Board of Directors
Meet the Visioning a Greater Racine Board of Directors!
Mario Martinez
Board President
Mario comes from very humble beginnings. His family moved from San Antonio Texas to follow opportunities as migrant workers. At a very early age, Mario learned the importance of hard work and humility.
He now has more than 30 yrs as an Insurance Broker and entrepreneur. Despite all his business success, Mario understands life is more than just a great reputation. Life is about leaving a lasting legacy which lead him to become a pillar in the Hispanic and Racine community. Mario currently serves as a City of Racine Commissioner on the “Planning, Heritage, and Design Commission”. He is also
Chairman of “The Amigos de Cesar Chavez Community Center”. Mario will continue to focus on creating partnerships in all communities in Racine. Building long lasting relationships with hard working, humble and empathetic folks in Racine is what Mario aspires to do.
Arlene Martin
Board Vice President
Arlene has been in the financial industry since 1988, ranging from Business Banking/Commercial Lending to Commercial Real Estate. As an SBA Lender with Huntington Bank, she has determined that there is a great need for business owners to gain access to capital. It is most often a critical component to the success of businesses during start up and growth periods.
She enjoys working with a range of businesses with gross revenues and is very well versed in federal loan programs (SBA Lending) and the state lending programs that are very advantageous for business owners. In addition, she has a strong background in commercial real estate. She firmly believes in supporting the entrepreneurial business owners that have emerged and now become the backbone of our country. Specialties areas include small to mid-size businesses, and a focus on a variety of industries including manufacturers, service industries, franchise operations, as well as contractors.
Arlene is married to Greg, has two daughters and two granddaughters.
Angelika Coghlan
Secretary
As a Business Performance Advisor with Insperity, Angelika partners with business owners and executives of small and mid-sized companies to support their growth strategies by utilizing proven human capital strategies and business services. She is a strong believer in Insperity’s mission to help businesses succeed so communities prosper. Prior to Insperity she worked with business owners helping them to transform selling strategies, tactics and culture so that they would meet expectations and growth goals. She successfully founded and ran Catwalk Consulting, a technology consulting firm for over 20 years.
Angelika believes part of growing an expertise and building a business is helping others – and in her case, especially women entrepreneurs around the world. She currently serves on the advisory board for The Institute for the Economic Empowerment of Women. She also served on the board of directors for the National Association of Women Business Owners(NAWBO), Chicago Area Chapter, OMNI Youth Services and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. She is the recipient of the Enterprising Women Award from Enterprising Women Magazine and the and the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Women’s Business Champion Award.
Rod French
Board Member
Rod French to Racine in 1981 as a reporter for the Racine Journal Times. In 1984, Rod opened a Racine branch of Sales Promotion Ideas a promotional agency started by his father, Russ. Rod currently works for QRG in New Berlin helping clients create Raving Fans by empowering their brand and engaging their people.
Mike Slye
Treasurer
Mike oversees business taxes ranging from the small sole proprietorships to the multi-million dollar companies. He is the go-to person at Gordon J. Maier & Company for handling income taxes with over 20 years of experience. Equally important, his expertise in tax allows for in-depth tax planning for individuals and trusts. One of the advantages of working with Mike is he often finds the tax credits that others may not even consider. Additionally, he knows about all the best tax planning tools with extensive knowledge of the tools.