaware Valley?” The 26-year banking industry veteran mentioned initially saying “no” to being the now 4-year leader of the nation’s oldest zoo as he thought he would go the Foundation route when he left the banking world.
Gilberg went on pose a series of questions ranging from accomplishments and challenges, to future goals and objectives of each institution. Dewan mentioned the possibility of putting a train stop back in to use near the Zoo, as well as perhaps the construction of a parking garage in the future, while Foster talked of the expansion of programming at The Please Touch Museum to include music and dance as well as sustainable-themed projects such as gardening and composting.
When Gilberg asked each panelist what is a best kept secret regarding each site, Dewan suggested visiting the Zoo between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., as most of the school groups have departed for the day, in April and May, as that is a time of year the animals are most active (two-thirds of The Zoo’s residents are nocturnal so they tend to sleep during the day).
The best kept secret for The Please Touch Museum (besides being the same location—Memorial Hall—of JBN member Brian J. Gilberg’s [Odell Studner] bar mitzvah and wedding), is that it’s a great place for adults too. No, you don’t have to “rent” kids to get in, and you won’t be perceived as “creepy” if you visit by yourself.
Liz Galantino, Senior Associate
Metrospective Communications
Marketing, Public Relations and Strategic Communication
On Wednesday, March 23 the Jewish Business Network welcomed Rosemary Turner, regional president for UPS’s new and expanded Chesapeake District. It was a full house for the luncheon at Temple University’s Center City locale (1515 Market St.) – even playing host to some first-time attendees to the monthly event.
During her time speaking, Rosemary, who actually brought the conversation right into the audience by moving among the tables, talked about her early years at UPS and how she negotiated a deal with thugs who used to rob her (when she was a driver) by buying them a six-pack of beer each week so they would stop -- and it worked!
Rosemary brought the audience through her 33-year tenure at UPS during which time she moved around the country and from position to position within the organization until reaching her current role in one of the company's new and expanded districts directing small package operations in all or parts of six states (PA, NJ, DE, MD, DC, VA).
Throughout her talk, Rosemary told poignant stories about her mother and husband, about conversations she had with the former presidents of the United States (Carter, H.W. Bush, Clinton, W. Bush) at a recent event, and about the changing role of women and minorities in business.
Rosemary took many questions from the audience which ranged from discussing the U.S. Postal Service and its potential future, business trends and how the price of gas, in particular, effects her industry to her on-going commitment to being a mentor and role model to people in both her professional and personal life.
One thing Rosemary asked of the audience is that when they have an opportunity to interact with a UPS driver or service representative to please pass along her (yes Rosemary’s), “THANKS” to them for doing a great job!
Liz Galantino, Senior Associate
Metrospective Communications
From what I’ve been told, most JBN events have just one featured speaker, but the February 16 luncheon had a slightly different format. In February, instead of one speaker, there was a moderated panel—with one of the panelists Skyped in from Las Vegas. The Entrepreneurial Panel had four leaders in the field—Jeff Bodle, Joel Frisch, David Gloss, and Ellen Weber—discussing the ins and outs of building new entrepreneurial endeavors.
This was actually my first JBN event (very exciting!), so I have nothing to compare it to, but I thought the panel format was a compelling way to get a variety of opinions. It seems particularly useful when discussing something like entrepreneurship, an area in which there is lots of useful advice and many possible paths to success. Plus, I’m always a sucker for new media/communication, so the idea of Joel being at a convention in Vegas and participating fully on the panel in Philadelphia appeals to me.
The JBN luncheon returns to its more traditional format on March 23 with a discussion featuring Rosemary Turner, the regional president for UPS.
