{"id":36788,"date":"2019-10-31T12:49:36","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T19:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=36788"},"modified":"2019-10-31T12:55:56","modified_gmt":"2019-10-31T19:55:56","slug":"flesch-and-blood-gfc-difference-maker-patrick-flesch-tasked-with-continuing-proud-family-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2019\/10\/flesch-and-blood-gfc-difference-maker-patrick-flesch-tasked-with-continuing-proud-family-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Flesch and Blood: GFC Difference Maker Patrick Flesch Tasked with Continuing Proud Family Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Patrick Flesch, president, Gordon Flesch Company<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When Gordon Flesch left his position as a salesman for Royal\nTypewriters and took the helm of a $3 million dealership that would bear his\nname, little did he know it was the foundation of a company that would grow to\n$151 million, making it among the 10 biggest in the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sixty-three years later, those initial seeds planted by\nGordy Flesch continue to bloom and flourish under the guidance of his grandson,\nPatrick. The recently-minted company president may have been born into\nfortuitous circumstances, but the position carries a burden of expectation to\ncontinue transforming the business as technology evolves. After all, Gordy\nFlesch was peddling Thermofax copiers back in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The executive post wasn\u2019t exactly an heirloom position. Tom\nFlesch, company CEO and Patrick\u2019s father, challenged all of the Flesch children\nto get a degree and work for a different company before they would be given consideration\nto join Gordon Flesch Company (GFC). After graduating from Miami University,\nFlesch spent more than three years as an account manager for CDW and quickly\nfell in love with working in technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a sales territory in the Chicago suburbs became\navailable at GFC, Flesch pounced on the opportunity to join the family\nbusiness. He gradually moved through the sales ranks to become vice president\nof sales in the western region. Last November, 12 \u00bd years after joining the\ncompany, he was named president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI try to build on the legacy and tradition that\u2019s been built at GFC,\u201d said Flesch, a 2019 ENX Magazine<\/em> Difference Maker. \u201cAs an executive, we work hard and try to make good, sound decisions that keep the company moving forward. I think we have created a culture that sets up our sales team to win as much as possible, and as an organization, we do our best to support our customers and deliver on the commitments that we make to our clients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dedicated Workforce<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A family dynasty cannot get traction without a solid core of\nemployees who are fully invested in the culture and values of the company, and\nGFC is no exception. Flesch is constantly heartened by the dedication and\ntalent level of GFC\u2019s team members, and perpetuating a family atmosphere makes\ntheir experience fun and rewarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not surprisingly, Flesch takes many of his business cues\nfrom his father. Having that unique vantage point of growing up around the\nindustry certainly paid dividends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe instilled in me at a young age that there is no\nsubstitute for hard work, and he always led by example in that regard,\u201d Flesch\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to get distracted or focused on things that are\nout of your control. But I\u2019ve learned along the way that if you stay focused on\nthe job you currently have and work hard to succeed, then everything else will\ntake care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been a banner year for GFC. The company recently closed its acquisition of Advanced Systems in Iowa, a deal that expands its geographic footprint to the west. GFC also just became an authorized Ricoh Family Group dealer partner, widening its technology catalog for customers. Flesch is looking forward to seeing the new relationships progress and foster increased growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn this industry, you must\ncontinue to grow,\u201d he said. \u201cAs we work to integrate Advanced Systems into our\nGFC culture, we hope to leverage some of the horsepower of the new employees\nand win as much business as possible. In addition, we are looking to\nmaximize growth in our managed IT business. We already have a nice base of\ncustomers, but there is a huge market for managed services, and I believe we\ncan deliver a great customer experience for our IT clients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future Opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leveraging opportunities in the future is a top priority for\nFlesch. He feels there is no room for complacency, which means staying on top\nof technology trends and keeping an open mind to the needs of the customer now\nand in the future. In the end, he says, it\u2019s all about bringing value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flesch and his wife of 13 years, Kristen, have three boys\u2014Charlie, James and George\u2014all under the age of 10. That means a lot of time spent enjoying their sports and other activities (Flesch coaches one of their soccer teams). The family loves to travel and spend long weekends in northern Wisconsin. Last year, they attended the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Flesch\u2019s other passions are golf and physical fitness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Gordon Flesch left his position as a salesman for Royal Typewriters and took the helm of a $3 million dealership that would bear his name, little did he know it was the foundation of a company that would grow to $151 million, making it among the 10 biggest in the nation. Sixty-three years later, those initial seeds planted by Gordy Flesch continue to bloom and flourish under the guidance of his grandson, Patrick. The recently-minted company president may have been born into fortuitous circumstances, but the position carries a burden of expectation to continue transforming the business as technology evolves. After all, Gordy Flesch was peddling Thermofax copiers back in the day. The executive post wasn\u2019t exactly an heirloom position. Tom Flesch, company CEO and Patrick\u2019s father, challenged all of the Flesch children to get a degree and work for a different company before they would be given consideration to join Gordon Flesch Company (GFC). After graduating from Miami University, Flesch spent more than three years as an account manager for CDW and quickly fell in love with working in technology. When a sales territory in the Chicago suburbs became available at GFC, Flesch pounced on the opportunity to join the family business. He gradually moved through the sales ranks to become vice president of sales in the western region. Last November, 12 \u00bd years after joining the company, he was named president. \u201cI try to build on the legacy and tradition that\u2019s been built at GFC,\u201d said Flesch, a 2019 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. \u201cAs an executive, we work hard and try to make good, sound decisions that keep the company moving forward. I think we have created a culture that sets up our sales team to win as much as possible, and as an organization, we do our best to support our customers and deliver on the commitments that we make to our clients.\u201d Dedicated Workforce A family dynasty cannot get traction without a solid core of employees who are fully invested in the culture and values of the company, and GFC is no exception. Flesch is constantly heartened by the dedication and talent level of GFC\u2019s team members, and perpetuating a family atmosphere makes their experience fun and rewarding. Not surprisingly, Flesch takes many of his business cues from his father. Having that unique vantage point of growing up around the industry certainly paid dividends. \u201cHe instilled in me at a young age that there is no substitute for hard work, and he always led by example in that regard,\u201d Flesch said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to get distracted or focused on things that are out of your control. But I\u2019ve learned along the way that if you stay focused on the job you currently have and work hard to succeed, then everything else will take care of itself.\u201d It\u2019s been a banner year for GFC. The company recently closed its acquisition of Advanced Systems in Iowa, a deal that expands its geographic footprint to the west. GFC also just became an authorized Ricoh Family Group dealer partner, widening its technology catalog for customers. Flesch is looking forward to seeing the new relationships progress and foster increased growth. \u201cIn this industry, you must continue to grow,\u201d he said. \u201cAs we work to integrate Advanced Systems into our GFC culture, we hope to leverage some of the horsepower of the new employees and win as much business as possible. In addition, we are looking to maximize growth in our managed IT business. We already have a nice base of customers, but there is a huge market for managed services, and I believe we can deliver a great customer experience for our IT clients.\u201d Future Opportunities Leveraging opportunities in the future is a top priority for Flesch. He feels there is no room for complacency, which means staying on top of technology trends and keeping an open mind to the needs of the customer now and in the future. In the end, he says, it\u2019s all about bringing value. Flesch and his wife of 13 years, Kristen, have three boys\u2014Charlie, James and George\u2014all under the age of 10. That means a lot of time spent enjoying their sports and other activities (Flesch coaches one of their soccer teams). The family loves to travel and spend long weekends in northern Wisconsin. Last year, they attended the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Flesch\u2019s other passions are golf and physical fitness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":34064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[2023,3733],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36788"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36790,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36788\/revisions\/36790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}