It might have made more sense to hold last Wednesday morning’s event in San Marino, given the scores of residents who were in attendance at the Business Leaders Breakfast, which was presented by the Greater Los Angeles Council of the Boy Scouts of America and held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
There, as a testament to the graciousness and acuity of our community’s Tim Sloan, hundreds packed the main ballroom, where Sloan was honored as the 2016 Business Leader of the Year.
“I am very honored to be recognized by this group,” said Sloan to the crowd. “It is very humbling. This is truly an investment in tomorrow.”
Sloan quoted business guru Peter Drucker, stating that “the best way to predict the future is to create it.”
“Everybody who is involved in Scouts in any way is creating it,” Sloan said.
The former president of San Marino National Little League admitted that it was actually his wife, Lisa, who got Sloan started in the program.
“She was the den mother of San Marino’s infamous Den 2 of the Tiger Cubs,” Sloan said as laughter broke out across the room. “She set the example for me to join Scouting.”
Tim followed his two sons into San Marino Boy Scout Troop 355, where both would later earn their Eagle Award, and served as Assistant Scoutmaster.
‘That’s a lot like being Vice President,” he quipped. “You don’t really do anything.”
Sloan mentioned that the Boy Scouts have “shaped 115 million kids, 26,000 of whom are right here in Los Angeles. Likewise, those of you here today are making a real difference.”
The Chief Operating Officer of Wells Fargo & Company humbly said that “despite what you see here today, I speak to tens of thousands of our team members” and said his message includes the need for personal self-sufficiency and service to others.
“Each one on its own, is significant,” Sloan said. “Together, they are powerful. Self sufficiency creates confidence and young people get that from the Boy Scouts.”
He then mentioned Wells Fargo’s commitment to community service and said “if more companies followed this model of service, much of the anti-business rhetoric we hear today would be muted.”
San Marino’s Ryan Gonzalez, also a member of Troop 355, received the Scout Lifesaving
Award for performing the Heimlich Maneuver on an FBI agent as Ryan and a friend returned from the Pasadena Farmer’s Market.
Ryan described to the audience how the victim began breathing after approximately 12 Heimlich thrusts.
A freshman at St. Francis High School, Ryan thanked his Scoutmasters, Greg Geraci and Ron Garretson, and also acknowledged The Tribune for an article that appeared in the March 11 edition.
“Thank you,” Ryan said to the crowd. “We are prepared.” And the audience roared at his reference to the Scout Motto.
Sloan was The Tribune’s ‘Citizen of the Year’ in 2009 and served on the Board of the Boy Scouts of America, San Gabriel Valley Area Council in 2005 and 2006 and was an important part of the Endowment and Investment Committee. One of Sloan’s proudest accomplishments in Scouting was leading two treks at Philmont Scout Ranch, the Boy Scouts of America’s premier High Adventure base, which challenges Scouts and Venturers with more than 214 square miles of rugged northern New Mexico wilderness.
With a strong commitment to community, Tim serves on the Board of Overseers of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens and is a member of the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business Advisory Board. He is a trustee of Ohio Wesleyan University and the City of Hope. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of California Resources Corporation and recently became a trustee at Caltech.
