President’s Message – Monthly Talks & Thoughts

I’ve been contemplating our membership statistics; one in particular points out a great opportunity. Over 80% of our members are “Family” businesses while less than 20% are “Entrepreneurs”, like myself.  Why is that?  Could it just be our name?  Could it be that is our intent?  Or could it be that we just don’t think about marketing our great opportunity to that group of entrepreneurial business owners as aggressively as we do to family businesses? In thinking about the people you’d like to have join us, do some of those folks come to mind? If so, let me know and I’ll be very happy to talk with them.

It is my second month in office and I already have another honor. We are very pleased and excited to announce Prism Insights as our newest Strategic Partner focusing on marketing. Patty Rioux is President. Thanks to the EFBC team who worked on the intricate process of finding, vetting, interviewing and choosing our new partner.  Welcome to the Prism team and thank you for your commitment to the EFBC.

My final thought for the month: I’m lamenting the disappearance of boredom.  What do you think when you see virtually everyone around you paying total attention to their smart phone?  Music, phone calls, texting, email, internet, games, etc.  When conversation stops, the phones come out. Sometimes they don’t even wait for the conversation to stop.  At a stop light yesterday, I observed nine people, some of them couples, standing at all four corners of this intersection.  ALL staring at their smart phones, not one of them engaged with the situation or the beautiful day.  You’ve all seen it, we’ve all done it.  At the crosswalk, at dinner, maybe church.  So what?  Well, it bothers me and I just realized why.  I suspect that no one really gets bored any more.  No one gets to say, “I have nothing to do, I’m frustrated and I wonder what I should do now.”  Maybe I’m saying that the skill and practice of thinking is being traded in, abandoned for iTunes.  No boredom, no thinking, no invention/creativity?  Is it concerning enough to do something about?  Maybe thinking isn’t so important?  What do you THINK?

“If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.  CFBC, 20 Years Deep”

Bob Carmody President Signature 2014




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