Kurt Chilcott’s Passion for Small Business

Several weeks ago, Vistage announced the recipients of its second annual Member  Leadership Awards.   The awards program was created to celebrate the inspiring business and community achievements of Vistage members who best exemplify the organization’s values of Trust, Caring, Challenge and Growth and its six cultural imperatives of Collaboration, Courage, Impact, Innovation, Judgment, and Passion.

In the final installment of our series to celebrate this year’s recipients and finalists, let me introduce Kurt Chilcott, award winner for Passion.   Kurt is President & CEO of CDC Small Business Finance in San Diego, CA.  To counter-act poor morale from recession-induced downsizing at his large lending institution, Kurt spent time exploring the corporate culture and meeting with each employee.  From his observations, the company refocused its mission to deliver more product lines with fewer personnel and restored company morale to pre-2008 levels.  Finalists in the Passion category included Ellen Katz, President & CEO of The Children’s Home of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, OH and Gunnar Larson, President & CEO of NetworkGlobal Companies in New York, NY.

Kurt’s Vistage Chair Ivy Gordon explains how his passion made such a difference: