{"id":342861,"date":"2025-12-14T00:27:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T00:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/signing-off-as-ceo\/"},"modified":"2025-12-14T00:27:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T00:27:25","slug":"signing-off-as-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=342861","title":{"rendered":"Signing Off As CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

When I started my career, I wanted what most employees want \u2013 a company with a good reputation, ethical bosses, high achievers, and a fun environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

I had a number of offers to work for large, well-known companies 37 years ago. I chose Marco after meeting Gary Marsden, who is one of the founders and was Chief Executive Officer at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

He and his co-founding partner, Dave Marquardt, worked at IBM before starting Marco. Gary told me I would find something at Marco that I couldn\u2019t find at those other places. He offered to teach me to sell, manage and run a business \u2013 in short order. So, I accepted the job.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was right. What I have realized is, most people want all those attributes that I listed. But few get them.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Marco\u2019s CEO since 2005, I sought to carry on the legacy of the founders \u2013 not break the good stuff they started \u2013 and to intentionally grow leaders and build careers. That is what motivated me all these years and what I am most proud of, as I retire.<\/span><\/p>\n

The hardest part as a leader has been keeping that a focus \u2013 first and foremost \u2013 with constant attention, action and investments. It\u2019s easy to get distracted or to think it will just happen on its own. But it won\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

I never imagined this is where Marco would be when I retired. We just took it one step at a time. As I look back, some highlights for me are:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. <\/span>Establishing a commitment to continuous improvement in the early 1990s. I\u2019m so glad someone had the foresight to do this. Marco is better because of it.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. <\/span>Completing our first acquisition \u2013 because it was a catalyst to 47 more and counting.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. <\/span>Receiving local, state and national workplace awards that validated our culture, the pride of our employees, and our fun environment. <\/span><\/li>\n
  4. <\/span>Becoming the largest copier dealer in the country.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. <\/span>Hitting the $100 million revenue mark, after thinking it was audacious.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. <\/span>Building a new headquarters in St. Cloud to accommodate future growth and support additional opportunities for our employees.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. <\/span>Finding ways to be innovative, and<\/span> to stay relevant and resilient for our customers and stakeholders (through the evolution of the Internet, the Great Recession and a global pandemic \u2013 just to name a few).<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. <\/span>Serving over 28,000 active customers.<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. <\/span>Hearing the enthusiasm of our sales professionals when they landed a customer win. I still love sales stories, after all these years. <\/span><\/li>\n
  10. <\/span>Meeting each new employee and making connections at new-hire orientation. Even as Marco grew, I made this a priority. Watching new people come into the organization and hearing their excitement kept me motivated until the very end.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I feel like I received an opportunity of a lifetime, and I gave others an opportunity of a lifetime. What\u2019s better than that?<\/span><\/p>\n

    I leave Marco with no regrets and complete peace of mind. I know the future of the organization is in good hands. I am so confident in the ability of this team. They are smart, know how to play to their strengths, and they care about our people, our customers and our communities. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Thanks for being on this journey with me. I look forward to joining you as a reader, as Doug Albregts takes over the reins and this blog to share his insights and what\u2019s next.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Q&A with Jeff Gau<\/h4>\n

    Marco’s Incoming CEO Doug Albregts recently sat down with Jeff to ask him about his career, highlights, hardest moment and lessons learned. Listen now.<\/a><\/p>\n

    \"Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n

    \"\"
    \n
    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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