SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/60100
GREEN MEDIA'S MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE OF 2011 Green Media announces Most Influential People Power Equipment, Landscape and Irrigation, Arbor Age and SportsTurf magazines – proudly presents the 2011 selections for "Most Influential People in the Green Industry." Green Media's "Most Influential People in the G Green Industry" were nominated by their peers for their ongoing contributions to the Green In- dustry. Nominations were reviewed by Green Media's in-house panel, and the 2011 selections for "Most Influential People" were chosen from throughout the Green Industry. The six professionals honored here exemplify commitment to the Green Industry, and have ex- hibited a widespread influence on their peers. Green Media congratulates all of those chosen for this year's list of "Most Influential People in the Green Industry." Dan Ariens When notified that he was selected among the "Most Influential People in the Green Indus- try" in 2011, Dan Ariens, president and CEO of the Ariens Company in Brillion, Wis., said that he was "surprised" and "flattered." "There are a lot of very important and influ- ential people in the OPE industry and have been for a long time," said Ariens, the great-grandson of Henry Ariens, who founded the Ariens Com- pany in 1933. "If I were voting, I think I would've picked some others." Given all that Dan has accomplished in the OPE industry and the Wisconsin business com- munity, leading to numerous productivity and leadership awards, the honor should certainly come as no surprise. In addition to enjoying tremendous success with the Ariens Company, Dan has served as chairman of the Outdoor Power Equipment In- stitute (OPEI) and twice as chairman of OPEI's Green Industry and Equipment Expo Commit- tee. He has received two gubernatorial appoint- ments from two different Wisconsin governors representing two different parties, including his present appointment as the vice chair of the Wis- consin Economic Development Corporation. He has served on several boards of directors for edu- cational entities, for-profit companies and non- 18 SportsTurf | April 2012 REEN MEDIA, A DIVISION OF M2MEDIA360 — publisher of Outdoor profit economic development groups in the state, including the New North (an 18-county regional economic development board) and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. Plus, he is one of only seven members on the Executive Commit- tee of the Green Bay Packers' board of directors. "I've always had this philosophy to emulate or follow or learn from people that I would con- sider mentors," he said, "and there's a lot of peo- ple in business and outside of business that I've looked at as people that I wanted to shape myself around their character and ethics and their morality and their approach to life in general. "One of those that crosses both business — this business — and life would be my father (Mike Ariens). He's certainly been a very impor- tant influence on me from a long time back." "He's a very strong moral authority in terms of what's right and what's wrong," Dan said of his father. "He was always a great teacher of 'No, we're not going to do that. That's just not the way we do things.' I think the lessons that I learned from others were more about having my father as a guidepost." Based on the lessons learned from his father, and shortly after succeeding him, Dan quickly established his own company expectations by cre- ating a set of five "Core Values": 1) Be honest; 2) Be fair; 3) Keep our commitments; 4) Respect the individual; and 5) Encourage intellectual cu- riosity. "We talk about those multiple times a day," Dan said. "I mean that's just not something we just stick on the wall. That's a conversation we have every day, around every decision." Dan, who with his wife of 27 years, Julie, has five children between the ages of 15 and 25, was asked how he would like to remembered when he retires and what the future of the company holds for subsequent generations. He laughed and said, "I'm pretty young. You know I think just as kind of the way I hope people think of me now. I'm 'just a guy from Brillion' that likes to come in (to work) and loves this business. I think at the end of the day, if we achieve our 20- year vision, I'd like to be able to look back at that with my peers here and say, 'We did alright. We created a lot of jobs. We built a nice company here, and it's on a platform that's sustainable, and it's time to turn it over to the next generation.'" — Steve Noe Bill Harley With 28 years of trade association manage- ment experience, Bill Harley was selected in late 1999 to follow in the footsteps of Dennis Dix, who served as president and CEO of OPEI for 27 years. Harley officially took over for Dix when he retired at the end of March 2000 and proceeded to make several notable contribu- tions to the Green Industry before he too re- tired from OPEI at the end of August 2011. A Chicago native who received a bachelor's degree in marketing from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Harley worked for two-and-a- half years as a bond underwriter at the Hartford Insurance Company before beginning his asso- ciation management career in 1972 with the Air Conditioning Contractors of America. In 1981, Harley was selected as the executive vice presi- dent of the National Utility Contractors Asso- ciation (NUCA). He served as NUCA's CEO until 1999 when he was selected by OPEI to succeed Dix. Harley recently reflected on his successful reign of nearly 12 years with OPEI during an interview with OPE. OPE:With 28 years of association manage- ment experience in other industries, why did you decide to enter the OPE industry by join- ing the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) in January 2000, knowing that you would succeed Dennis Dix as president and CEO in March of that year? BH: Eighteen of those 28 years, I served as CEO of the National Utility Contractors Asso- ciation prior to joining OPEI. After 18 years, I was ready to explore new opportunities and challenges. At the time, OPEI offered both. Dennis Dix's 27 years as OPEI's CEO es- tablished a consistent, respected and stable or- ganization. Dennis also built a financially viable international trade association. Having that strong foundation was a key factor in my deci- sion to accept the CEO position at OPEI. OPE: Having retired as the president and CEO of OPEI as of Aug. 31, 2011, and had a few months to reflect on your nearly 12-year run with the association, what are your proud- est accomplishments, fondest memories and biggest regrets (if any)? BH: I honestly don't have any regrets. I was very fortunate to work with a dedicated and tal- ented team in the OPEI staff. I'm most proud of building upon and maintaining the financial www.sportsturfonline.com