Margie Sinclair-Parish is a Professor in the Business department at Lewis and Clark Community College, coordinator of the AIM program, and member of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning  Committee. Margie earned an A.A. from Lewis and Clark Community College (LCCC), and her B.S. and M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). Margie has received recognition from the Illinois Community College Trustees Association as Outstanding Faculty Member in 1996 and was awarded the Emerson Electric Excellence in Teaching award in 2001. Margie has taught business classes at LCCC for over 30 years and loves to hear students’ ideas.

Marc Voegele is a lifelong resident of Granite City. He graduated from Granite City High School South 1974 and earned his BA in American History & Political Science from  Aurora College in 1978. Previously, Marc has been an IHSA & Collegiate Soccer Official as well as an owner/operator of Ravanelli’s Restaurant in Granite City. Marc was employed by Tubular Steel Inc for 26 years as Midwest Regional Sales Manager. Currently, Marc has been the owner of Express Employment Professionals in Edwardsville for last eleven years. He received the Circle of Excellence Award in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Marc was named a Certified Training Office in 2014 as well as a specialized Recruiting Office in 2016. For the past three years, Marc has been the owner of Express Employment Professionals in Fairview Heights. Marc has served as a board member and officer on many boards, including the St. Mary’s Credit Union, Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Alliance for Economic Development, CEO Program in both Alton and Granite City, Edwardsville Rotary Club, Leadership Council of Southwestern Illinois, and the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce.

Marc has been married to his wife Diana for over 30 years. They have two children, Kristen and Mark, one stepson, Ray, and one grandchild, Hayden Marie. Marc is currently a small group leader and active member of his church, Metro Community Church.

Monica Bristow is president of the River Bend Growth Association, a chamber of commerce and economic development agency for 11 communities in Madison County.   

She has been with the organization as their president since July 2003.  Prior to joining the Growth Association as its leader, she had been on the board since 1997 and its board chairman in 2001 through her position at Olin Corporation, the region’s largest employer.  While at Olin Corporation for 22 years, Ms. Bristow worked in various functions including human resources, compensation and public relations.  

Bristow worked with the area high school superintendents to garner interest in the CEO program and has been the Secretary/Treasurer of the Riverbend CEO’s Foundation since its inception.

 Bristow earned her BA in Business from Lindenwood University in St. Louis, Missouri.    She serves or has served many non-profit community organizations by sitting on their boards or serving on various committees.  They include the Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, Illinois Association of Economic Developers, United Way of Southwestern Illinois, OSF St. Anthony’s Community Foundation, The Meeting of the Rivers Foundation, and Marquette Catholic High School in Alton. 

Having seen the growth in maturity of our first class I feel the CEO program is going to have a significant impact to our community and the lives of the students that participate in the CEO program as time passes. The first year produced a couple of businesses that are ongoing and will achieve success.   I am excited to see the second class grow and expand their knowledge of the business world and experience success. 

Jane is President and Chief Executive Officer of Cope Plastics, Inc. in which the headquarters is located in Alton, Illinois.  She graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business with concentration in accounting.

Cope Plastics, Inc. is ranked in the top 150 privately held companies, and ranked 5thlargest women-owned business in the St. Louis metro area as published by St. Louis Business Journal.  

Jane served as President of the International Association of Plastics Distribution, President of the Lewis & Clark Community College Foundation Board and is the current Chairman of the Southern Illinois Employer’s Association Board.  Jane and Steve, along with the Cope team are also active in the community supporting CEO, The Riverbend Growth Association, Riverbend Headstart and Family Services, United Way, Pride, Inc., Susan G. Komen, Friends of Kids with Cancer, several area schools and various other organizations.

Jane has received various awards over the past years including, The Paul Davis Award of Merit with International Association of Plastics Distribution 2016, Circle of Care Honoree-Riverbend Headstart 2015, 100 St. Louisans You Should Know-St. Louis Small Business Monthly 2011, Most Influential Business Woman-St. Louis Business Journal 2006.   

Jane and Steve are lifelong residents of the Alton area and attend Godfrey First United Methodist Church. Together they have 5 children, Phillip, Melissa, Haley, Taylor and Logan.

Kent Scheffel serves as Vice President of Enrollment Services at Lewis and Clark Community College.  Included in his responsibilities are Lewis and Clark’s enrollment-related functions, N.O. Nelson Campus and Community Education Centers, and the College’s High School Partnership program.  The College experienced 18 consecutive years of enrollment increases and the High School Partnership program has saved families more than $38 million through free tuition for dual credit classes. 

He is the past president of the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships, is a past president of the Southwestern Community Unit School District Board of Education, former chair of the River Bend Growth Association and the Southwest Illinois Division of the United Way, former secretary/treasurer of the Illinois Community College Chief Student Service Officers, and currently serves as a village trustee in Brighton, IL.  His work with dual credit has been cited in two books and he has spoken at two Congressional briefings on the subject.

Scheffel has a B.S. in Mass Communications and an M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

I chose to serve on the board of Riverbend CEO because I believe in the mission of the CEO program. I believe we are lucky to have so many talented young people in our community and the Riverbend CEO program is an avenue for some of those talented individuals to learn all the ins and outs about becoming a business owner. Having grown up in Alton and attended Marquette Catholic High School it is important to me to give back to the next generation of our community by giving them the resources and knowledge needed to follow their dream of becoming a successful business owner.

Matt was born and raised in Alton. He now lives in Bethalto with his wife Lindsay and three children (Madelyn, William, and Sophia). Matt graduated from Marquette Catholic High School in 1998. Since graduating from Quincy University, he has worked in banking for 14 years, most recently with The Bank of Edwardsville for the past 3 ½ years. He serves on the board of directors for Hospice of Southern Illinois, Riverbend Headstart, Alton Boys and Girls Club, Rotary of the Riverbend as well as the Riverbend CEO program.