Member Spotlight: Krusinski Construction 50th Anniversary

This month we’re celebrating Krusinski Construction Company!

In the ever-evolving world of construction, it is a remarkable achievement for any company to reach the momentous milestone of 50 years in business. Such an accomplishment showcases not only perseverance, but also a steadfast commitment to their core values and the community they serve.

Krusinski Construction Company, a family-owned business, has consistently operated under the belief that treating clients, employees, and the community the right way is the only way to do business, lovingly referred to as the “Krusinski way.” When working with them, you can truly feel the difference in their approach and dedication to delivering exceptional results. Today, on behalf of the EFBC Community, we proudly extend our heartfelt congratulations to this valuable member, as they celebrate their remarkable journey of half a century.

To celebrate this significant milestone, Krusinski Construction has released a special video featuring the founder, Joe Krusinski, along with CEO Jerry Krusinski and President Jeff Krusinski. In this video, the three leaders reflect on the company’s journey and discuss their vision for the future. Their insights give us a glimpse into the family’s strong values that have undoubtedly contributed to the company’s longevity and success. Check out their special video HERE!

Looking ahead, Krusinski Construction Company continues to forge a path of innovation and industry leadership. With a solid foundation built over the past 50 years and a clear vision for the future, they are well-equipped to navigate the evolving construction landscape and shape the industry for years to come. Congratulations to Krusinski Construction on this remarkable milestone, and here’s to the next 50 years of success!

Meet Dan Migacz, CFO at A.M. Woodland Outdoor Design

Get to know Dan, a new member of EFBC!

A.M. Woodland Outdoor Design / Lotz Custom Carpentry, Inc.
Founded: 2009
Location: Mundelein, IL / Salem, WI

Tell us about your career leading up to where you are now:
I studied accounting in undergrad (IWU) and grad school (ISU). Once I graduated, I went to work at a public accounting firm, McGladrey (now RSM US) and passed my CPA exams. After a couple of years there, however, I knew that I didn’t want to stay in public accounting. I transitioned over to Cardinal Health and was there for a short time. I moved on to a private equity firm called Sherman Residential, where I was the Controller for five years. That was a fantastic role, and I learned a lot about deal making, acquisitions, and running large multi-family properties. And now, for the past six years, I finally came to work with my brother!

What do you like most about what you do?
As the CFO, I work a lot with numbers. I wouldn’t necessarily say numbers are my favorite thing, but I definitely have a knack for them. I just really enjoy getting to spend every day with my best friends. I work directly with my brother and other family members and then our business partners have basically become family. And it’s just great to be able to get to do what we do, while also being able to spend every day together. When it comes to problem solving, it is exciting that we are the ones problem solving, and collectively coming together to make a decision. But of course, there’s pros and cons to that, because the full responsibility of the decision making does fall on us as well.

How did you hear about the EFBC?
So, I’ve known Marcus Newman (EFBC Membership Director and Strategic Partner) for several years now. He does our company group insurance benefits. We were talking about some health insurance items and he brought it up. He asked us if we had ever heard about EFBC and mentioned that it would benefit our business and that it would be really good for us. A week or so later I reached out to him and expressed that I was interested in heard more and he sent me over some information and the website and said that if I wanted to know more to get in contact with Liz Fidanovski (EFBC Executive Director) and have her come out and sit down with you guys and explain what EFBC Is all about.

Why did you join, and what do you hope to gain from your membership?
I would say it was a combination of two things. The first is the programs. Liz described the programs EFBC hosts, and I was excited at the opportunity to not only participate but my brother, our partners, and our key employees. Whether it’s an HR roundtable, a finance roundtable or different programs that we can send our employees to. We are always interested in continuing learning opportunities and staying up to date on current policies and best practices. In addition to that, the second and for me, personally, the biggest draw were the peer groups, or forums. I was excited to have a group, that meets regularly who have been through a lot of the same things I am going through. I was excited for the shared experiences with a group of businesspeople who are on the same level to gain insight but to also share my own experiences in a safe, confidential environment on both personal and professional lives. It was just exciting to have regular sit downs and have a good, honest conversation with a group of people that actually care about me. In other groups I have participated in, the interpersonal experiences varied drastically, and this just feels on a different level from that. Our business partner, at the moment, is busy with his family but I have been sharing with my brother who will hopefully be joining soon.

Join us in welcoming Dan to the EFBC community.

Meet Gregory Cooney, Owner and Partner CMO of Educational Environments

Get to know Gregory, a new member of the EFBC.

Educational Environments
Founded: 1967
Location: Elk Grove Village, IL

Tell us about your career leading up to where you are now:
Well I’ve been at Educational Environments much longer than I care to admit! I worked in menswear as a buyer for a time before starting here, but I basically grew up in this business. My father owned the company, but my brother, my sister and myself have run it for 40 years now. The company itself has been in business for 56 years. I joined thinking it would be something transitional but ended up liking the work, so I made a career out of it. My focus is in sales, marketing, and design.

What do you like most about what you do?
Having the focus of providing furniture solutions that encourage new learning models and ways of teaching that are more relevant to students today makes it very engaging to be doing this work.

How did you hear about the EFBC?
Interestingly enough I heard about it from a “friendly competitor” also in this field! They had been involved in EFBC for a number of years, and I was speaking to him at a conference where he mentioned EFBC to myself and my daughter as something that may benefit our company.

Why did you join, and what do you hope to gain from your membership?
Looking for resources around succession planning or a transition to a new generation of the family was important to me. Learning more about Forum and doing my first Forum session, now my team and my daughter’s are more interested in joining Forum too. It’s really nice to have those outside resources, especially when you’re a family business, because it’s easy to get tunnel vision. Having these outside influences helps us to avoid that tunnel vision and the different perspectives are something I really appreciate and can learn a lot from.

Join us in welcoming Gregory to the EFBC community.

Meet Kornel Grygo, CEO of Tasty Catering

Get to know Kornel, a new member of the EFBC.

Tasty Catering
Founded: 1989
Location: Elk Grove Village, IL

Tell us about your career leading up to where you are now:

I started at Tasty in 2007, and officially became CEO January of 2019.

I graduated high school in ‘04. I took a little break from school and worked some different jobs. And I quickly figured out that not getting an education is not the best route for my future. So in 2007 I decided to go back to school and attended UIC, where I studied Business Management. At the time, I was looking for something that’s really flexible with my schedule. And my girlfriend at the time, is a niece of the Walter brothers, who own Tasty Catering. I started off at Tasty as a delivery driver. At the time I was in school full time and working full time. Tasty is a 24-hour, 7 day a week operation, so I was able to easily work full time.

I remained in that role until I graduated, which was 2012. At that point, I was promoted to Director of Logistics, in charge of our delivery staff, fleet maintenance, and part of the leadership team. Throughout the years, I fell in love with the company. They always took care of the people, were always culture focused. I actually approached Tom Walter, who was the CEO at the time, and is the current owner and said “hey, I want your job, what do we have to do?”. We then worked together to create a timeline and metrics I had to achieve to in order to prepare myself for that position. I have held almost every position at tasty, so I understand the whole operation and a lot of the staff here have been together for a long time.

What do you like most about what you do?

I really like the daily challenges. It’s always something. And obviously we’re in a food business, so the pandemic had a huge impact on our business. It’s easy, a lot of times, to focus on the negatives, but there are also a lot of positives in our business that allowed us all to get closer and work through the challenges we faced in 2020 and to this day. It helped us focus and really live our culture and ‘walk the talk’. It allowed us to focus on the core values and the principles we always preach about. Everybody says, ‘we take care of people’. When your business drops 85% overnight and you know that you are not making a lot of layoffs, you focus your efforts on investing in the team. It was hard, especially not knowing what’s going to happen day-to-day, week-to-week, hour by hour is just kind of made us all closer. We follow those core values, and we follow our mission, and we all care about each other and it’s just, well, that’s kind of been the biggest story for us. We’re always looking through the lens of ‘hey, this is a challenge and how can we learn from it and make our company better as a result’.

How did you hear about the EFBC?

I believe Tasty has been involved with EFBC since the beginning, back when EFBC was at UIC, and was the Chicago Family Business Council. Tom Walter has always been associated with it. Tasty has always been a family-owned company, so I think that’s what drew the Walter brothers to the organization originally. Once I stepped into some of these leadership roles after college that’s when I got involved with EFBC. I was in charge of the sales team, so that was my first introduction to some of the educational programming. I was able to participate in the sales roundtables.

Why did you join, and what do you hope to gain from your membership?

In the past few years, as I have taken on this leadership role, I appreciate being able to understand and talk to other business leaders, and to have that support and that shared experience, which is critical because you know sometimes leaders feel alone. You have a lot of pressure because at the end of the day, I’m responsible for everything that happens under this roof, every employee and all their family members. I can lean on the members of EFBC, other leaders, without judgement. I appreciate the most the shared experience piece. There is no advice or how you should do things, rather there is the opportunity to listen to what works in other organizations so that our team can then take that back to our company and determine what would work best for us. Every organization is different, so just hearing those stories is invaluable.

I just try to continue to grow and to become a better leader and person. That is what I continue to look forward to in my membership. Educational programming really forces you to think. What can I take from this? How can I use this in our organization? Will this work for us? The community is also great. You have so many members. At any time, I can just pick up a phone and pick someone’s brain about something I am struggling with and it’s far less isolating, it’s that relationship piece that I highly value. I can surround myself with people that can help me, can hold me accountable.

Join us in welcoming Kornel to the EFBC community.