When the Chicago Economic Development Commission holds its next meeting, the first topic on its agenda is likely to involve the future of its chairman, John P. Frazee Jr.
The meeting had been scheduled for Friday, but it was postponed after Frazee`s company, Centel Corp., announced an agreement Wednesday to be acquired by Kansas City-based Sprint Corp.
Frazee, now chairman and chief executive of Centel, will become president and chief operating officer of Sprint. That means he will be in charge of its day-to-day operations, strategic planning and investor relations.
Frazee hasn`t resigned from the commission post, which he took on in February, and he points out that the deal with Sprint could take six to nine months to complete. It must get the approval of government regulatory agencies and shareholders of both companies.
He notes, though, that he`ll have to spend much of his time in Kansas City with Sprint, both before and after the merger. Whether he remains with the commission will depend on how much time he can devote to it, Frazee says. ”I`d be shocked if he resigns,” says one of the 25 commission members, who asked not to be identified. ”Jack must have known this (the merger agreement) was going to happen when he took the post.”
Who would Mayor Richard Daley nominate to replace Frazee? Local executives, including commission members, suggest a number of names. They include: Leo Mullin, chairman of American National Bank & Trust Co.; Bernard Brennan, president of Montgomery Ward & Co.; Richard Brown, president of Illinois Bell Telephone Co.; Robert Malott, retired chairman of FMC Corp.; and Donald Petkus, vice president of Commonwealth Edison Co. Mullin is treasurer of the commission, and Daryl Grisham, president of Parker House Sausage Co., is vice chairman.
Frazee, 49, who lives in St. Charles, recently was named co-chairman of the Financial Research & Advisory Committee. The group, better known by its acronym FRAC, was formed by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago several years ago to recommend ways to improve the city`s financial situation. The other co-chairmen are Mullin, who was named to the group Thursday, and Henry Mendoza, a Hispanic businessman.
Driving a new road
Some people have been known to buy or rent a motor home and travel around the country after they retire. Robert Schoellhorn, former chairman of Abbott Laboratories Inc., went a step further.
He bought a 23 percent interest in Marathon Coach Inc., a manufacturer of luxury motor homes in Eugene, Ore.
Last fall, Schoellhorn and his wife Audrey decided to take a northern route across the country while driving their 37-foot recreational vehicle from their home in Highland Park to Palm Springs, Calif. Having heard of Marathon, they decided to stop by its plant.
”We saw one of the over-the-road coaches coming off the line,” he says. ”We fell in love with it and bought it on the spot. A couple of months later, we decided to invest in the company.”
His new 40-foot coach includes such goodies as a retractable TV satellite dish, trash compactor, washer and dryer.
Schoellhorn, whose 17-year career at Abbott ended in 1990 with a court fight over his retirement benefits, also is a director of Marathon and a planning adviser. He has helped to sell several coaches at marketing rallies in Texas and Florida.
”I`m trying to help them expand in some overseas markets,” he says. ”I was in Germany two weeks ago at a large bus and truck show.”
The company has about 185 employees, he says, and produces an average of one coach a week.
”It`s something that doesn`t demand all of my time,” says Schoellhorn.
”But the company is growing, and I think it has a great deal of potential.”
BUSINESS BEAT: The auction of equipment and sports memorabilia at Ditka`s Restaurant, 223 W. Ontario St., has been postponed from Saturday to June 6. An attorney with the law firm of Hurley, Kallick and Schiller, which is handling the sale, says there was ”no particular reason” for the postponement. The auction had been advertised for two weeks, however. People showing up at the closed restaurant Saturday ”will get a chance to inspect the items, but no sales will be made,” he says.
– Hartmarx Corp. President Elbert O. Hand was elected president of the American Apparel Manufacturers Association, starting June 1.
