Junior Achievement of Arizona Elects Five to Board of Directors

Junior Achievement of Arizona (JAA) has elected five business leaders to its board of directors. 

Joining the board are: Joe Bleyle, senior vice president and director of commercial banking for Enterprise Bank & Trust;  Monique Erickson, grocery coordinator for Fry’s Food Stores;  David Fitzgerald, campus vice president, University of Phoenix; Jay Layton, division manager, Cobb Mechanical; and Jeff Schelter, vice president/senior commercial loan officer, Alliance Bank of Arizona.

Bleyle has been with Enterprise since 2011, initially managing a portion of Enterprise Bank’s Acquired Assets Portfolio and later leading the team responsible for managing the portfolio. Prior to joining Enterprise, Bleyle spent over 10 years in commercial banking with senior level positions at Wells Fargo and First National Bank of Arizona, primarily in commercial real estate loan origination. Additionally, he spent three years as Chief Financial Officer for a mid-sized commercial developer.

Erickson joined Fry’s in 2008.  She assesses each store’s ability to exceed customer expectations for ease of shopping, service, variety, freshness, cleanliness, food safety and regulatory conditions.  Erickson  also serves as a liaison to the Dry Grocery, Specialty, Frozen, Dairy, Liquor, and DSD Departments providing upward feedback on the effectiveness of Enterprise/Division merchandising or operational plans/programs as well as local needs and products.

Fitzgerald, who has been with the University of Phoenix for nearly 20 years, leads the Phoenix Campus locations in providing an excellent academic environment leading to student success.  He also evaluates the higher education industry within Maricopa County for opportunities and trends.  Fitzgerald provides community outreach to corporate partners, business leaders, and organizations in Phoenix and the surrounding area. 

Layton is responsible for construction operations, business development, and the overall financial performance of Arizona business at Cobb Mechanical. He has been in the HVAC industry since 2000.

Schelter has been with Aliance Bank of Arizona since 2005.  He oversees soliciting, negotiating, underwriting and coordinating the closing of various business loan types including equipment financing, SBA, commercial building, revolving lines of credit and business acquisition loans.  He is also responsible for developing business checking and deposit relationships and recommending treasury management products/services for customers to handle their cash more efficiently.

Junior Achievement of Arizona is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization which believes that every child deserves an education in economics and finances in order to inspire and prepare them for success in a global economy. Serving Arizona’s youth since 1957, JA prepares young people for the real world by showing them how to become self-sufficient, how to create jobs which make their communities robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace. Junior Achievement of Arizona will reach more than 100,000 students during the 2013-2014 school year.  For more information on Junior Achievement or ways to get involved, please call 480-377-8500 or visit www.jaaz.org

Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. JA programs are delivered by corporate and community volunteers, and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. Today, JA reaches more than 4.2 million students per year in more than 120 markets across the United States, with an additional 6.5 million students served by operations in 117 other countries worldwide. Visit www.ja.org for more information.

Written by
at Oct 30, 2014

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