College of Business Hall of Fame 2018 - 2019 Alumni Inductees
From senior-level executives at top corporations to highly successful entrepreneurs, we are proud to welcome our 2018-2019 College of Business Hall of Fame inductees back to Illinois State University to interact with students, faculty, alumni and industry partners. Their accomplishments and commitment to excellence not only reflect their professional dedication and service to others, but also add value to our programs and the Illinois State brand for all of our graduates.
Holding this induction ceremony and luncheon during Business Week provides students, faculty, and other alumni the chance to interact with the inductees and learn from their experiences.
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Jay Bergman, '70
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION President and CEO, Petco Petroleum Corporation
Jay Bergman is the President and CEO of Petco Petroleum Corporation, a nationwide energy company and Chairman of the First Secure Bank Group, a company with six banking facilities in the Chicago suburbs.
He graduated from Joliet Township Central High School in 1966 and Joliet Junior college in 1968. After Joliet, he transferred to Illinois State University and received a degree in Business Administration in 1970.
Jay is a former Illinois State University trustee. He is the university’s longest serving trustee having served for 13 years and 4 months. He also serves as current member of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the Board of Trustees of Brookfield Zoo, the Board of Trustees of the Civic Federation of Chicago, and of the American Red Cross of Chicago and Northern Illinois Regional Board.
Catrine Charron, '88
MBA Principal and Founder of Netchannels
Catrine Charron is an entrepreneur and professional marketer who has built a Managed Marketing Services Agency, from the ground-up. She realized that the traditional employment model was changing and opening the door to a new workforce aligned with the millennials’ behavior and the need for companies to be more agile after the recent recession. This contingent workforce is better known under the name: “contractors” who account for about 26% of the workforce according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Spanning a twenty-year period of solid growth and flawless execution, she has steered Netchannels to be a unique and avant-garde enterprise in the Silicon Valley. Netchannels provides marketing talents exclusively to high-tech companies looking to rapidly scale with a contingent workforce. This is a very fast-growing market expected to reach to 260 Billion by 2022. This unique business model allows enterprises to operate within known parameters such as budget, timeline, and specific deliverables. It lends itself to scaling up or down based on company initiatives and business drivers. Finally, it ensures success as the performance drives the compensation.
Catrine graduated from ISU in 1988. She was the outstanding MBA student of the year and the first international student to receive the award. She moved to California after graduation and started working Convergent Technologies in the high-tech industry as an international marketing manager. Her career led her to travel around the globe until she decided to launch her own company, Netchannels in 1995.
Through Netchannels, Catrine’s mission is to change people’s lives. Social responsibility is a big driver in all we do: not only through the company’s charitable giving platform and paying back student loans for her employees, but also by helping candidates restart their careers after a disruption due to illness, women raising their children, caring for aging parents, etc… With this corporate responsibility in mind, Netchannels has replaced the typical “customer testimonials” with testimonials from employees who tell their story of how Netchannels has changed the course of their life.
Catrine lives in Piedmont, California with her husband Peter and daughter Cosette. She is an avid skier and has a passion for animal rescue.
Bill Feid, '82
ACCOUNTING Managing Partner, Actium Ventures
Mr. William Feid is a Managing Partner at Actium Ventures. He is responsible for fund-raising and transactional negotiations, as well as investing in and managing portfolio ventures. Mr. Feid has been at the forefront of innovative business for the past 30 years. Born from his passion for hot dogs and Chicago foods, he founded and is a current operator of Billy’s Gourmet Hot Dogs which has quickly become a hotspot in Denver’s historic RiNo area. Mr. Feid is also a significant investor and Board participant of WineInStyle, KK a Japanese company that currently accounts for 5% of all wine consumed in Japan. WineInStyle is the largest privately held company importing American wines into Japan.
Recently, Mr. Feid was Chief Executive Officer of Law.com. He served as the President of the firm as well. Mr. Feid engineered the sale of Law.com to American Lawyer Media. Previously, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer of RealLegal, LLC.
Mr. Feid began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co., where he helped found and grow Anderson’s Chicago High-Tech Practice. His 11 years at Andersen were dedicated primarily to consulting on behalf of entrepreneurial businesses. Mr. Feid was also instrumental in developing firm-wide methodologies for business valuations and strategic planning. He also functioned on behalf of World Headquarters firm wide heading assignments in Malaysia and Europe. Mr. Fed later joined Efficient Market Services, Inc., as an Executive Vice President of Finance and Operations. At the firm, he established strategic relationships with AC Nielsen and Mitsubishi Corporation, introduced EMS into South East Asia, and raised substantial equity capital, all of which led to the company’s success. Mr. Feid left EMS to found Firefly Greeting, LLC.
As President and Chief Executive Officer, he turned the firm into a leading supplier of online relationship management programs utilizing greeting cards and negotiated the sale of the business to Hallmark. Mr. Feid currently serves on the boards for other companies and provides advisory services to several young entrepreneurial businesses. Mr. Feid is a C.P.A. with a B.S. in Accounting and Industrial Technologies from Illinois State University.
Jim Offerdahl, '78
ACCOUNTING Chief Financial Officer | Bazaarvoice
Jim Offerdahl has more than more than 25 years of experience as CEO, COO, CFO, and board director positions in high-growth technology companies. With significant expertise in both public and private companies, he has led three initial public offerings, executed numerous mergers and acquisitions, and is known for his ability to grow revenues and profits worldwide.
Jim serves on several boards, including director of Q2 Holdings, an over $200 million revenue public company that provides online banking software to community banks and credit unions, director of DISCO, a venture backed provider of ediscovery solutions for law firms and corporations, and advisory board member of CognitiveScale, a venture backed provider of augmented intelligence software for financial services, healthcare and digital commerce. Jim also serves as director of Side by Side Kids, a faith-based non-profit that serves underprivileged children in Austin.
Most recently, Jim served for five years as CFO of Bazaarvoice, an over $200 million revenue public company that provides ratings and reviews and advertising solutions to brands and retailers worldwide. He grew annual cash flow from negative $54 million to a positive run rate of $11 million, while also investing in growth opportunities. Bazaarvoice was acquired in 2018 by Marlin Equity Partners.
From 2005 to 2012, Jim served as CFO of Convio. He took the company public in 2010 and in 2012 Blackbaud acquired Convio. During his tenure, he completed three strategic acquisitions helping the company grow from $9 million to $80 million of revenue.
From 2001 to 2004, Jim served as CEO and Chairman of of Traq Wireless. He raised capital, built the executive team, and positioned Traq more broadly in the wireless management market.
Jim was CFO of Pervasive Software from 1996 to 2001 and COO from 1998 to 2001, and board director from 2001 to 2002. He led Pervasive’s IPO in 1997 and secondary offering in 1999.
From 1993 to 1996, Jim was CFO of Tivoli Systems, where he helped grow revenue from $13 to $50 million. He led Tivoli’s IPO in 1995. IBM acquired Tivoli in 1996 for $743 million or nearly 15 times revenue.
Offerdahl is the recipient of the 2012 Austin Business Journal Legacy Award. He began his career with Price Waterhouse in Chicago. He earned his MBA at The University of Texas at Austin and his undergraduate degree in accounting from Illinois State University. Jim is married, has a grown son, and resides in Austin, Texas. In his free time, he enjoys golfing, skiing, church activities and spending time with his family.