Read how David Sanders has responded to the passing of a beloved friend in Montana by beginning a quest for economic success for the local businesses
Jeff Hodgson was something of a living legend amongst the business and entrepreneur set in the Flathead Valley. As well he might be, being that he had much to his credit as a crack consultant – in addition to being a pro rodeo talent (younger days). Those who met him sensed there was something special about him. They did not have to know that he graduated college with a 4.75 in Marketing and Finance (actually a total of 6 majors), or that he got his MBA in Finance and Statistics from the prestigious University of Chicago Executive 190 program. Not to mention that he served as National Chairman of Junior Achievement, that he held the position of Advisor to the Chairman of the Board of a $23 billion dollar corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio, and by age 27 his financial compensation placed him in the top one-tenth of one percent of the US population for that age bracket. In short, he knew the business game top to bottom and played to win.
His sudden departure from this earth at a not very ripe age was a shock to local businessmen and women. A near miracle-maker, he was the man they were depending on. As their trusted consultant, he was setting them on a path to a better and more prosperous life for themselves and their families, and suddenly they had to go it alone.
Once the shock wore off, the question of what to do now replaced initial sadness. Many of Jeff’s clients hoped that somehow Jeff would pass his torch to someone much like himself even though he was nowhere in sight. Within a few short weeks of his memorial service, they found themselves meeting David Sanders, a master in his own right in marketing and management, who just happens to also be father of a twenty-something young man who migrated from Los Angeles to a ranch outside of Polson to accommodate his new bride’s love of training horses. Sanders’ son, Ashton, is making his fortune as a topnotch web designer, and is more than happy to have an excuse to pull his parents up to Montana – a parting gift from his godfather, Jeff.
Sanders and wife Marcy have been long-time friends and associates of Hodgson, and his actress, playwright, screenwriter, novelist and entrepreneur wife, Lee Kessler, who survives him. Marcy worked for weeks with Lee to make sure that Jeff was properly remembered by his friends in Los Angeles and in Montana, and then she and David Sanders drove the 22-hour trip to Montana to find a way to pick up the torch, and carry it forward for Jeff, regardless of the other responsibilities of Sanders’ Los Angeles based corporation.
Sanders, like Jeff, is something of a miracle-maker, having assisted businesses throughout the nation to expand under any economic situation. In many cases the companies he helped to start, or turned around from the brink of bankruptcy, went on to become industry leaders. Like Jeff, Sanders’ specialty is application of exact management and marketing methodology that treats both subjects as something closer to a science than a “certain knack.” For both men, the only thing that ever mattered was results.
Having done in-depth interviews with a dozen leading businesspeople in the Flathead Valley in December, and particularly because of the downturn in the economy, Sanders is offering the businessmen of Kalispell and the surrounding area a concentrated two-day infusion of management and marketing expertise to bolster them through the rough times of the recession. His thirty plus years of working with businesses, expanding them and setting them up for further expansion, includes shepherding businesses through four recessions prior to the current one that has once again given us a sluggish economy.
Rather than just focus on those businessmen who came to appreciate the help that they got from his friend, Sanders has arranged for a two-day workshop that is open to any enterprising businessman or woman in Kalispell, or the surrounding area, because he feels that Jeff’s fine reputation had more than likely reached many more than the clients he was personally working with.
Sanders’workshop, “Think Big – Make It Happen in 2009” is set for the 28th and 29th of January at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell from 9:00 to 5:00. Based on surveys done with Jeff’s clients he plans to focus on actions to “recession-proof” businesses and helping owners and entrepreneurs to set and then organize to make their goals in 2009 for their businesses and for their families. He’s even encouraging businessmen to bring their spouses at no charge, particularly because his wife, Marcy, has some tricks up her sleeve to smooth out things on the home front – which tends to suffer when the financial scene gets rough.
Sanders says he wants to hold the workshop in the memory of his friend. He stated, “Jeff was very active in the business community in Kalispell. I want to make sure that the groups where he was known and loved can attend. So I am offering a special rate for such people, and I am very definitely reaching out to any members of BNI, because Jeff and his wife often talked about his friends in that group, and I know he would want me to do that.”
This time Sanders and his wife will be smart and fly, having already experienced some pretty wicked weather on their last trip back from Montana (oddly the winter storms didn’t block their road until the final mountain pass before cruising into the San Gabriel Valley). Sanders is offering special rates as well for early bird reservations (by 15 January). Anyone who plans to take advantage of this power-packed workshop – one or both days – should sign up now, and all are welcome. Register at www.creativestrats.com/kalispell or call (406) 883-8321 for more information. Be sure to check out the registration page for additional special rates for members of organizations that Jeff was a member of. If we missed any, we apologize.
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